Coffee is one of the most popular beverages globally, sought for its aroma and caffeine content. It is the most widely traded tropical product, and a growing market due to increasing consumption and stronger interest in specialty coffee innovations, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

To cap off their celebration of Coffee Month, The Philippine Coffee Board, Inc., in cooperation with the International Women’s Coffee Alliance Philippines, conducted a webinar entitled “Coffee Farming: We Believe, a testimonial from real coffee farmers who are making change” last October 29, 2022. The speakers in the webinar were all women, and Pacita “Chit” Juan, President and Co-Chair of Philippine Board, Inc. shared, “I don’t know if it’s by conscious choice or just the trend in the Philippines, but when we were getting farmers in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, the names that came up were all women.”

In the thick forests of Mankayan, Benguet, Noemi Dado made use of her great-grandmother’s land to establish Agnep Heritage Farm and grow coffee in 2018. She shared her advocacy of sustainable coffee farming, which her family has thoroughly applied on their farm by growing coffee without cutting trees, producing their own organic fertilizers, and collaborating with indigenous farmers in the area. After four years, in 2020, they successfully harvested their first batch of arabica coffee beans.

Juliet Morales, a coffee farmer from Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, shared that she started trading coffee in the 1980s, but stopped in 2002 because of low coffee prices. However, in 2015, she realized that she needed to go back to coffee farming and established Bumolo’s Integrated Farm, planting catimor, arabica, and robusta coffee varieties. She shared that she successfully expanded her farm and now has an association of 128 farmers. At the present, the farming cooperative now covers all stages of coffee production, from nursery to post-harvest processing, and even a coffee shop.

In Iloilo, Bibay Bionat, another coffee farmer, shared that her late father was originally into sugar cane farming, but shifted to coffee in 2012 in preparation for the possibility of sugar cane prices going down. They developed their robusta coffee farm, La Granja Cerza Roja, in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo. She shared that women farmers on their farm are the ones usually tasked with sorting beans because their attention to detail makes them better at doing the job. In a bid to have a more sustainable water source and additional income, her family built a rain catchment facility, where they also cultivate tilapia.

Another coffee farmer, Jocelyn Mamar, shared that she was originally a vendor in a public market before venturing into the coffee business. After selling in a public market for 17 years, Mamar shared that she eventually got interested in planting vegetables and fruits and started off by buying small lots, some of which already had coffee planted on them. Even if she didn’t have a background in coffee farming, her determination to learn through training and seminars, paved the way for her successful John and Marga Nursery Farm, which currently has farms in Luzon (Cavite), Visayas (Bacolod), and Mindanao (Davao del Sur). Though she has a variety of fruits and vegetables, coffee remains her main crop, specifically robusta and liberica.

Maria Teofannie Tutanes, a coffee farmer in Sultan Kudarat, shared that coffee farming was her family’s livelihood ever since she was born and through it, she and her three siblings were able to finish school. “Coffee is profitable,” she emphasized, just find the right skills related to coffee production, processing, and marketing. Currently, she is the owner of PMTZ Care Marketing and producer of Mnemo Coffee, a popular household coffee brand in Mindanao. In her talk, she also advocated for proper financial management to help coffee farmers and traders to prioritize their spending and save money.

“First, you could start with a small property, or you could have a big property, that doesn’t really matter too much, as long as you can grow coffee. You can grow a lot of varieties, and of course in different elevations, just match the soil and elevation with the variety, that’s possible. And the Philippines, by the way, grows all the major varieties, so that’s not the problem. The third is that[,] it’s never too late to get into coffee…..and there is a network of people willing to train you, to teach you, [and] to share their experiences as we’ve seen here people have learned from each other,” shared Guillermo “Bill” Luz, Trustee in the Philippine Coffee Board, Inc., and co-moderator of the webinar, in his concluding takeaway from the discussions.

As a coffee drinker, it is exciting that we are able to contribute to  beloved drink and industry. It is a proud moment for our teams to be one of the new generations of coffee farmers in Iloilo who are pushing for quality coffee.

Le Granja Cereza Roja was started by Genevieve Bionat’s father, Edgar, in 2012. He planted Robusta coffee trees in the farm in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo. When he passed away in 2014, Genevieve’s family made sure to continue his legacy project. “We have decided as a family to continue this dream project for our dad, as well as support the community we have built with the farm,” said Genevieve.

CHALLENGES
“Our farm us is only 45 meters above sea level and it is a challenge to grow even Robusta. It’s difficult to find a good water source in the area as we are not near any rivers or irrigation system. With the rain-catchment lagoon in place, we have a steady water supply throughout the year so we can water our plants during the summer months. We also needed shade for the coffee, sow e decided to intercrop our coffee with banana. Fast income was a challenge for us. That is why we planted bananas as intercrop, as this was a staple raw material for our products.”

FRESH IDEAS
“In our farm, we have made our own ‘sorting table’, where our staff can sit down and chat while sorting. We have put holes on the table, and attached a sack per hole, so they can directly slide their good beans into the sack. For the all-weather dryer, we have made a raised structure with drying beds and covered it with UV-treated plastic. We can just open the sides and let direct sunlight dry our cherries. When it rains, we close the sides. No need to put the cherries in a sack or keep them in a bodega.”

FUTURE HARVEST
“I think that it is time for the new generation of farmers to focus on the correct processing of the harvest, to bring added value to the coffee and cacao products and bring in more income for their communities. We open our farm as a demo farm as support for this initiative, through coordination with the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Trade and Industry.”

FROM SEED TO CUP
“The Iloilo coffee industry needs a revival, and we are here to share our knowledge and experience with out fellow farmers. Iloilo has a renewed interest in quality coffee, and little, new players are coming in the forefront to provide quality coffee. All players should work together to elevate Iloilo coffee to the next level.”

Criszalyn Casanes

As a coffee farmer, I get excited when we are able to do the right processing techniques. BACOFA hopes to be known as a producer of specialty coffee beans in the country.

Criszalyn Casanes is the current secretary in the Balutakay Coffee Farmers Association (BACOFA). It may be recalled that the BACOFA was founded in May 2013 with 20 coffee farmer members owning smallholder lands in Mount Balutakay, Davao Del Sur. It has now increased to 68 members and strives for quality coffee production, specifically for Arabica green beans.

PLANTING THE SEEDS
“I thought I would be involved in coffee at an early age, since my grandfather had one of the biggest farmlands for coffee before, which he passed on to his children.”

CHALLENGES
“The challenges that I have encountered include knowing the right processing techniques, the proper harvest and post-harvest steps to take, even the right fertilizers to use. To overcome this, I have attended trainings conducted by NGOs and LGUs, to further increase my coffee knowledge.”

FUTURE HARVEST
“I want to be able to share with others the knowledge on proper handling, care and processing of coffee.”

FROM SEED TO CUP
“I believe that the next generation will be important, since they will carry on whatever we have started, with new technology to help them in the future.”

Bea Belardo

Bea Belardo has been exposed to the coffee business early, with Belardo Coffee Enterprises operating as a top exporter for coffee in the 80s. Today, the company is one of the longest running millers and traders in Amadeo, Cavite. Cafe Belardo, a small coffee shop that was established in 2010, has become a destination place in Amadeo.

PLANTING THE SEEDS
“I received my Q Robusta Certificate on November of 2017. I thought that this will be a gateway for me to help farmers and producers get the most out of their crop. During the intensive six-day training and exam, I was able to familiarize myself with the different profiles of local and imported Robustas.”

FRESH IDEAS
“We previously did not cup our inventories. Since I learned how to cup, we made a difference by integrating this procedure within our company. This way, we do not sacrifice the quality of our products just by trusting the suppliers’ judgment of the green beans. We have been more skeptical of the incoming inventories.”

FUTURE HARVEST
“Through a thorough discussion of forum of other processing methods which will eventually be taken into practice, and by cupping, I think the coffee farmers can be well informed of what goes on with the current coffee industry. I want them to realize what they assumed to be a declining coffee industry is in fact the opposite.”

FROM SEED TO CUP
“Always support local. Try to taste coffee from different origin and appreciate the tedious process it has gone through before it reached the cup. There are few cafes that serve Filipino specialty coffee. These few mostly aim to aid small community farmers and micro-lots with their produce. Better yet, learn to brew your own coffee. You’ll start to develop the urge to find more amazing coffee.”