The journey started last year in Ifugao when PCBI consultant Robert Francisco and PEF program manager Bong Soto trekked to Asipulo, Ifugao to announce the rules.

It was important to announce the contest way before harvest time so coffee farmers could pick the best fruits, process them well, then prepare them for cupping. This was in November 2018.

Last March, farmers sent their coffee samples to PCBI and these were cupped and graded by PCBI/CQI-trained Q graders Mario Macalalad, Bea Belardo, and Jen Rimando under Robert Francisco’s management. PCBI received 21 samples and out of these, 17 made the grade.

Making the grade means scoring over 80 points.

The awarding ceremonies will be held this April, in time with the festivities in the town of Asipulo.

PEF has generously prepared cash prizes and tokens to entice the farmers to continue the practice for the coming harvest season. This will make Ifugao coffee known as a specialty grade and could fetch higher prices for the farmers’ efforts.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
The Department of Agriculture (DA) worked with PCBI on the Pilipinas Gising at Magkape (PGAM) Program from 2008 to 2010. That resulted in over 1,300 farmer groups getting organic fertilizers and rehabilitating their farms for better yields. Today, we see the program come full circle with our partners harvesting higher yields per tree than before.

DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) also supported the promotions program even beyond PGAM. They invited PCBI directors Emmanuel Torrejon and Pacita Juan to Kalinga in 2011, to conduct an introductory course in cupping coffee. Torrejon and Juan alsochecked the local facilities available, such as roasters and pulpers.

DTI under the helm of cluster head Myrna Pablo invited Juan and Chair Nicholas Matti to their Strategic Planning sessions in 2014 and 2015. The aim was to replicate PCBI’s Pick Red Campaign, allowing DTI to use it as a general campaign to encourage better quality harvests of coffee, whether the farmers roasted them or not. DTI also sent representatives to the Coffee Origins exhibits in Makati and Davao regularly until 2016.

LAND BANK OF THE PHILIPPINES
The Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) also supported PCBI by allowing the 6th National Coffee Summit to be held at the LBP Headquarters, to accommodate a bigger crowd. LBP also created a bank product called Coffee 100, to encourage cooperatives and use LBP facilities for loans and other credit instruments. LBP also supported PCBI through promotions in media such as radio programs and magazine articles.

PEACE AND EQUITY FOUNDATION
The partnership between PCBI and Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) started sometime in 2013, coinciding with PEF’s decision to support coffee as one of the C-5 agricultural commodity crops nationwide. PCBI’s strong advocacy for coffee was a perfect fit for PEF’s thrust to help benefit farmers.

According to PEF senior portfolio officer Bong Soto, “Coffee is a prime commodity crop which brings good profit to the farmers as long as the role of the traders in marketing is controlled, that is, they are not the only ones profiting from the trade. PCBI is a group of business people who believe in this principle, as well as promoters of our homegrown coffee as one of the best worldwide.” Soto affirms that PEF will continue to be a major supporter of PCBI’s annual National Coffee Summit, with the valuable experience that can be shared by its members.

“There are a lot of marketing experts within PCBI, and we hope that PCBI people will share this with the coffee growers as they develop their enterprise for the benefit of the coffee farmers.”

The Philippine Coffee Board, Inc. (PCBI) and ECHOsi Foundation, with Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), is part of the Great Women Project 2. The groups have been conducting training sessions for women in the coffee value chain since October 2017.

Training in Davao (October 2017)

Training in Butuan (November 2017)

The call is for quality coffee production by gathering women coffee producers and training them to know what it takes to make good coffee even better.

PARTNERS IN TRAINING
There are a lot of partners who have been involved in making these trainings a reality. The Department of Agriculture (DA) Gender and Development (GAD) central office, headed by Jojo Badiola and Lorna Villegas, rounded up women farmers in every region and around the areas where the trainings were held.

The third of a series conducted in Sagada, Mountain Province, had around 40 attendees who participated in cupping or tasting coffee along with Coffee Q grader Jennifer Rimando who hails from the area. Rimando also did the first two sessions in Davao City and Butuan City late last year.

Training in Sagada (January 2018)

Rimando reminded the farmers that “after harvesting is when the tedious work starts.” In English and native Ilocano, the women shared their experiences with the time it takes to make good coffee. A group from Tuba, Benguet chimmed in, “That’s how we won the Kape Pilipino, or at least placed in the top ten.” Shirley Palao-Ay proudly showed off a copy of The Ultimate Coffee Guide produced by PCBI, where winners’ names were published.

The other few gentlemen in the group were from another cooperator, Peace and Equity Foundation Inc. (PEF). Their work in coffee has been largely in the Cordillera region, by encouraging social enterprises to borrow or co-invest in PEF in developing their coffee businesses.

THE POWER OF CONVERGENCE
“It’s about convergence,” Juan exclaimed. “ECHOsi cannot do it alone. We have experts and experienced operators who are members of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA-Ph), PCBI, PEF, DA-GAD, Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech), and sometimes the local government also pitches in,” she continued.

Through PCBI, Great Women Project 2 found a good product in coffee. It is something that women can relate to and where they can play important roles in the industry. “Women make better tasters as biologically they have more sensory glands than males,” Juan said.

Meanwhile, Ros Juan, owner of Commune Café in Makati and IWCA-Ph member also told the farmers what roasters look for in coffee. “We need to see the green beans with the right moisture and almost zero defects,” she stated. The younger Juan has been buying local coffee for five years, when she started her café.

“Through these sessions I am able to meet the farmer directly and I am able to tell them what I need,” Ros continued. The quality of the meager amount she has been getting from Benguet has improved after the visits she and PCBI made to the community. “They even put their names on the coffee bags because they are proud of the sorting they did,” she added.

THE IMPORTANCE OF COFFEE TRAINING
What is the significance of coffee training? The country imports most of what the country consumes. There is a lack in production and with the little amount produced, quality has to be improved so farmers can get better prices. Palao-ay can now sell her ranked coffee from P400 per kilo, up from P250 pero kilo a few years ago. “The KP winning made my coffee more premium,” Palao-ay recalled.

As the Philippines only produces 35,000 metric tons and consumption or demand is 135,000 metric tons, there’s a lot of room for women to sort their coffees, taste them, and sell them at a premium. PCBI and ECHOsi, through Great Women 2, are helping these women find their specialty markets.

The next session happening in early March will be in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat in cooperation again with DA-GAD, PEF, IWCA-Ph, and PCBI’s staunch partners, ACDI/VOCA and USDA.

What about Regions 1 and 2? “We’re going there and this time, not only with women but with men as well,” Chit Juan smiled as she gathered her coffee kits for the next event.