Photo courtesy of Pxhere.com
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Industry leaders here are batting for a patronage to local coffee beans to promote sustainability of local coffee farming.
Carlo Martinez, officer of the Coffee Council XI and Joefel Manlod, owner of the Purge Coffee Roasting, said they would promote locally-produced coffee beans to boost coffee sustainability in the country.
Manlod said that despite the production of about 45,000 metric tons of coffee in the country, demands for importing coffee remained high, with the volume reaching up to five times the local production volume.
“These numbers show how strong coffee drinkers the Filipinos are,” Manlod expresses.
While the town of Amadeo in Cavite claims the title as the coffee capital of the Philippines, it is Mindanao which is the most competitive in the pool of coffee producers, accounting 68 percent of the total production in the country. The Soccsksargen Region produces the highest among Mindanao regions.
Martinez said the Department of Agriculture and Department of Trade and Industry have funded their advocacy to patronize local coffee beans,” Martinez said. “Let’s continue to push for quality.”
Part of the plan, Manlod said, “is through upgrading of the locally-produced coffee beans in order to profit higher income that will benefit the farmers, traders and the consumers”.
Also part of the advocacy is to push for international recognition of Philippine-produced coffee. The US organization, ACDI/VOCA, has granted the highest certification to Philippine coffee.
Manlod said he trades and exports the local Mount Apo Coffee to various countries such as Dubai and Singapore. (Cyntelle Joanne Saguan/davaotoday.com)
