Veggie farmers make big leap in coffee trade

DAVAO CITY -- Winning top honors in the Philippine Coffee Quality Competition (PCQC) was far from the imagination of three local coffee growers, whose shift to coffee from vegetable farming was initially marked with indecisions.

Juanita Amaba and Liezel Siluano of the Balutakay Coffee Farmers Association (BACOFA) of Bansalan, Davao del Sur, and Delio Cezar of the Pine Valley Farm of Maragusan, Compostela Valley Province won top honors for consistently high cupping scores throughout the competition held from February 19 to March 19 in Baguio City.

Amaba and Siluano, who placed 2nd and 6th, respectively, in the Arabica category, used to engage only in vegetable farming because the market was already there and therefore, income was quick.

For the two women, coffee used to be an alternative crop -- a sideline. When the beans were ready for harvest, they sold them raw to local Chinese traders at a very low price.

Amaba and Siluano would later realize they could earn a bigger income if they changed their business approach, said Marivic Dubria, the marketing officer of BACOFA, in an interview Tuesday.

It was Marivic and Ma. Luz Dubria who assisted them in the post-harvest process of their green coffee beans during the coffee quality competition. It was also Marivic who submitted the coffee beans of Amaba and Siluano to the competition.

Marivic said she and the other farmers in Balutakay relied only on vegetable farming until they decided to engage in coffee farming because of frequent soil erosion in their area.

Balutakay is situated at the foot of Mt. Apo that makes the area excellent to grow Arabica coffee.
She encouraged other members of the community to follow suit. Indeed, Marivic did not fail.  

From an association of 20 members, the group converted to a cooperative and increased the members to get government attention.

At first, the farmers sold the coffee beans to specialty coffee buyers but these did not pass quality control. These were unsorted and there was presence of sand, she said.

Government intervention

The following years presented brighter prospects for BACOFA, whose membership increased to 70. Their coffee farm has expanded to an aggregate of 400 hectares.

In 2014, BACOFA received a coffee pulper machine, a roasting facility, and a delivery truck from the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for shared facilities.

BACOFA was also a recipient of PHP500-million assistance from the Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Assistance (ACDI/VOCA), the implementer of a USDA-funded Mindanao Productivity in Agricultural Commerce and Trade Project.

BACOFA members underwent training on coffee growing to post-harvest processes with the assistance of the Kapwa Upliftment Foundation, DTI and Coffee for Peace.

As they say, the rest is history.

BACOFA’s first local market in Bukidnon used to sell the beans at PHP135 per kilo. But after participating in a coffee conference, BACOFA’s coffee beans drew more buyers. It is now supplying coffee beans to five companies in Manila, one in Bacolod, two in Iloilo, and one in Valenzuela.

Amaba and Siluano were hesitant at first when she asked them to submit entries. Nonetheless, she submitted samples for grading at the 2nd Philippine Coffee Quality Competition, a nationwide annual activity to bring quality of Philippine Coffee to greater heights resulting to higher value.

This year's competition, which is a partnership of DTI, DA and ACDI/VOCA, received a total of 108 Green Coffee Bean samples of Philippine origin for grading by eight international and four local graders.

Out of the 108 samples for judging, three were disqualified.

Each three-kilo bag of green coffee went through a meticulous selection process of the judges and Q-graders.

ACDI/VOCA Chief of Party Thelonious Trimmell said Davao region submitted 10 entries, including BACOFA’s entries for Arabica and Pine Valley’s Robusta.

Trimmel said Arabica and Robusta are two principal coffee species and make up the bulk of Philippine coffee production.

According to Trimmel, the coffee profiles of BACOFA farmers boast of brown sugar, caramel, and fruity notes -- are indicative of coffee farms that are planted in volcanic soil.

In the final grading and cupping scores, the Arabica coffee of Amaba and Siulano was graded 80. Likewise, Pine Valley’s in the Robusta category.

Marivic is bound for Seattle, United States as part of her prize. She will represent the Philippines coffee-producing sector in the specialty coffee exhibition on April 19 to 22 that will be attended by top coffee producing countries in the world. The event will be BACOFA farmers’ opportunity to market their coffee and find an international market.

Trimmel said the high scores put Philippine coffee in international map and increase profit of Filipino coffee farmers.

Lawyer Lucky Siegfred Balleque, the provincial director of DTI-Compostela Valley and the point person of the Regional Coffee Industry Cluster, said the high cupping scores mean Davao farmers coffee pass international standard for specialty coffee.

Bright future

Both Marivic and Cezar, proprietor of Pine Valley, agreed there is huge market for specialty coffee. Cezar said his farm has expanded. He has now three hectares planted with Robusta coffee and seven hectares with Arabica.

Cezar said he is lucky if he harvests about two kilos per tree. He was already in second harvest with 500 kilos.

Marivic said coffee graded 80 can be sold at PHP500 to PHP800 per kilo. She said the farmers get the bigger share of the sale because the cooperative is only getting minimal share. For now, BACOFA sells coffee beans at PHP270 per kilo.

There is also a growing demand for specialty coffee, Trimmel said. This is indicated by the growing consumption and increase number of coffee shops in the country.

Trimmel also noted the country's growing coffee consumption, and how this presents opportunities for coffee growers to increase production.

But both Trimmel and Balleque voiced concerns on supply side because growers could not meet the growing demand for specialty coffee.

Trimmell said it is really up to the farmers to meet the challenge. The farmers also need to maintain the quality of their product.

Nationwide, Balleque said the demand for coffee is between 75,000 and 200,000 metric tons against the total production between 25,000 and 35,000 metric tons.

“We hope to produce more,” Balleque said, although noting that there was an improvement in production last year.

Balleque said DA is already looking on how to address the challenge in the production side.

“Everybody is aware of the challenge and also aware of the good things,” Balleque said.

Balleque said that of the Philippines total coffee production 70 percent are Robusta, 20 percent Arabica and the rest Excelsa.

In Davao region, Compostela Valley, Talaingod in Davao del Norte, and Bansalan, Digos and Kapatagan produce Arabica.

If coffee farmers would make good in post-harvest processing of coffee, they can command the price.

Balleque also underscored the importance of picking only the red cherries and sorting.

“Pick red,” Balleque said as secret to producing good coffee beans. He said untimely harvest would result to cracks and wastage. (Lilian C. Mellejor/PNA)