the ultimate coffee guide: women in coffee

ACDI/VOCA’s Gender Mainstreaming Activities

Roasters from Ifugao, Cavite,

and Bacolod

Crafting 2D and 3D Latte art

supplying the

Right toolsfor the job

Benefits of Coffee Farming Women

in coffee

CoffeeThe Ultimate

GuIDe

World-Class School for Coffee Business

Management, Grading, Roasting, Cupping, and

Barista Training

The Great Women of

Asean

Steps to Properly Plant Coffee7 +

1Women in Coffee

chairman NICHOLAS MATTI

President and co-chair PACITA JUAN

Directors EMMANUEL TORREJON

DR. ALEJANDRO MOJICA RENE TONGSON

GLICERIO LUMAGPAS MA. THERESA CAPELLAN

RUDY TRILLANES JOSEFA REYES

Project Director JORGE M. JUDAN

Project Administrator GLADYS R. BAYLON

People often think it is about feminism or gender activism when it is just the reality that many of our workers in the coffee business are indeed women. Thus, it is an opportune time to devote an issue this March (as it is also Women’s month) for Women in Coffee. Yes, there are many women involved in coffee production, processing, and of course, in coffee shop operations.

We met women throughout the county and throughout the coffee value chain—from farm to cup! In Nueva Vizcaya, we found many women leaders of communities like Juliet Bumolo-Morales of the Bumolo family of Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya; Bea Belardo of Café Belardo in Amadeo, Cavite; Tining Roces-Gamboa of Negros Occidental who recently went into coffee farming; Karen Tsai of the Kuppa chain of cafes and a Q grader at that; Princess Kumalah Sug-Elardo of Sulu Royal Coffee, and a few others who in one way or another have a hand (literally) in coffee.

The hands are the most important assets of Vanessa Caceres who has been a consistent Barista Champion in Latte Art from Singapore to Bogota, Colombia. Here we feature her as she shares her knowledge with women from ASEAN who came to Manila for Coffee Education and Training.

And most of all, we pay tribute to the women who sort the coffee with much love and attention—the women who patiently separate chaff from the grain—or in what we call sorting and selecting. It’s a skill not even the best machines can replace. It needs the eye and the hands working in harmony to bring you only the best, selected coffee beans, one bean at a time. This is a tribute to the nameless women who make sure we get only the best beans, because they have spent time and effort in choosing what we can roast and cup.

Here’s to all the women in coffee!

Pacita Juan Editor-in-Chief

womenIssue

The

The Ultimate Coffee Guide is the official publication of the Philippine Coffee Board, Inc.

We feature success stories, equipment, trends, events, and other informative and inspiring

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Art Director VANESSA GATONGAY

contributing Writers MARILEN FONTANILLA

GOLDWEENE QUETULIO CHUN VALENCIA

contributing Photographer LIZ RAŇOLA

CoffeeThe Ultimate

GuIDeTable of Contents

COFFEE TRAIL

The Benefits of Coffee FarmingHow women inspired their community to grow coffee and enjoy its benefits

RIGHT ON THE FARM

7 Steps in Planting CoffeePCBI’s Dr. Alejandro Mojica reveals how it’s done―the right way.

FEATURE

The Great Women of ASEANHow Asian women contribute their knowledge and skills for a collection of specialty coffee

KAPE ISLA CERTIFIED

Local Flavor, Global FeelNew café at the airport serves Philippine coffee and more

COVER STORY

Gender First: Starting With Gender So We All Finish TogetherMinPACT shares the relevance of its gender equity and gender mainstreaming activities.

ART ON THE CUP

Love My Latte!Barista champion Vanessa Caceres reveals how to make latte art.

COFFEE 101

The Art, Science, and Management of CoffeeHow BCAA is expanding and why you should be part of it

FEATURE

Supplying the Right Tools for the JobWhy EQuilibrium Intertrade Corporation is every coffee entrepreneur’s one-stop shop

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Coffee Investment fora will be held in various cities in the next two quarters. Watch out for our schedule near you:

• Dumaguete• Tagbilaran• Iloilo City• Bacolod• General Santos City

october 12-16, 2016 Coffee Origins Abreeza Mall, Davao City

october 14, 2016 9th Coffee Summit SMX Lanang, Davao City

What’s Brewing?

Princess Kumalah Sug-Elardo

hAs Been The PosTeR LADy oF CoFFee In ARMM sInCe she oRGAnIzeD heR CooPeRATIve, The PeoPLe’s ALLIAnCe FoR PRoGRess MuLTI PuRPose CooPeRATIve (PAP-MPC) In 2009. It started with a small capital of P170,000. The coop now counts about P15 Million in assets. That’s almost 1,000% in growth.

Since 2012, when the ladies of ECHOsi Foundation visited her town and where Chit Juan of PCBI and of International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) Philippine chapter spoke to them on proper coffee harvesting, Princess found herself rewarded with better coffee harvests over the years. But all is good as organizations recognized her efforts. One of them, the VIllar SIPAG Foundation, gave her an award with a cash prize of P250,000 for being the Best Entrepreneur in 2013. In the same year she was also awarded Best Social Entrepreneur by the Go Negosyo Movement. In 2014, the PAP-MPC was awarded Model Agricultural Beneficiary by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

But these are not just plaques to hang on a wall. The numbers in their Balance Sheet says a lot more. The members now count P120,000 a year per family as income. It is truly a remarkable feat

and this is all attributable to their focus on better quality coffee!

What did she have to do? Teach them to pick red ripe cherries, not green or unripe. Next, she collaborated with government agencies who had funds for cooperatives like hers. Third, she got in touch with NGOs like ECHOsi Foundation and Villar Foundation for training and fund support.

The rest, as they say, is history, or her story. Princess remains humble to accept any grant,

whether it is a monetary or a study grant. “I continue to learn every single day,” she says. “My members are happy that they can now send their children to school and that they have more food on their table,” she continues.

Further, her community is at peace because no one is desperate to go for easy money

by joining rebels. “They traded their firearms for coffee,” she proudly declares. It really is a story of coffee and peace.

Now that is a good sequel to her first story.

Trinidad “z” gamboa-Roces

She recalls her brother-in-law’s coffee roasting business and seeing coffee shops opening left and right. After joining the coffee farm tour in Cavite in 2011, she invited PCBI President Nicholas Matti to visit Hacienda Busay in Manapla, Negros Occidental. With his approval that the land is suitable to grow coffee, Trina “Tining” Gamboa-Roces had her farmers clear a portion of the land and plant the coffee seedlings from PCBI. Her 3 hectares filled with 3,500 coffee trees now stand tall beside her sugar plantation.

“The trees are flowering, falling off, and growing into berries. I just harvested and stored my Robusta,” shares Tining. The sweet smile on her face reflects her happiness with her decision five years ago.

“That tour really inspired me! I realized that it’s not hard to grow coffee and that it only entails a small capital like water and (organic) fertilizer,” enthuses Tining. While the El Niño in the summer is a looming threat to farm owners, Tining had the foresight to add an irrigation system which only took a month to complete. “The succeeding crops will be much, much better,” she shares.

Her perseverance to grow quality coffee wasn’t always a walk in the park. She remembers learning from experience when a lot of flowers would fall off. Scared

that her trees will die because of the extreme heat of the sun, she immediately called Matti and learned that it was part of the process. As the friends share a good laugh, Roces adds that she just bought a depulper and is planning to develop 4 hectares of her land for coffee trees. “There’s a big demand for coffee. We’re supplying only 35% of the demand nationwide,” she adds.

With available land, openness to learning, and commitment to grow quality coffee, Roces proves that there are no shortcuts to success. Her positive outlook now provides a steady job for farmers and available coffee beans for roasters as well as café owners.

Councilor Nida Cabrera

In the farming community of Barangay Adlaon, Cebu City, a haven for coffee drinking call center employees and urbanites, farmers found a way to adapt to the changing climate: coffee farming.

The story started through a convergence of passion

“ The succeeding crops will be much,

much better.”

and advocacies. Coffee is a crop that is consistent with the government’s national greening program. And with the vulnerabilities of upland barangays to natural hazards like landslides and the periodic dry spell and cold weather taking a toll on crops and livestock resulting to huge losses for farmers, Councilor Nida Cabrera decided to promote the planting of coffee.

She is no stranger to collaborative work as Cabrera is a recipient of the Galing Pook Award in 2009 for Participatory Environment Management when

she was Luz’s Punong Barangay. The program helps the goal of the National Climate Change Action Plan: to build the adaptive capacities of women and men in their communities, increase the resilience of vulnerable sectors and natural ecosystems to climate change, and optimize mitigation opportunities.

COFFEE TRAIL

2 3Women in Coffee Women in Coffee

How women inspired their community to grow coffee and enjoy its benefits

By GoLDWeene QueTuLIo AnD ChIT JuAn

Coffee FarmingThe Benefits of

“I continue to learn every single day”

Nida Cabrera and Luz Gabud Janssen

Planting CoffeePCBI’s Dr. Alejandro Mojica reveals how it’s done—the right way.

Steps in

71 ACQUISITION OF QUALITY PLANTING

MATERIALSAt the right age (should have 6-8 pairs of leaves; more or less 1 year in the nursery from the time it was sown)Hardened (placed under the sun 1 – 2 months before planting in the field)Suited to the right elevation: For Arabica - elevation should be 1000 m or more meters above sea level For Robusta, Liberica and Excelsa - < 800 meters above sea level

2 LAND PREPARATIONThe land should be cleared by removing weeds and unnecessary trees that cannot be used as shade.Newly opened area for planting should be intensively cleaned.

3 FIELD LAYOUTINGThe layout of the field should be prepared following the recommended planting distances: For Arabica - 2m x 2m (monocropping) 2m x 3m or 2m by 5m if vegetables will be intercropped For Robusta - 2m x 3m (monocropping) or 3m x 3m with intercrops For Liberica & Excelsa - 3m x 4m (monocropping) or 4m x 4m with intercrops

4 HOLING/HOLE PREPARATIONThe hole should be dug at least 60cm x 60cm to provide a good room for root development.The holes should be backfilled with top soil and add compost.Ideally, the holes should be left for two months before planting. This allows the nutrients to be available for the new tree.

5 TRANSPLANTING OF SEEDLINGSPlanting of coffee seedlings should be done during the cloudy days, in June through August, during the wet season. Avoid planting seedlings when the conditions are windy or hot and dry or during the hottest time of the day.Before planting, the trees should be thoroughly watered in the bags.The plastic bag should be removed when planting.The seedling should be placed upright in the hole. Do not plant at an angle.The soil should be frimly pressed with your feet.

6 MULCHINGCoffee plants should be mulched with a rice straw or other appropriate material to maintain the moisture of the soil.

7 FERTILIZATIONThe soil should be fertilized by basal application using the following recommended nutient composition:

Nestlé Philippines has an ongoing program to buy Robusta coffee from local landowners and coffee growers, an ideal supply option compared to buying the beans from Mindanao or from other Southeast Asian neighbors. Landowners such as Barangay Adlaon Councilor Nieves Narra and Ms. Luz Gabud Janssen joined when they realized that it helps heal the earth and its soil, and it has the possibility of getting a steady stream of income after investing resources and time for two years.

With other landowners and farmers joining in the program, what used to be a chemical-dependent farming process in the uplands is slowly presented with an environmentally-sustainable farming option.

These realizations came in handy during the Coffee Investment Forum held in Cebu City last January 2016. It was an event that brought together different players in the coffee industry and highlighted the potentials of the industry.

Juliet Bumolo-Morales

“We used to see coffee trees all around these mountains,” she tells me in our pick up while we enter the areas of Ifugao, just a few towns from her hometown of Kasibu. Nestled between two mountain ranges in Eastern Northern Luzon, Kasibu was built by her father Bumolo, whose first name they adopted to be their family name. “Builder of Kasibu” is his monicker as he literally uncovered Kasibu after trekking one mountain after another, coming from his Ifugao birthplace.

COFFEE TRAIL


Today, Juliet is the community leader who dreams of making Kasibu regain its lost glory. Kasibu used to be the coffee capital in these parts. A small third class municipality with cool weather and a lot of green forest and rice fields, it is ideal for coffee-growing and not just for Robusta but for the Arabica variety, too.

Juliet spoke with Nicky Matti about two years ago and she took his advice to start sowing seeds so her townmates can see coffee seedlings in no time. Today, Juliet Bumolo-Morales has an organic garden, a coffee seedling nursery, and two cooperatives who are perked up to plant coffee. We counted about 3,500 farmers in their list who can plant as much as two million coffee trees!

Further, Juliet has started rounding up her coffee farmer friends who in the early 2000s

“It may take a few years but we

will get there”

would wait for her arrival to buy their coffee production. “The market dropped and we only had Robusta then,” she recounts. “Today, we are shifting our farmers to Arabica because we have the elevation required for it anyway,” she declares. Coffee has bounced back and Juliet is back in action.

While most of the farmers in Kasibu grow vegetables, many of them are now looking at planting coffee, too. The PCBI, the Municipal Agriculturist, and the Department of Agriculture-High Value Crops Development Program (DA-HVCDP) are all helping out to bring back coffee production to the erstwhile coffee capital. “It may take a few years but we will get there,” says Juliet, the confident community leader. The two cooperatives were met by PCBI last February to assure them that the local market is looking for closer sources for good Arabica coffee.

Good elevation, perfect coffee weather, and a driven passionate community leader spells guaranteed coffee production.

Juliet speaking to farmers

YearN

(grams/tree)

P2O

5

(grams/tree)

K2O

(grams/tree)

During Planting

kg/ha

Compost at least 2 kilos per tree, 5 kilos will be good

9.215

49.582

5.810

FEATURE


How Asian women contribute their knowledge and skills for a collection of specialty coffee

AseanunDeR The sPonsoRshIP oF uPs AnD usAID-ACTI, FIve CounTRIes In The AseAn senT TheIR BesT WoMen CoFFee enTRePReneuRs—farmers, processors and retailers—to visit various coffee destinations in Cavite and in Makati City.

The women visited the National Coffee Research Center in Indang, Cavite to see new technologies and the vast collection of coffee varieties the University has in its collection. They were hosted by coffee expert Dr. Alejandro “Andy” Mojica, Philippine Coffee Board Inc. (PCBI) director and Cvsu’s coffee research specialist, and Dr. Ruel Mojica, head of the Research Center.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Serina Somsivat Hervy says after seeing red ripe fruits or cherries of the Barako and Excelsa trees. The Philippines is proud to grow all four varieties of coffee: Robusta, Excelsa, Arabica and Liberica (Barako) while their countries only produce Arabica and Robusta.

The ladies from Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand also had a cupping session with Q grader Robert Francisco at his Sancoco café. “Your coffee reminds me of guava” Francisco tells one participant. “There are also notes of citrus in this coffee,“ he tells another. “I’m so happy my coffee is sweet,” says Nanda Pok as she prepares to share the wonderful news with the indigenous people who grow the coffee in her country.

The other event planned for the group was latte art by Vanessa Caceres who flew from Singapore to teach the ladies her trade secrets. Done at the new Commune Café, Vanessa entertained the ladies with her mastery of the pouring steamed milk to make flowers and other patterns in their latte.

Sharing coffee expertise and collaborating for Great Women Coffee will be profitable for all the ASEAN countries. They will soon come up with a collection of specialty coffees from different women coffee producers in the ASEAN and will be under one umbrella brand called GREAT WOMEN.

In the ASEAN milieu, there exists a network called ASEAN Women Entrepreneur Network (AWEN) to provide an exchange mechanism for women entrepreneurs. These interactions, like training on best practices and trade exchange, will soon be more active as the Philippines becomes the incoming Chair for the network.

By Chit Juan • Photo by PCBI

Participants cupped their coffees alongside samples of Philippine Arabica

The Great Women of

National Coffee Research Center

Tinapa (smoked fish) or Aligue (crab fat) are just some of the local delicacies that one can find at this casual joint. But they’re not for take away. Rather, they are local flavors incorporated in pasta or sandwiches as designed by local purveyor and community advocate, ECHOstore.

“We want tourists to taste our food in a different way that’s a bit out of the ordinary,” says Reena Francisco, ECHOstore’s resident chef and foodie. The ingredients in the menu come from community groups so they will have access to global markets.

“The coffee comes from Arabica growing areas that are not so common such as Bansalan in the Mt. Apo area of Davao or Mt. Kitanglad in Bukidnon. Benguet Arabica is readily available in Manila so we thought of sourcing other origins, such as those from Mindanao,” says Lot Manalo-Tan, an IWCA member and a coffee retailer for over 15 years now.

Lot and Reena collaborate to introduce local finds in KAFELOKAL while making sure all the coffee drinks promote Philippine coffee. “Though we also get requests for Liberica or BARAKO, we have locally concentrated on the Arabica coffee variety. We still sell the Barako but to foreign customers like for the Japanese and to make it the ones from the Middle East.” Reena declares. Barako has long been known as the Filipino favorite variety, and stands for brewed or black coffee . “Today, we are reintroducing Philippine Arabica to tourists at the airport,” Lot chimes in.

While waiting for someone to arrive at the airport or sending someone off, do try KAFELOKAL. It is operated by women who have many years of experience in local coffee and local specialities. Each cup of coffee they serve is another step towards making local coffee sustainable and showing it off to the world.

This is how KAFELOCAL serves local flavor with a global feel at the country’s busiest airport.

New café at the airport serves Philippine coffee and more

Local Flavor,Global Feel

Great Women

GenDerfirst:

Starting with Gender,

ACDI/voCA Is IMPLeMenTInG The FouR-yeAR usDA FooD FoR PRoGRess MInDAnAo PRoDuCTIvITy In AGRICuLTuRAL CoMMeRCe AnD TRADe (MinPACT) PRoJeCT that aims to increase the incomes of smallholder cocoa, coconut and coffee farming families in Southern and Western Mindanao. The project strengthens Mindanao farmers’ capacity and that of other value chain actors through improved farm management, increased productivity, product quality and certifications, as well as available services and access to markets.

Gender equityPart of MinPACT’s crosscutting

strategy is to mainstream gender equity across all project activities. The project’s vision is to create equitable and sustainable opportunities for women and men in the project’s beneficiary producer organizations (cooperatives and associations), partner industry organizations, including the PCBI, and other value chain actors. The gender equity approach is designed to identify and address inequality, build public and private sector awareness and capacity. It also strengthens networks of individuals and organizations to

promote gender equity and target innovation investments in areas that benefit women.

Gender Mainstreaming Activities

As its first step, MinPACT conducted a gender assessment of its 24 beneficiary producer organizations and partners to identify existing knowledge, activities, and needs so that the project could design specific support tools to help them integrate gender effectively into their operations and activities.

So We All Finish Together

MinPAct looks to engage men and to transform them into allies in addressing constraints against women’s

participation in the cacao, coffee, and coconut value chains.

ACDI/VOCA Philippines conducted the Gender first: Gender Mainstreaming in MinPAct Project training for its 23 staff members. The three-day activity aimed to raise awareness on how gender issues and biases influence their own assumptions and actions, highlighted how they can integrate gender into their daily work, and how to help ensure that MinPACT project activities are responsive to local constraints, context, needs and perspectives.

In 2016, MinPACT initiated the implementation of gender topics in both the sell More for More cooperative and association training program and in their farm Planning training modules.

On March 2-3, 2016, MinPACT organized the 24 targeted cooperatives, associations, and industry organizations during the Gender Training-of-Trainers, which brought the participants to a shared understanding of gender and gender roles, in addition to having explored the strategies of ensuring the integration of women’s input within MinPACT’s target organizations. The participants developed action plans to begin the process of improving gender equity within their organizations, some of the actions identified were the drafting of gender statements and review of by-laws to incorporate gender equity clauses, among others.

The MinPACT staff participated together with the City Government of Davao during the early morning parade in celebration of the International Women’s Day on March 8, 2016, and in the Gender Summit for Cooperatives by the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) on March 30 - 31, 2016.

Moving forward, ACDI/VOCA through the MinPACT Project will provide support to its beneficiary cooperatives, associations, and industry organizations to develop gender statement, review of Vision Mission Goals and Objectives (VMGO), and their policies/bylaws to integrate gender. The project will support the development of

behavior change communications awareness campaigns, materials, training manuals, and curricula to increase gender participation and ensure gender fair language. It will also develop indicators for assessing progress and designs and conduct further gender awareness trainings for staff and partners.

Last December 2015, MinPACT together with the ACDI/VOCA worldwide offices, participated in the “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign”, a global campaign to galvanize action on the issue of gender-based violence. The campaign organized by the United Nations Women included activities such as a global twitter chat #orangetheworld and a worldwide mobilization to spread the message.

In the same month,

COVER STORY

MinPACT shares the relevance of its gender equity and gender mainstreaming activities.


Latte!Barista champion Vanessa Caceres reveals

how to make latte art.

Photos by LIz RAñoLA

ART ON THE CUP

MAteriAls:espresso machine

fresh milk (cold)

coffee (medium to dark roast)

barista pitcher (with a narrow spout)

barista latte art pen

Steam the milk at 150-160°F using an espresso machine to make a microfoam (also known as wet foam because of its liquid foam) in a barista pitcher.

Get a wide coffee cup and fill 1/3 of it with coffee. Tilt the cup at a 45° angle. Start pouring the milk about 1cm from the cup’s side.

Slowly but steadily pour two more milk, a few millimetres apart from each other and towards the center of the cup.

Pour three more milk while you gently tilt the cup to almost its normal flat position.

Add two more milk, going past the center when you hold the cup to its normal flat position.

Love my

1

2

3

4 51. Steam the milk at 160-170°F using an espresso

machine to create a macrofoam (also known as dry foam because of its thick bubbles). Spoon it on a cup with 2/3 coffee in it.

2. When it is almost full, put three dollops of circles for the cat’s ears and nose.

3. Spoon two more at the bottom for the paws.

4. Get the espresso and use the barista latte art pen to draw the eyes.

5. Dip the latte art pen again in the espresso to draw more details of the eyes and nose.

6. Add the whiskers and paws.

7. FINISHED PRODUCT

The more layers in your latte art, the more difficult

it is to make it. Keep practicing and make sure it has the right

steam.

Tip

1

2

4

6

While Vanessa is well-known for free pour or 2D Latte Art, another craze has also been the reason many come to the Philippines’ COMMUNE café. The baristas of Commune make your coffee come alive with cats and puppies and even jumping pets made with a lot of detail and precision. This is called 3D Latte Art. “It’s a challenge when you have a long line of orders but people are willing to wait,” says Ros Juan, who actually drinks more of her manually brewed, single origin Philippine coffees, another reason to drop by her three-year old café. “I like doing latte art and watching my staff do it, but I drink my Philippine origin coffee black, usually from an Aeropress or a V-60,” she explains.

6FINISHED PRODUCT Pour the

remaining milk towards you.

YOU CAN PRACTICE AT HOME USING DISHWASHING SOAP. LIKE MILK, IT GIVES A SIMILAR FOAM (BUT OF COURSE YOU SHOULDN’T DRINK IT!)

Tip

7

Vanessa Caceres and Ros Juan


PCBI meets some of the best coffee roasters in the country--- and they’re women!we,The Women Roasters

By MARILen FonTAnILLA, ChIT JuAn, and Chun vALenCIA

karen tsai

PoeT T.s. eILIoT sAID, “I hAve MeAsuReD My LIFe ouT In CoFFee sPoons.” FoR CoFFee enTRePReneuR KARen Lo TsAI—CeRTIFIeD QGRADeR, RoAsTeR, BuyeR, AnD KuPPA CoFFee shoP oWneR—heR LIFe CAn CeRTAInLy Be MeAsuReD noT JusT In sPoons BuT ALso In BAGs AnD Tons oF BeAns.

the scent of coffeeKaren was exposed to coffee at an early age,

growing up in a home that housed a coffee roasting facility her grandfather started in the 1960s. “He would sell roasted coffee in the markets. My father continued that wholesale business.”

Before she even had her first cup, Karen always remembers the aroma that permeated the house.

BREWED FOR SUCCESS

the coffee world. As a coffee buyer, she emphasizes: “Finding an honest supplier is key to getting the coffee you want. I let the taste and price guide me.”

Passing Q GradeAs a certified Q Grader, she uses her skill to help

farmers improve the outcome of their coffee. She also cups and grades coffee to further develop the coffee segment she is in.

Karen is just one of the many women involved in coffee, who have always been quietly providing their skills and support to further expand its growth and development. “We are the silent workers with a more pronounced sense of taste and smell,” she affirms.

stirring the coffee sceneWe can certainly look forward to sipping more

brews and sampling more roasted beans from Karen Lo Tsai, as she prepares to open two more stores this year.

“From kindergarten to grade 1, I actually hated the smell because my school uniform smelled like coffee. Little did I know then that it would become the scent that I would love.”

love at first sipKaren’s life was not always immersed in coffee.

Although she enjoyed the occasional sip during college and started privately roasting when she came back from Taiwan, she only got back into the coffee business in 2006. Kuppa was planned in 2010, at the suggestion of her brother Kerwin Lo, and has since been a success in stirring the demand for freshly roasted beans and quality brewed selections.

“What started out as a coffee cart business idea became a roastery and café business, after we bought a 5-kilo roaster,” reminisces Karen about her start in

Jovita Luglug

We drove to Lagawe to meet Jovita Luglug, fondly called Manang Vita, who manages the processing facility. When we arrived, Manang Vita was already brewing two pots: one 100% Arabica in a Moka stove top espresso maker, the other one an Ifugao blend of Arabica and Robusta in a percolator which had a brew basket (where she mixed the grounds with a spoon while cooking in an open fire).

Volume of ordersManang Vita recently moved back from the

USA. She still speaks with her Western twang as she explains how much coffee she roasts for her customers in Manila and for the orders of Good Shepherd Baguio City.

“I need a volume grinder. Mine can no longer last with my increasing volume of orders,” she exclaims. It is indeed a happy problem for this Balikbayan woman who now passionately runs this social enterprise.


The first roaster of Karen’s family

Bea Belardo is a third generation Belardo of the prominent coffee clan of Cavite. Her grandfather started out as a supplier of raw coffee beans to various coffee exporters. Her father, Marlon, expanded the business and began roasting coffee for hotels and coffee shops, including their own Café Belardo in Amadeo, Cavite. As the Manager now of Café Belardo, Bea carries on the legacy by serving their customers quality beans, blends, and brew right from their own coffee farms.

Bea talks about their “tree to cup” facility in Amadeo. It has a coffee farm, milling, roasting, and packaging facilities, down to serving them in the coffee shop. The entire coffee cycle is practically covered!

educating the farmersEven at a young age. Bea clearly identifies how to

improve our local coffee industry: “We really need to educate our farmers. How they do their farming and how they pick and harvest affect the taste the coffee. They should also learn other ways to process coffee aside from the dry method that they are used to.” She also hopes that more young people find interest in farming since most of the farmers are the elders.

Women’s role in the coffee industryBea witnessed how her mother supported her

father even during difficult times in the business

As to the advantage of women: “I think we are more meticulous. We’re on the smallest details, even the minor flaws. That’s an advantage to make sure the quality of our harvest and service remain consistent.”

BREWED FOR SUCCESS

How BCAA is expanding and why you should be part of it

The Art, Science, and Management of

CoffeeBy Chun vALenCIA

IF you ARe DReAMInG To PuT uP youR oWn CoFFee shoP oR BeCoMe A ToP-noTCh BARIsTA, The QuesT BeGIns WITh The RIGhT eDuCATIon. You don’t even have to go abroad because proper coffee education is right here in the Philippines.

Located at the heart of Greenhills, San Juan, the Barista and Coffee Academy of Asia (BCAA) is an affiliate of The American Barista & Coffee School (USA) and the Dilmah School of Tea (Sri Lanka). It is the only Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) certified campus in the Philippines. It offers courses for those serious in learning the art, science, and management of coffee.

World class trainingBCAA designs its programs—

both extensive and hands-on—to fit international standards and provide world-class focused training. The school is equipped with the right blend of high calibre trainers and quality equipment. As a result, the graduates are sure to be hired right away.

Aside from the basic and advanced barista certificate courses, BCAA offers a lot more. Anj Ferreria-Tan, Business Partner for BCAA, shares “We are the only school that offers courses in coffee grading, roasting & cupping, as well as a comprehensive Coffee

Business Management course. Our instructors are all practitioners in the field, not just theoretical, but their hands are wet in business so to speak. We keep them out there so they can bring in something here”.

Moving forward“There is a lot of room to grow,

that’s why we expanded to Asia. We have students from Indonesia, Korea, Mongolia, and even Czech Republic, Australia and UK. Now, 60% of our students come from the provinces.” BCAA gears up its expansion this year via additional

courses, more extension classes in the provinces, a coffee tour, and even a barista course in Korea starting this April.

She adds, “Before, it’s just all about the skills. Now, you have to be knowledgeable of your coffee. You have to understand where the coffee came from...the science and even the language of coffee.”

Anj advises career-shifters to stay committed, for coffee as a business can be profitable. “I don’t think coffee is a trend. It’s a lifestyle. With coffee, you can really develop regular customers. You get to know their lives beyond their coffee. There’s a personal connection. And that makes the business better since you’re working for a community and not just profitability. It’s a natural consequence that it becomes profitable since you are serving a community of people who need your kind of business.”

For more info about the courses, visit www.coffeeschool.asia

COFFEE 101

faith in Good coffeeIt must be holy coffee. First it

is the Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe that owns the facility and they now supply the sisters at Good Shepherd Convent. That coffee is prayed over, I am sure, and the drinker must be equally blessed as the roaster.

Save for one male employee who operates the roaster, the rest of her staff are women. Truly, a women-managed social enterprise.


As The MoTheR CoMPAny oF BCAA, eQuILIBRIuM InTeRTRADe CoRPoRATIon (eIC) oFFeRs ITs oWn LIne oF CoFFee MAChInes FoR use In The CoFFee LABoRAToRy, with brands like Rancillo and Synesso. Eventually, students may opt to choose such brands for their own businesses, but the choice is entirely up to them.

BCAA incorporates a Suppliers’ Hour into its Coffee Business Management program, inviting other suppliers of coffee equipment and supplies to

promote their products. This introduces the students to the different needs of running a coffee business, from the indispensable coffee machine down to the little sugar packets. EIC General Manager and owner, Cherry M. Cruz, elaborates: “The students become more open minded. They learn about suppliers of chillers or whipped cream. It becomes easier for them to get in touch with these suppliers than still look for them.”

As a supplier, EIC began with just syrups and sauces. From the referrals of suppliers and requests of customers, it added coffee and coffee machines and now even powders, tea, bottled organic drinks, and even locally traded service items like whipped cream. It’s every coffee entrepreneur’s one-stop shop.

EIC now has branch offices in Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Palawan, Baguio, Pampanga and Naga. “In the beginning when we were trying to expand our

branches, I would tell our sales team: with “We enjoy our products and doing our business. You don’t realize it but you are actually spreading the spirit of the specialty of the coffee industry.”

She adds, “It’s a big, expanding market. When we say specialty coffee, it’s not just the coffee shop itself. It’s the consumption and increased awareness of coffee. It’s an industry that keeps growing.”

EIC remains a steadfast partner of coffee entrepreneurs, providing them the essential tools for their business in the most convenient way.

for the JoBWhy EQuilibrium Intertrade Corporation is every coffee entrepreneur’s one-stop shop

Right Toolssupplying the

By Chun vALenCIA

For more information on their products and services, visit www.equilibrium.com.ph

FEATURE REFERENCE

PHILIPPINE COFFEE BOARD, INC.9th Flr., NDC Building,116 Tordesillas St., Salcedo Vill., Makati City (02) 813-1028/ (0908) 883-1218

BELARDO COFFEE ENTERPRISESAmadeo Loma boundary C.M Delos Reyes Ave., Amadeo, Cavite (0927) [email protected]

BARISTA AND COFFEE ACADEMY OF ASIA1803 Atlanta Centre, Greenhills San Juan, Metro Manila (02) [email protected]

COMMUNE CAFÉ36 Polaris St., Makati City (02) [email protected]

CAFÉ AMADEO DEVELOPMENT COOPERATIVEBarangay Dagatan, Amadeo, Cavite (0917) [email protected]

KUPPA ROASTERY AND CAFÉG/F Commerce Center Building, 4th Avenue cor. 31st St. Bonifacio Global City, Taguig (02) 552-1057

SULU ROYAL COFFEESitio Satan Barangay Kandayok, Panamao Sulu (0977) 426-1377 [email protected]

KAFELOKALBay 18 - 19, Arrival Area, Terminal 2, NAIA Road, Pasay City (02) 519-1216

ECHOSTOREG/F NDC Building 116 Tordesillas St., Salcedo Vill., Makati City (02) 869-1516 www.echostore.ph

EQUILIBRIUM INTERTRADE CORPORATIONThe Place Building, National Highway, Tunasan, Muntinlupa City (02) 862-3041 www.equilibrium.com.ph

IFUGAO KAPELagawe, Ifugao (0906) 330-5906

DIRECTORY OF DTI’S COFFEE ENROLLED REGIONS

Cordillera Administrative

Region (CAR)

National Capital Region (NCR)

Region 1

Region 2

Region 3

Region 4A

Region 6

Region 7

Region 8

Region 10

Region 11

Region 12

CARAGA

NEGROS ISLAND

REGION (NIR)

A: Jesnor Bldg., 4 Cariño St., 2600 Baguio CityTF: (+074) 442-8634 F: (+074) 442-5688 E: [email protected]

A: Area I (Manila, Pasay, Parañaque) Mezzanine Floor, Roxas Strip Bldg., Roxas Blvd. cor. Arnaiz Ave., Pasay

P: (+02) 659-4203 F: (+02) 804-0307 E: [email protected]

A: 4F Juanita Commercial Bldg., Quezon Ave., San Fernando City, La Union

P: (+072) 607-7297 F: (+072) 607-0679/ 607-1095 E: [email protected]

A: 11 Dalan na Pappabalo Regional Gov’t. Center, Carig Sur,Tuguegarao City, Cagayan

TF: (+078) 396-9865 NERBAC-R2: (+078) 396-0052 E: [email protected]

A: 2F Angeles Business Center, Teresa Ave. Nepo Mart Complex, 2009 Angeles City

P: (+045) 625-9290/ 625-9291/ 625-9327/ 625-9530/ 888-4900 F: (+045) 625-9607

E: [email protected]

A: 3F Marcelita Bldg., Brgy. Real Calamba City, LagunaP: (+049) 545-6169 F: (+049) 545-7573 NERBAC-CALABARZON: (+049) 834-2715 E: [email protected]

A: 3F DTI Bldg., J.M. Basa & Peralta Sts., Iloilo City P: (+033) 335-0548/ 335-1980 F: (+033) 335-0083 E: [email protected]

A: 3F Rm. 311 WDC Bldg., Osmeña Blvd. Cebu City P: (+032) 255-0036 to 37/ 412-1989 F: (+032) 253-7465 E: [email protected]

A: 2F Leyte Academic Center, Gov’t. Center, Pawing, Palo, Leyte P: (+053) 323-4082/ 323-7360 TF: (+053) 323-5611 E: [email protected]

A: NACIDA Bldg., Corrales Ave. cor. Antonio Luna St. 9000 Cagayan de Oro City

TF: (+088) 880-0911/ (+08822) 726-354 E: [email protected]

A: 3F Mintrade Bldg., Monteverde Ave. cor. Sales St., Davao City P: +082) 224-0511/ 222-1625 F: (+082) 221-4952 E: [email protected]

A: 3-4F De Luz Bldg. Gensan Drive cor. Aquino St. 9506 Koronadal City, South Cotabato

P: (+083) 228-9837 F: (+083) 520-0613 E: [email protected]

A: West Wing, 3F D&V Plaza Bldg., J.C. Aquino Ave., 8600 Butuan City, Agusan del Norte

F: (+085) 815-1271 E: [email protected]

A: 3F Rm. 311 WDC Bldg., OsmeñaBlvd. Cebu City P: (+032) 255-0036 to 37/ 412-1989 F: (+032) 253-7465 E: [email protected]

16 Women in Coffee

the ultimate coffee guide: women in coffee

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