THREE coffee growers from Davao Region were hailed winners of the recently completed Philippine Coffee Quality Competition (PCQC) at the National Coffee Congress in Baguio City on March 21.
These are Marivic Dubria and Maria Luz Dubria, both from Balutakay, Davao del Sur, and Delio Cesar of Bagong Silang, Compostela Valley.
The 2nd Philippine Coffee Quality Competition was open to all coffees of Philippine origin submitted by Philippine coffee farmers and other entities engaged in coffee farming.
Anyone who is into coffee production in the Philippines but not limited to farmers, coffee cooperatives, processors, and exporters with coffee farm and post-harvest facilities were allowed to join.
PCQC accepted coffee sample submission from February 15 to March 5. The samples were submitted to all regional branches of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The sensory analysis was done from March 6 to 20 at the Philippine Barista Coffee Academy of Asia at Metro Manila.
In the latest update on the PCQC page, there were 40 entries for Arabica coffee and 59 entries for the Robusta coffee. There were top 12 entries for each category.
For Robusta, Delio Cesar of Bagong Silang, Compostela Valley was hailed the 5th best Robusta coffee among all the other entries nationwide. He garnered 85.36 percent. The best Robusta coffee was Rodolfo Aciong from Quirino, Ilocos Sur with 85. 96 rating.
The other Robusta category winners from Mindanao were BMMPC farmers from San Roque, Bukidnon (ranked 4th, 85.39 percent), Florentino Hermoso of Lantapan, Bukidnon (ranked 7th, 85.17), Imelda Paulican Mendoza (ranked 8th, 84.46), Lake Sebu Cococonut Farmers Association of South Cotabato (ranked 9th, 84.25), and Rebecca Gacayan of Sultan Kudarat (ranked 11th, 83.04).
For Arabica category, Marivic Dubria of Balutakay, Davao del Sur was ranked the 2nd best with the 86.03 rating while Maria Luz Dubria of the same area ranked 6th with 85.41 ranking. The best Arabica coffee was Oliver Oliem of Caliking, Benguet garnering 87.06 percent.
Other Arabica coffee winners from Mindanao include Zaida Besto of Talakag, Bukidnon (ranked 4th, 85.88), Rogelio Giangan of Cabilao, North Cotabato (ranked 10th, 84.28), Eric Yap of Silipon, Bukidnon (ranked 11th, 84.21), and Kalugmaan Agri Development Corporation (ranked 12th, 83.47).
The lead judges for the competition were Charlie Habegger of Blue Bottle Coffee and Samuel Gurel founder of Torch Coffee Roasters.
PCQC is co-organized by DTI, the Department of Agriculture, and the Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance. Funding was from the United States Department of Agriculture with technical supervision from the Coffee Quality Institute. (JPA)