THE Balutakay Coffee Farmers Association (Bacofa), a top producer of quality Arabica coffee in the country, is now eyeing to export up to five tons of specialty coffee a year to the United States of America (USA).
During the Habi at Kape media forum Wednesday, March 27, PhilCAFE project chief of party Terrence John Ryan said Bacofa will present their specialty coffee during the Specialty Coffee Expo in Boston, USA where the bidding of the export price will also happen.
Marivic Dubria, champion of the Philippine Coffee Quality Competition (PCQC) 2019 in the Arabica category, reported that they have been exporting 500 to 1,000 kilograms of specialty coffee every year to Japan and 200 to 300 kilograms a year for the buyers in Canada.
“Dili sa ‘ko mu-commit og dagko na orders abroad kay kabalo ko na diri sa Pilipinas, kulang pa gihapon ang supply sa kape nga good quality. Naga-angkat paman gani ang Pilipinas og kape sa laing lugar, gusto nako i-prioritize ang buyers sa Pilipinas sa (I will not commit for bigger orders abroad since the country still lacks supply of good quality coffee and is even exporting from the neighboring countries. I want to prioritize the Filipino buyers first),” Dubria said.
He said that they currently have a 400-hectare land for coffee production and they are planning to add another 200 hectares to produce more. They have been supplying their local and international buyers 20 to 320 tons of good quality coffee per year.
Bacofa has been supplying to buyers in 17 cities in the country -- Manila, Cavite, Valenzuela, Quezon, Iloilo, Bacolod, Cebu, Bohol, Iligan, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, among others.
“Na-realize nako na dili lang diay mi farmers lang kay dako diay mi og contribution sa coffee industry. Didto nako nakita ang huge market sa coffee (I realized that we are not just mere farmers because we have contributed greatly to the coffee industry. I have seen that there is a huge coffee market),” Dubria said
Dubria said they will continue to improve their product and become raise the bar for the coffee industry of the country.