Negrense April Lie T. Obique ranked seventh in the Robusta category during the staging of the 2022 Philippine Coffee Quality Competition (PCQC) held in Manila.
Obique represented the Minoyan Murcia Marginal Coffee Growers which competed against a hundred contestants.
"I was among those who were adjudged in the top ten due to the quality of our coffee beans," she said.
The award was given by Under Secretary Blesila A. Lantayona of the Department of Trade Industry in-charge of the Regional Operations Group and Terrence Ryan, Chief of Party of Philippine Café, an international development nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C.
Also present during her awarding was Under Secretary Evelyn Laviña of the High-Value Crops and Rural Credit of the Department of Agriculture and Rosario Cruz, Chief Executive Officer of the Barista and Coffee Academy of Asia, Inc.
Oblique said that before she entered the national competition, she was adjudged as the top one at the regional level in 2021.
Negros Occidental coffee growers have gained prominence at the national level due to the quality coffee beans that they cultivate and process in the province.
They also introduced some coffee flavors such as caramel, choco milk, and several others.
Obique's organization and others have joined the Coffee Festival held at the Atrium of SM City Bacolod North Wing.
Paul Jasper Javellana of Esstoria Coffee also participated in the coffee fest wherein they also offered fine-quality Robusta coffee.
Meanwhile, Marc Christian Romay of the Mangkas Coffee Roasters also participated in the Coffee Festival.
From a coffee seller in 2014, they opted to engage in planting coffee in 2018 which currently, they already planted more than 5,000 trees as their way of enabling Philippine Coffee to move forward in our little way.
Businesses experience challenges but the good thing about coffee is that we enjoy it especially this is where I found my calling also.
There are a lot of ups and downs. But at the end of the day, there is always a reason to keep going.
He added that coffee serves as a turbo shot to people when they drink, especially in the morning.
“We feel the boost every time we have coffee and it helps in our productivity. We are always awake and we can make a lot of positive impacts if we are fully caffeinated,” he said.