BENGUET’S capital town is being eyed to have the first Coffee Institute in the Philippines.
The Department of Tourism-Cordillera Administrative Region recently said plans for the establishment of a Coffee Institute in La Trinidad are being made.
DOT-CAR regional director Marie Venus Tan said the department has already asked permission from the provincial and municipal government unit to support the proposal while a private company is being asked to study the proposal.
“We really want to take advantage of the proposal especially that Benguet particularly La Trinidad has already made its place known for producing world-class quality coffee. DOT-CAR is already in the process of communicating with the LGU for the study of the potential of the eyed coffee institute,” Tan said.
Tan added DOT – CAR has partnered with Henry & Sons, the largest coffee solutions company in the Philippines today.
Henry & Sons was born out of the combined expertise and experience of Conlins Coffee, a Philippine-based coffee roaster that specialized in providing world-class premium luxury coffee and RICMAS Philippines, a coffee equipment company originating from Malaysia.
If the study yields positive result, DOT-CAR will push through with their partnering with the LGU and coffee farmers in the town as well as those from nearby places.
“This will be an added value for the coffee industry and we anticipate it can be among the marketing strategies to improve the tourism and economy in this part of the region,” said the DOT official adding the existing coffee post harvesting facility is already a plus for the proposal.
Last month, the Department of Trade and Industry-Cordillera launched the first shared service facility project for Arabica coffee post-harvest processing and cupping laboratory in the country at the Benguet State University in La Trinidad.
Apart from doing additional research for a more effective production and farming, the processing facility is expected to give a big boost not only to the coffee industry but to coffee farmers based in the Cordilleras. In the past five years, Benguet has been known as the top producer of arabica coffee in the region followed by Mt. Province, while Kalinga is better known for their robusta variety.
All over the Philippines, Cordillera presently ranks fifth in terms of coffee production.