A DAVAO Coffee Council (DCC) official expresses optimism about the growth of more local coffee shops in Davao City.
DCC Chair and Coffee for Peace chief executive officer Joji Pantoja said she is supportive of the growing number of coffee shops in the city, as long as they support local coffee from the local farmers to help the local economy and maintain coffee farmers’ plantations.
“Okay lang na dumami pa at gusto naming dumami pa ang coffee carts, coffee shops, nagtitinda ng kape kung saan-saan basta local coffee, to help our economy and it would sustain our farmers to continue on planting coffee,” Pantoja said in a press conference, September 12 at SM Lanang.
She also highlighted the potential of Davao Region to produce more coffee in two years time, from 500 hectares of coffee plantations — ranking second as the country’s high-producing coffee variants such as arabica and robusta.
The official also urges Filipino investors and potential businesses to invest in coffee shops as well.
Pantoja said Filipino coffee had been heavily ordered or in demand in countries like the United States, Switzerland, Romania, Japan, and Korea. However, she said it would be best for Filipinos to taste and appreciate local coffee.
“That’s why the Coffee for Peace, working together with Davao Coffee Council, have this ‘buy local, support local (slogan)’ and we intentionally encourage others to put up their own coffee cart, and we can help supply them their own coffee just to educate our consumers [to] drink local coffee,” Pantoja said.
It can be noted that several coffee planters in the Davao Region seek to improve their quantity of production to adapt to the weather patterns and also seek the government’s help in expanding their plantations.
For instance, Balutakay Coffee Farmers Association (BACOFA) president and coffee farmer Rogelio Gonzalez said farmers had already exported their coffee products to other countries such as Japan and the United States because they are “known for their good quality”.
However, there is still a need to improve their quantity of production as their usual harvest was significantly reduced last year due to high rainfall. ICE