Millennials help promote coffee culture in Davao

DAVAO CITY – Millennials posting photos of their coffee on social media have promoted the so-called “coffee culture” in Davao Region, resulting on a rise in the number of “third wave coffee shops” here and the surge in demand for high quality specialty coffee beans grown by the local farmers.

Melani Provido, regional High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) coordinator at the Department of Agriculture (DA) 11, said there was a growing trend for local “third wave coffee shops” that do not only carry some local coffee brands, but also serve high quality specialty Arabica coffee sourced from the local growers in the region.

She said the 27 third wave coffee shops that opened in the region last year reported 90 percent of their customers were millennials, who take to social media to share their experiences. The growing patronage of these shops ultimately trickles down to small coffee farmers who get paid higher for their produce.

She said the green coffee beans sell for P350 per kilo in the local market.

“Just imagine the population of the millennials, they are indeed of big help. Our millennials are helping our coffee industry. They post on social media and they are willing to pay high price for good coffee,” Provido said.

Despite the growing demand, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the country’s coffee production had been seeing a consistent decline from 75,454 metric tons (MT) in 2014; 72,341 MT in 2015; 68,822 MT in 2016; and 62,077 MT in 2017.