Demand up for farmers who won coffee tilt

WINNING the Philippine Coffee Quality Competition (PCQC) had increased the market potential of the coffees of the Balutakay Coffee Farmers Association (Bacofa) in Balutakay, Davao del Sur.

In an earlier published article of Sunstar Davao it was reported that for Arabic coffee two winners were from Bacofa cooperative. Marivic Dubria's coffee was ranked the 2nd best with the 86.03 rating while Maria Luz Dubria ranked 6th with 85.41 rating.

According to Marivic, Marketing Officer of Bacofa, they submitted three kilograms of per type of Arabica coffee – honey-processed, natural, and the fully washed. Their natural coffee was ranked second while the honey-processed was ranked sixth. On the other hand, for the Robusta category, Delio Cesar got the fifth ranking with 85.36 rating.

The submission of entries was done from February 15 to March 5. These were submitted to regional branches of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Sensory analyses were done from March 6 to 20 at the Philippine Barista Coffee Academy of Asia in Metro Manila.

Marivic said before the competition, they were able to sell their dried coffee beans for 80 to 110 per kilogram (kg) for non-specialty coffees but after the ranking and the announcement of winners, the value of their dried coffee had increased.

Non-graded specialty coffees are usually priced at only P270/kg but during the business to business matching at the PCQC, investors were already willing to pay P500/kg for their winning beans.

Marivic said coffee beans scoring at least 80 percent can be sold for P300/kg, 86 percent at P616/kg, and those rated with more than 86 percent ratings can actually be sold at P800/kg. With their coffee beans already graded with 86.03, Dubria said they priced it at only P500/kg with the investor agreeing to shoulder other costs including the logistics.

The owner of the farm where the winning Arabic coffees were harvested from was Juanita Amaba. She said her buyers of dried coffee beans used to be the Chinese businessmen and they usually bought it at P100/kg on average with several negotiations already on Amaba’s side.

“Some farmers in Balutakay, Davao del Sur actually regretted that they weren’t able to have their coffee beans graded. Because of this, they couldn’t offer the beans for a much higher price,” said Dubria in vernacular. JPA