Nestlé, DTI to set up coffee buying stations

Consumer goods giant Nestlé Philippines and the Department of Trade and Industry are looking to put up more “satellite coffee buying stations” that will directly buy the produce from the local farmers.

This move is expected to encourage more Filipino farmers to increase coffee production given the ready market.

Ruth P. Novales, vice president for corporate affairs of Nestlé Philippines, said the company planned to put up these stations in communities that can produce 350 metric tons to 400 MT a year of coffee.

Nestlé is developing one in Quirino province.

Nestlé has nine satellite coffee buying stations located in Silang in Cavite; Lipa City in Batangas; Tuguegarao City in Cagayan Valley; Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental; Tagbina in Surigao del Sur; Cagayan de Oro City in Misamis Oriental; Tagum City in Davao del Norte; General Santos City in South Cotabato; and Iloilo City in Iloilo.

Apart from making available a market for locally produced coffee, Nestlé Philippines is also helping farmers raise incomes through better and higher yield.

The goal is to help make the Philippines self-sufficient in coffee production with the help of all stakeholders, especially the government, Novales added.

The DTI, for its part, is also looking at setting up coffee buying stations in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), particularly in Kalinga, Ifugao and Abra, according to DTI-CAR regional director Myrna P. Pablo.

Pablo earlier said that by the end of the year, the Philippines would have imported 40,000 metric tons of coffee to sustain local consumption.