Two types of coffee from Bukidnon that topped the country’s first “green coffee quality” or cupping competition mounted by the Philippine Coffee Board Inc. will soon be on their way to represent the country at an international coffee expo to be held in the United States this April.
The coffee beans of the Inhandig Tribal Multipurpose Cooperative (ITMPC) from Malaybalay and Kape Maramag from Maramag won this year’s Kape Pilipino (KP) Green Coffee Quality Competition for the Arabica and Robusta categories, respectively, besting 78 other entries.
The beans were evaluated by four international judges at the Cavite State University from Feb. 28 to March 3 using the Coffee Quality Institute’s Q grading system.
Both winners will send their representatives to Seattle, Washington, this April to the Specialty Coffee Association Expo to showcase their products.
The KP competition is part of PCBI’s quest to upgrade the Philippines’ coffee industry standards, as they continue to build the country’s own “army” of coffee graders and cuppers, a project which began last year in collaboration with the CQI.
Judges include Samuel Gurel, president of North Carolina-based Torch Coffee Company; Mbula Musau, an independent regional coffee consultant from Kenya; Shaun Ong of Bettr Barista Academy from Singapore; and Lalida Sithipruthanon of Omnia Cafe and Roastery in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
“The Q system is an objective, standardized way of grading coffee. That’s really important, because if [we’re] just like food critics, and he or she has a different opinion, how can it be a fair contest? We’re trained to objectively evaluate the coffee in a system that works surprisingly well,” said Gurel.
Through the US Department of Agriculture grant administered under the Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA), the KP Coffee Cupping competition is one of the projects under Mindanao Productivity through Agriculture, Commerce and Trade (MinPACT) with PCBI, CQI’s local partner.
KP, however, could be more than just a contest, said Gurel. It could also very well be a “data gathering opportunity” for the local industry.
“You need some general data for someone interested in [Philippine] coffee, so you know where to tell them to go,” said Gurel.
But ultimately, the KP contest is about one thing, said Gurel: to tell the stories of the country’s coffee farmers.
“The main point of this contest is to recognize people who make good coffee. When you do that, they are willing to keep working hard to make nice coffee,” he said. —ANNELLE TAYAO-JUEGO