A DAVAO-BASED coffee supplier encouraged small businesses to support and sell local products as this effort will help boost the region’s economy.
Coffee for Peace chief executive officer Felicitas Pantoja said the support will “help sustain our farmers to continue planting coffee,” particularly with the rise of micro-businesses in the industry.
“Okay lang na dumami pa ang mga coffee cart, coffee shops, nagtitinda ng kape kung saan-saan, basta local coffee,” Pantoja said.
Pantoja also emphasized that Davao City is considered as the “home of the champions” for Arabica coffee supplies, and was also deemed as the second-highest region producing quality coffee across the Philippines.
“In fact, during our meeting with the Davao Coffee Council, some provinces in the Davao Region planted 500 hectares of coffee for Arabica and Robusta. So in two years time, we have lots of production,” she added.
She also stressed that one of their goals is to make Filipino citizens their main customers when it comes to appreciating local coffee, even if they encounter a lot of demands in several countries abroad such as the United States, Switzerland, Romania, Japan, and Korea.
In line with this, the Davao Coffee Council XI aims to launch their “Buy Local, Support Local”, supplying coffee to those who are interested in putting up coffee businesses, to further educate and encourage locals.
Photo courtesy of Coffee for Peace
