THE DAVAO Coffee Circle collaborated with local business owners to elevate the coffee scene further, making it a hub for ‘pasalubong’ and a coffee destination in the country.
Organizing the Davao Coffee Fest (DCF) for the second time around, the organization will highlight different competitions inviting various baristas, and exhibiting local specialty coffee and brands, at the Gaisano Mall Atrium from Oct. 4 to 6.
During the Habi at Kape forum on Sept. 25, Mina Limbaga, Davao Coffee Fest secretariat, said competitions such as Latte Art Throwdown, Brewer’s Cup, Cup Tasters, and Barista Duo Challenge, will be held throughout the three-day event.
“We just invited different barista duos from Davao City, Cotabato, and other neighboring areas to join us and our fellow coffee circle members. It’s the first time ever that we are having this, and it would still be per invitation only. Hopefully, next year we will be opening it for registration so that other baristas locally can join,” Limbaga said.
JB Herrera, DCF co-organizer and Fourth Street Cafe owner, said competitions such as this could elevate the competitiveness of Davao baristas, as a preparation as well for the national scene.
“We added more technicalities in the mechanics for our competition and we aim to have more competitive baristas here in Davao, hoping that we can have a national representative when it comes to Philippine coffee competitions. We do hope that our local scene can have a product barista that can compete on a national stage,” Herrera said.
Making Davao City a top coffee destination
Aside from promoting local coffee, the 2024 Davao Coffee Crawl (DCC) seeks to uplift the Davao coffee scene into becoming a coffee destination in the country, featuring 15 homegrown coffee shops in the city starting on Oct. 7.
Now in its fourth year, the DCC will be for the whole month of October in celebration of International Coffee Day.
RJ Lumawag, DCC co-organizer and Hid’n Coffee co-owner, said the crawl will highlight coffee shops in Davao City that have made their mark in the history of the local coffee scene, including the Coffee for Peace, Coffee at Yellow Hauz, and Thirty Third Coffee.
“So as you can see, we try to include coffee shops from different target markets, coffee shops with different concepts. So that Davaoeños will be able to experience various coffee profiles and coffee concepts in Davao City,” Lumawag said.
Leera Valderama, DCC co-org and Kiks Cafe owner, said they also aim to invite visitors from other neighboring cities.
“We’re also aiming to have visitors from neighboring cities to join the crawl and to visit the fest for it to be more vibrant and lively this year,” she said.
Lumawag said this will further support the local coffee industry at the farmer level.
“Many of the local roasters are actually going to our local farmers to help them improve their post-harvest production, like, helping and providing them knowledge on processing coffee. At the same time, even some of the farmers here in Davao actually know how to brew their coffee. So, these two events actually really support the whole supply chain of coffee,” he added.
Last year during the crawl, participants will complete 15 stamps/stickers to be able to win a special prize. Crawl cards will soon be released with a minimal fee of P100. Details and mechanics of the crawl will soon be posted on the official Instagram and Facebook pages of the DCC.
Photo from Davao Coffee Crawl
