• RICHARD T. CABALLERO JR.
To advocate the coffee industry in the province, Department of Agriculture – Negros Island Region Director Jose Albert Barrogo said yesterday, during the celebration of the 2nd Coffee Fiesta, that the region is developing local coffee and cacao to be a trademark commodity.
“It [coffee] is one of the commodities, together with cacao, that we are developing to become our trademark to compete with other regions, especially in the Mindanao area. The industry has a huge potential here in NIR,” he said.
Barrogo claimed that despite the fact that coffee is one of the top 10 commodities produced in the region, external help is necessary to help the industry grow and develop.
During the visit of High Value Crops Development Undersecretary Cheryl Marie Natividad-Caballero to the region last week, the DA presented the potential of the coffee industry in the region, and she vowed to help the industry, according to Barrogo.
Meanwhile, the Negros Occidental Coffee Council launched its second Coffee Fiesta with the theme “Bridging the Gap: From Producer to Consumer” at Ayala Malls Capitol Central Activity Center yesterday, which will run until August 10.
Twenty-two coffee shops and other coffee-producing local government units convened in the event. It aims to promote local coffee products and to seek more support from the government and non-government organizations and from the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
“The main goal of Coffee Fiesta is to make sure that we bridge the gap between the producers and consumers. That is where our advocacy is anchored, that our producers will not be having a hard time marketing their products, as well as to provide good quality coffee that is worth every penny,” Negros Occidental Coffee Council President Christian Marc Romay said.
Romay also disclosed that the country is only producing 15 percent of the coffee that the local consumers are consuming, while 85 percent is imported from other countries. He urged the farmers to plant more coffee and the MSMEs to purchase more locally produced coffee.
“Eighty-five percent of coffee in the Philippines is imported, so imagine if that percentage went to our local farmers. It can change a lot of lives… We need to plant more; that is our encouragement to the farmers. We need to make a change in perspective that the MSMEs must select local,” he emphasized in an interview.
Furthermore, La Castellana, which was reported to be one of the biggest coffee producers in the province last year, is currently suffering a loss in production due to the recent calamities.
The council is planning to conduct a survey and research to have concrete data regarding the growth and potential of the industry in the province.*
