After a three-month search and a five-day of tasting almost a hundred coffee samples from all over the Philippines, the Philippine Coffee Board, Inc. (PBCI), Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA) announced the Inhandig Tribal Multi-Purpose Cooperative (ITMPC) of Malaybalay City, Bukidnon in the Arabica category and Kape Maramag of Maramag, Bukidnon in the Robusta category as the winners of the First Green Coffee Quality Competition at the Cavite State University- Main Campus in Indang, Cavite on 04 March 2017. The winning Arabica coffee scored 85.84 points while the Robusta got 83.75. They will be sent to the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) Expo in Seattle, Washington, USA this April 2017 to be reviewed by the International Roasting Community.

Two of the more popular coffee species are Arabica and Robusta. Arabica, which accounts for about 60% of the world’s commercial coffee production, prefers to grow in light shade and highlands and is delicate and vulnerable to disease. Robusta, on the other hand, can grow in lowlands and is more resistant to blight.

“Currently, there are many coffee shops. There is also a growing interest in high-quality coffees or specialty coffees,” said ACDI/VOCA Chief of Party Thelonious Trimmell.

According to Trimmell, ACDI/VOCA has been implementing agriculture-related projects in the Philippines for almost 30 years now. Increasing the income of Filipino farmers and increasing the excitement of farming in the country are some of the organization’s goals.

“Here in the Philippines, there are many good-quality coffees. The idea is to raise up the profile of Philippine coffee by increasing the awareness of the farmers of a good-quality coffee and increasing the productivity of good-quality coffee,” added Trimmell.

Dubbed Kape Pilipino Cupping Competition, it is the first national coffee quality competition to determine who produces the highest quality coffee in the Philippines. The competition is part of the Mindanao Productivity in Agricultural Commerce and Trade (MinPACT) project with USDA as donor agency and ACDI-VOCA as the implementing company. MinPACT is a 30-month project with the PCBI as a grantee of a Fixed Obligation Grant to strengthen itself as the “go-to” organization for Philippine coffee.

“The goal of the competition is not only to judge our coffees but to also know what our coffees need more and what should we do to make our coffees be recognized by the world,” said PBCI Chair Nicholas Matti during his opening remarks.

For the competition, farmer associations and cooperatives and individual farmers were encouraged to collect five-kilo samples of their best lot of Arabica and or Robusta green beans with a moisture no higher than 11%. Farmers needed to have the volume required for the samples and were requested to retain a quantity of the same coffee in the sample for it may fetch a higher price after the competition. All samples were then submitted to the Cavite State University, Benguet State University, and ACDI-VOCA offices in Davao. They were coded and were reviewed by the judges for almost a week under the strict standards of the CQI.

Specialty coffee is coffee that scores higher than 80 points on a 100-point scale. The scoring is based on 10 attributes and defects of the coffee. The higher the score, the better price it commands in the specialty market.

“The point system called the Q System was introduced by CQI, the esteemed authority on specialty coffee based in the USA, to allow specialty coffee to have a common ‘language.’ The scale is up to 100, where trained palates called Q Graders taste the coffee, smell the grounds, and brew and slurp as much as they can to describe its ‘notes’—the reminders of floral, caramel, chocolate, spice, fruits, etc. that graders may associate the taste and smell with,” said PCBI President and Co-chair Pacita “Chit” Juan.

The Department of Trade and Industry assisted in the promotion of the project to train and to encourage more coffee graders in the country, with participants from the Cordillera Administration Region up north to Sulu down south. Many participants were under the DTI Coffee Cluster.

“The Philippines has prioritized coffee in the agri-business sector. DTI will help in providing awareness and in increasing productivity of high-quality coffee to bring high-inclusive growth,” said DTI CALABARZON Director Marilou Toledo.

The CALABARZON Region bagged two spots in the Robusta category—Magallanes, Cavite (Top 2) and Casile, Cabuyao, Laguna.

“It is our first time to join a competition, and we are very happy that our coffee in Magallanes, Cavite is recognized by its good quality,” said Imelda Villanueva, a coffee farmer from Cavite who scored 82.54.

“Asia is the new origin the market is looking for. I hope to bring the winning entries to the USA as soon as possible,” remarked Samuel Gurel from the USA, the founder of Torch Coffee and the panel head.

“We were very surprised and impressed by the quality and uniqueness of the coffees in the Philippines,” said one of the international judges, Shaun Ong from Singapore.

The other judges were Mbula Musau from Kenya and Lalida Sithipruthanon from Thailand.

PCBI, together with its partner agencies and DTI, plans to conduct the competition every year to give farmers and producers the chance to be showcased to international markets.