The country’s coffee production could go down by 12 percent, to 22,000 metric tons (MT) this year from 25,000 MT recorded in 2014, nonprofit group Philippine Coffee Board Inc. (PCBI) said on Monday.
PCBI said it based its forecast on the possibility that weather-related factors would pull down coffee output this year.
Production is expected to recover in 2016, but local output will still not be enough to meet the country’s annual requirement pegged at 100,000 MT.
“The local domestic demand is still at 100,000 MT and is predicted to grow by 3 percent to 5 percent
annually. Imports plug the shortfall in local coffee output,” PCBI President Pacita Juan said.
The local coffee industry is estimated to be worth P21 billion. PCBI said it has the potential to grow further if it would go into producing value-added products.
The group said it has partnered with the Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) to improve the quality of local coffee beans by providing technical assistance to farmers. PEF supports the coffee, cacao, sugarcane and coconut sectors.
For coffee, PEF assists farmers to improve the quality of their produce to increase the value of their coffee beans.
Meanwhile, PCBI said it hopes to set up “cupping laboratories” for Robusta coffee. The cupping labs, which the PCBI is establishing in partnership with PEF, are for coffee tasting and quality observation.
PCBI said it is teaching farmers the “wet method process” so they produce better-tasting Robusta coffee. A majority, or around 70 percent, of the country’s coffee output is classified as Robusta, which is mainly used for instant coffee.
Aside from Robusta, local coffee farmers also plant the Arabica, Liberica and Excelsa varieties.
Coffee farming in the Philippines is dominated by small farmers, according to the Department of Agriculture. The average size of farms is 1 to 2 hectares, with most of the farms being owned by farmers themselves.