The Potential of the Local Coffee Industry

Recently, the Department of Agriculture collaborated with Nestle Philippines to support the coffee industry roadmap 2021-2025 and boost the local coffee industry. In this meeting, Nestle was encouraging greater public investment in the Philippine coffee industry, noting this as crucial to sustain and revive this sector which has been steadily declining by 3.5%

Currently, the Philippines is only 15% self-sufficient in coffee. The majority of this comes from Mindanao with an 83.63% share, then trailed by Luzon at 9.18%, and Visayas with 7.2%.

Coffee is a highly traded commodity and would greatly contribute to the economy however, in recent years, production has been diminishing.

With the popularity of instant coffee in the country, the Philippines has been the leading importer of instant coffee since 2011 and was predicted to be one of the top consumers by 2021. Instant coffee is most popular with the younger age group due to its convenience and most of the demand is towards this product.

On the other hand, the more affluent Filipinos have been supporting specialty coffee shops popular in urban areas such as Starbucks, UCC, and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf while smaller shops are also slowly emerging.

There is no doubt that there is a strong local demand for coffee in the Philippines, from instant coffee in packets to frappuccinos in Starbucks.

Aside from the economic potential of this industry, upscaling and investing in this sector would provide more job opportunities for farmers and workers. The Philippines is also one of the very few countries which can produce both Robusta and Arabica varieties of coffee.

With the right policies, collaboration with the private sector, and additional programs and funding, the coffee sector in the Philippines can thrive again.

Sources: Philstar, USAID