ASEAN coffee traders set Manila meet

MANILA, Philippines - Delegates from various coffee-producing and coffee-buying countries from South east Asia will be coming to Manila for the fifth meeting of the group called ASEAN Coffee Federation. The meeting will be the first to be held in Manila and is timed to coincide with the Pahimis Coffee Festival in Amadeo, Cavite on Feb. 17 and 18, 2012.

The Philippine Coffee Board Inc. (PCBI), the country’s leading non-profit organization dedicated to coffee, will host the meeting together with sponsors Culinary Exchange, Phil Barista Coffee Academy, Kick Start Coffee, Gourmets Coffee and Mt. Apo Civet Coffee.

Expected to attend are officials of the Thailand Barista Association, the officers of the Singapore Coffee Association, the president of the Specialty Coffee Association of Indonesia, director of Dao Coffee and Lao Chamber of Commerce of Laos and a few others who are in one way or the other are in the coffee trade, within the ASEAN countries.

The group will also concoct an ASEAN coffee blend which can be served during the ADB Manila 2012 meet in May, where finance ministers from the Asian region will be tasting this coffee.

Since by 2015 there will be free trade of coffee among ASEAN countries, the group envisions a strong union of coffee-producing countries to make Asia a major important source of the crop. Many of the delegates are involved in the specialty coffee business, a segment of the industry that seeks higher value for coffee alongside better quality of all coffees from Asia.

Two Asian countries, notably Vietnam and Indonesia are among the Top 5 producers of the world, with Brazil and Columbia still at No. 1 and 3, respectively, and the no. 5 slot is still in Asia, and that is India.

The Philippines producers a low 25,000 metric tons (MT) which is not enough to meet its consumption of over 65,000 MT. The situation is being addressed by carving out specialty coffee from among the various coffee-growing areas like civet coffee which now comes from Davao, Sulu and the Cordillera.