Group pushes for global recognition of Asian coffee blend

MANILA, Philippines - There’s no lack of good coffee around the world. Even at the ends of the earth, there is always that perfect brew that could surely satisfy even the most discriminating coffee drinker.

However, nothing will probably be as satisfying as drinking coffee from the Southeast Asian region.

A group seeking to promote an Asian coffee blend all over the world stresses the difference of drinking Asian coffee.

In an interview with The STAR, social entrepreneur and coffee industry player Pacita Juan discussed the importance of the Asean Coffee Federation which recently held its meeting in the Philippines for the first time since its founding.

Juan, president of the Philippine Coffee Board Inc., the country’s leading non-profit organization for local coffee, hosted the meeting which coincided with the Pahimis Coffee Festival in Amadeo, Cavite on Feb. 17 and 18, 2012.

“The idea is to always push for the promotion of Asian coffee all over the world,” Juan said in an interview.

The group, which counts as members coffee producers from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Laos and Indonesia, have been meeting regularly for some years now.

“The meetings were held around the region,” Juan noted.

During the meeting here, key players in the coffee trade in the region, exchanged ideas on how to promote the Asian brew.

Officials of the Thailand Barista Association, the officers of the Singapore Coffee Association, the Specialty Coffee Association of Indonesia, Dao Coffee and Lao Chamber of Commerce of Laos and others in the coffee trade, graced the event.

Juan said that the group sees a strong union of coffee-producing countries in the region which would result in making Asia a major source of the crop.

The idea is to compete with other bestselling coffee in the world such as coffee from Africa and Brazil.

Juan said coffee from the region is not only competitive in taste but also because of the way it is processed.

The Asean Coffee Federation members in Pakse, Laos pose for a group shot.

In the Philippines, coffee farmers are taught to pick only red cherries which indicate that the beans are ripe for harvest.

“It’s the way coffee should be harvested,” Juan said.

Another aim of the federation is to work like a support group among coffee players in the region wherein members can help each other in terms of market and sharing of expertises.

“As a group, we can work together,” Juan said. Princess Kumalah Sug-Elardo, a princess from Sulu, who founded the People’s Alliance for Progress Multi-purpose Cooperative, attended the meeting.

The cooperative which produces Sulu Royal Coffee comes in two variants – civet coffee and original blend.

Sug-Elardo said attending the meeting has opened a wealth of possibilities for her group.

“There are a lot of opportunities. We now have an assured market for our civet coffee and this is thru the Federation,” Sug-Elardo said as she expressed optimism and excitement in actively participating in the federation.

As Juan said, “I think it is a very potent group that would bring coffee of Asean to the region and the rest of the world.”