Almost seven decades ago, the Philippines was the third- largest coffee producer globally after Brazil and Colombia.
By 2017, however, the country’s ranking plunged to the 27th place for various reasons, primarily due to the decline domestic coffee production, while other nations, such as Vietnam, had surpassed the Philippines.
Nevertheless, there are passionate Filipinos who still believe Philippine coffee can be on a par with the other leading brands in the world.
Michael Harris Conlin, president and chief executive officer of Henry & Sons, is one of the Filipinos who fervently believe that local coffee’s spot in the world can be regained. In fact, Conlin has dedicated his life’s work in developing a sustainable coffee industry in the Philippines.
Moreover, Conlin has devoted himself to advocating the welfare of coffee-producing communities in the country, specifically in Benguet province, so that upland residents may enjoy a stable and thriving industry for generations to come.
Just recently, he awarded a moisture meter to an Itogon cooperative to improve further their production.
“Our road map is to create a fully sustainable coffee economy in the country,” he told the media in a recent briefing held in Mandaluyong City.
Although coffee production is
a difficult business, Conlin remains unfazed of the challenges in the
coffee business, citing that the driving force is the passion for coffee.
Promoting Philippine coffee
After winning the most recent Philippine National Barista Championship with his Espresso, Milk and Signature courses—each one representing a specific coffee-drinker archetype—Conlin will compete this month in the global arena as the Philippines’s official representative in the World Barista Championship in Boston.
Conlin is motivated to use this competition as a platform to spread awareness about Philippine coffee farming and production, while also aiming to shift consumer preference to local coffee.
“This year, as champion of the local leg, we will represent the country in the World Barista Championship in Boston where we will bring the same zeal and expertise. We aim to show that the Philippines is more than capable of creating specialty coffee that can compete in the world stage,” he said.
The competition will also serve as a platform to:
- To bring the spotlight on Philippine coffee-farming communities that rely on sustainability;
- To have Filipino consumers begin appreciating local coffee;
- To foster a healthy relationship between roasters and farmers wherein knowledge and best practices are shared for improved cup quality; and
- To nurture barista communities that understand and respect the crops and farming industry in order to mindfully serve customers.
Furthermore, Henry & Sons crafted several programs as part of their contribution to uplift the coffee industry and its stakeholders in the country.
Coffee for Great Minds provides scholarships to deserving schoolchildren of farmers, hoping that they can follow the footsteps of their parents to develop a stronger food security in the country. It has also created a Barista Camp to develop the next generation of baristas.
“The goal here is to make Filipinos become champions for Filipino coffee, to advocate sustainability for local farming communities, to begin a synergistic relationship between roasters and farmers so that cup quality can increase via shared best practices and knowledge, and, of course, to nurture a barista culture that fully understands the farming industry so they can mindfully serve consumers.” Conlin explained.
Conlin also developed multiple platforms to enable coffee farmers to thrive, such as the Foundation for Sustainable Coffee Excellence (FSCE), which is Henry & Sons’s advocacy arm, the Institute for Coffee Excellence (ICE), which is their capability-building arm, the The Giving Coffee (TGC) efforts—one of which is Henry & Sons’s own brick- and-mortar structure, and the Kape, Kabuhayan, Kinabukasan project (also called the KKK), which offers specific brews that directly benefit a cause such as clean water, health missions, scholarships and the like in provinces that rely on coffee farming.
The KKK program aims to “create and strengthen a sustainable coffee culture for both consumers and producers so that future generations.”
Henry & Sons also created the FSCE, a nonprofit organization that seeks to help bring back the Philippines into the global spotlight through sustainable coffee farming and by helping the local coffee growers. Other programs under Henry & Sons include the Beans for the Little Ones, Beans, Cup to Seed, Coffee for Great Minds and The Giving Well.
TGC is a social enterprise platform founded by Henry & Sons to support the FSCE on its aim to create a more sustainable local coffee-farming landscape.
“This is why, at Henry &Sons, we strengthen our synergistic partnerships with FSCE and its capability- building arm, Institute for Coffee Excellence, which enables farmers and roasters to work together on knowledge transfer on best farming practices to improve cup quality,” Conlin said.
For Henry & Sons, the game plan is to work with all the stakeholders such as the farmers and consumers. Both sides are going to be happy as consumers will enjoy quality and good coffee, while farmers can earn more. “That’s the only way to make the coffee industry sustainable,” he stressed.