Multinational giant Nestle, the Philippines’ biggest buyer of coffee, is confident of the revival of the industry which grew in the first quarter, against a 3.3-percent overall decline of farm output.
“That’s very encouraging, given the pandemic, given the circumstances, given the decline of the industry the past 10 years. We see some positive signs,” said Kais Marzouki, chief executive officer of Nestle Philippines Inc., at the signing of a memorandum of agreement with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) on a scholarship program.
Marzouki noted coffee consumption in the Philippines is growing citing a study which said demand rose 32 percent Per capita consumption is seen to jump four kilograms by 2025.
But Marzouki said local production supplies less than 20 percent of the country’s requirement, which means bulk still has to be imported to meet demand,
“If we put our minds together, government and private sector, we can revive the sector,” he said, adding “with concerted effort we can do much more than that” referring to the first quarter growth.
Marzouki said Nestle through Nescafe Plan and its flagship Project Coffee Plus, small holder farmers in Bukidnon and Sultan Kudarat registered atwo-fold increase in yields and a three-fold increase in income.
“Subsistence farmers are slowly transforming into agripreneurs,” Marzouki added.
With its commitment to buy more coffee locally, Nestle considers coffee as one of the bright spots in Philippine agriculture.
The MOA signed yesterday aims to give coffee farmers a profitable livelihood by
educating them on sustainable production of world-class coffee.
TESDA has allotted 200 training slots each for farmer beneficiaries in Bukidnon and in Sultan Kudarat.
