THE AWARDING of international medals for local coffee growers and a new prize specifically created for a Batangas-grown coffee opened the Biyaya Sustainable Living Festival. The awards were given on the festival’s first day, March 14.
The Biyaya Festival, which ended on March 16, is an expanded version of the Manila Coffee Festival, and honored besides coffee, traditional handicrafts, textiles, and other local arts. A section of the festival, which was held in Parqal Mall in Parañaque, showed paintings, pottery, and traditional tattoo artists; another section was devoted to supernatural beliefs.
Richard Watanabe, founder of the Coffee Heritage Project and co-founder of the Biyaya Sustainable Living Festival said in a speech, “This festival was borne out of a simple but powerful idea: that the artisans, farmers, and craftsmen of the Philippines are not just producers of goods. They are artists, cultural bearers, entrepreneurs, and individuals. Their work is woven into the very fabric of our identity.”
“Our purpose is to have local growers in charge of developing locally roasted coffee to be recognized at an international level,” said Philippe Juglar in a speech. Mr Juglar is the president of the Paris-based Agence pour la Valorisation des Produits Agricoles (Agency for Valorization of Agricultural Products or AVPA). AVPA is a non-governmental, non-profit organization composed of producers and taste enthusiasts that provides certifications, training, and support for local growers worldwide. AVPA also holds contests for the best in their class for coffee, chocolate, tea, and edible oils. More than 700 producers from around the world participate in AVPA contests every year, according to its website.
The awards that were won last year were awarded in the Philippines last week by Mr. Juglar.
There were four awards given this year: Rebecca Gacayan from Sultan Kudarat won the Gourmet Medal from the Café Ronds Category, honoring well-balanced coffee, while George Dapliyan from Sagada won the Gourmet Bronze Medal for the Acidulé Floral category, recognizing coffees with bright acidity and delicate floral notes. Andrew and Mary Tomeg, and Filipa Villicana, also from Sagada, won the Silver for the same category.
Finally, Martin Macalintal and Niña Guinto of Batangas won the Gourmet Medal for the Hors Categories, created specifically for the Barako coffee given its uniqueness as an entry. “To obtain this level of quality requires years and years of effort,” said Mr. Juglar.
SWEET COFFEEThe coffee industry in Batangas was started in the 1700s by Spanish friars but was expanded in the next century through the estate of the Kalaw-Katigbak family (which was also honored during the festival). Barako, the coffee varietal grown there, belongs to the Liberica species of coffee, as opposed to the more mainstream Arabica. Mr. Macalintal said in a speech, “From a micro farm in Alitagtag, Batangas, here we are. We’re going to conquer the world.”
He discussed the qualities of his prize-winning coffee with BusinessWorld. He said that Ms. Guinto had submitted their coffee for judging by the AVPA in a previous contest, and the organization deemed it too sweet and suspected cheating. Scientists were brought to their small 200-tree farm to investigate, only to find out that bordering properties planted with sugarcane contributed to the coffee’s terroir.
“There was no cheating. There was inherent sugar or sweetness in the coffee,” he said. “It’s very fruity, but at the same time, you have the tanginess and acidity of Liberica.”
The small farm began as a plot of about 3,000 square meters. “Now that I know the quality of what we can make out of the land, then I’m going to start to expand,” said Mr. Macalintal. — Joseph L. Garcia
