PRODUCERS: 29 farmers surrounding the Sitio Naguey Mill

LOCATION: Caliking, Atok, Benguet, Cordillera, Philippines

VARIETY: Red Bourbon, San Ramon, Typica, Mundo Novo

PROCESS: Washed

CHOCOLATE SYRUP, BUTTERSCOTCH, HAZELNUT BUTTER, LEMON

On the sunnier and lower side of Sitio Belis is another small community of dedicated coffee growers nurturing about 20 hectares of land. Although Sitio Naguey is only 800 meters away from the main mill in Sitio Belis, producers here who wanted to process their coffee had to climb up an extremely steep hill while hand carrying hundreds of kilos of cherries. After consulting with farmers, our partner importer Kalsada decided to build a mill in Naguey to bring the processing closer to where the producers lived.

This resulted in increased efficiency in producing coffee and in farmers earning more as the time spent on hiking and carrying cherries was instead spent on picking, processing, and sorting.

From having only nine partners, we now work with 29 farmers in Sitio Naguey. They produced 3.5 tons of specialty coffee during the 2022/2023 harvest.

At the start, Sitio Naguey exclusively produced natural-processed coffee, but frequent rains during the harvest season increased the risks for mold infestation and over-fermentation. To adapt to the changing climate, Kalsada and the farmers explored the washed process, where cherries are pulped, dry-fermented for 24 hours, then wet-fermented for another 24 hours. After washing and drying, the parchment beans are left to rest in hermetic bags for four to six weeks.

During the 2023 harvest, Kalsada built a new drying facility in Naguey.

Farmers also exclusively produced washed coffees to accommodate the increasing supply while maintaining quality. As more farmers are also being encouraged to work in the mill, Kalsada hopes to see more investments in the farm to allow for more adaptive and innovative crop management systems.