Japanese Experience Philippine Specialty Coffee
Philippine Specialty Coffee were freshly brewed for 40 onsite representatives from renowned coffee establishments, 3rd wave coffee shop owners, and importers who participated in the Philippine Embassy’s Coffee Tasting Event last 14 June 2022.
In line with its thrust to promote food and beverage in the Japanese market, the Philippine Embassy, through its Commercial Section, launched the Philippine Coffee Promotion Campaign in Japan to support the growth of Philippine Specialty Coffee.
Philippines’ booth introducing Philippine coffee at the Philippine Expo in Ueno Park.
The Philippines’ specialty coffee was introduced through three (3) of the Embassy’s events: 2022 Independence Day Reception on 10 June 2022, Philippine Expo on 11 – 12 June 2022, and Coffee Tasting Event on 14 June 2022.
During the Independence Day reception, Barako Coffee, through the coffee tasting corner, was introduced to more than 300 guest dignitaries from the Japanese government, diplomatic corps, and business community. At its booth at the Philippine Expo in Ueno Park, the Philippines attracted 400 visitors resulting to 56,000 sales of roasted beans.
The last and main event of the campaign was the Coffee Tasting Event at the Philippine Embassy with 40 onsite visitors including representatives from UCC, Starbucks Japan, Doutor, and Ajinomoto, 3rd wave coffee shop owners, importers, and fifteen (15) online participants.
Members from the Japanese Government, Diplomatic Corps, and the business community sampled the Philippine specialty coffee.
“We are proud of our specialty coffee. As an archipelagic nation with over 7000 islands, our diverse topography and microclimates have allowed us to grow and enjoy a wide spectrum of coffee varieties. We just need to ensure that public sector agencies and business work hand in hand with farmer communities to maintain consistency in quality and fill gaps in the coffee ecosystem such us needed upgrades in infrastructure, harvesting and processing” Ambassador Jose C. Laurel V stated.
According to Commercial Counsellor Dita Angara-Mathay, her inspiration to conceptualize and organize the first ever Pour Over Philippine Specialty Coffee Tasting Event was from a Nikkei Asia article called “Coffee Revolution.” Japan already has a culture of drinking tea and it would be easy to establish a culture of drinking sophisticated coffee, as mentioned by Mr. Masahiro Kanno in the article.
“We want to push it [Philippine Specialty coffee] in Japan, Asia’s largest coffee market as a niche gourmet product. We are confident a few Japanese coffee shops will feature it among their small-lot coffee lines,” Commercial Counsellor Mathay said.
