From zero demand in the 1970s, the local consumption of roasted and ground coffee is now 100,000 metric tons a year.

 

Aside from coffee being a household staple, the demand is attributed to the rise of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry whose 24/7 operations are complemented by coffee shops.

 

Yet the country’s production supply can barely meet half of the demand.

“We don’t have enough growth in the country to sustain the demand for roast and ground coffee. Coffee companies have to import the beans,” says Ernest Escaler.

 

Giving up a career in banking and commodities trading in New York, Escaler came home in the ’70s to help the family business and strike out on his own.

 

Accustomed to espresso and brewed coffee abroad, he was dissatisfied with instant coffee, then the norm in the Philippines. Even affluent families took to imported soluble coffee instead of brewing coffee grounds in the pot, enjoying its aroma and sipping it slowly.

 

Escaler dealt with the absence of brewed coffee in Manila by roasting his own coffee beans. In time, he developed the first Filipino brand of world-class coffee roasts, Gourmet Coffee.

 

Research shows that Filipinos’ appreciation of coffee is increasing in refinement.

 

Among the local brands, Gourmet Coffee dominates the roast and ground market and is the top-of-mind brand in supermarkets, according to the Nielsen’s Retail Audit.

 

As a pioneer coffee roaster in the Philippines, Escaler has helped increase Filipinos’ awareness of good coffee.

 

The only game in town

 

Escaler started as the Philippine agent for coffee of ACLI, then an American commodities trading powerhouse. He bought coffee beans from producers in Cavite and Mindanao, processed them, and shipped them to the world market.

 

The Philippines was then known for its cheap coffee bean, the Robusta, which was stronger, acidic and loaded with caffeine.

 

Robusta was used as filler for the more expensive Arabica bean, to bring the price down.

 

“From zero, we were producing 20,000-30,000 tons a year,” recalls Escaler.  “We were the only game in town. There was no other international coffee company then. The Philippines was not known as a coffee-producing country. It was still a soluble coffee market.”

 

In the late ’70s, the shortage of coffee supply in the world market led to a surge in prices that remained very high until the mid-’80s. Escaler saw the world coffee crisis as an opportunity to create a local coffee brand.

 

“We established Gourmet Coffee at the height of our business as a green bean trader,” Escaler says. “In the early ’80s, I thought, why not get the top one percent of our trade, roast it and come out with the best Philippine coffee possible? Thirty-thousand tons were going through our warehouse. All we got were 300 kilos, the best of the 30,000 tons. That started Gourmet Coffee, the top-of-the-line of Philippine-produced coffee.”

 

At first, Escaler had the coffee beans roasted in Divisoria and had them packed in his office, ECI Trading, in Makati. He then bought a second-hand coffee roaster, Probat, which was built in 1950 by a German company.

 

Escaler leased a space in Silang, Cavite, for the coffee roasting facility. Coffee masters from Europe came over to teach the company how to roast, blend and grade the beans.

 

200 metric tons a year

 

Today, the coffee roasting facility is located in Escaler’s estate, Gourmet Farms Inc. (GFI)  in Silang. It produces over 200 metric tons a year.

 

The company still uses the reliable Probat, plus a modern but smaller version for special batches. Roasting extracts the flavor from the coffee beans and calculates the consistency of the brew. The standard temperature of 250 degrees Celsius is essential to getting the accurate flavor profile. Anything less than the optimal would result in more acidity while more would lead to bitterness.

 

The beans have undergone a stringent selection process and hygienic standards in preparation and packaging. As proof of its high production standards, the facility is ISO- and halal- certified.

 

The roasted coffee is sold  in packages with one-way valves to preserve the flavor and aroma.

 

“Without the one-way valve, the coffee will emit gas and oxygen will come in,” says Lennard “Len” Reyes, GFI head of coffee operations. “The product will oxidize. Our edge is that the packaging keeps the coffee fresh.”

 

GFI recently ventured into managing coffee farms around Cavite and Benguet.

 

“Although we are considered as roasters, it is inevitable that we get into production,” says Reyes. “We teach how to get the right variety, plant properly, roast it and package it right— everything from bean to cup. The consumers are more discriminating.”

 

 

Gourmet Coffee developed the Maynila Blend for its first institutional client, Manila Hotel.  A mixture of Robusta, an intense Barako, and a fruity and aromatic Excelsa, the Maynila Blend is now a bestseller.

 

To underscore its image as the gourmet coffee, the brand produced the smooth-tasting and fragrant Arabica variant.

 

“When we came out with Gourmet Coffee in 1985, there wasn’t a single coffee shop here. We had to educate the market and wean them from instant coffee to brewing,” says Escaler.

 

At the Gourmet Farms Country Store, the Philippine Civet variety is easily snapped up by tourists despite its high price.  Civet coffee is the choice of connoisseurs for its indescribable musky smoothness. Civet cats are said to eat only the best coffee berries. Their digestion improves the flavor of the coffee.

 

“Since we have our own farm, we can see the residue with the beans from the civet.  Other suppliers will sell green beans and claim they came out of the civet, but they have no way of checking,” says Escaler.

 

Gourmet Farms has also introduced exotic coffee such as the fruity and full-bodied Indian Monsoon, the beans of which are dried with monsoon winds, and the Guatemala which is aromatic with a hint of chocolate.

 

Giving back

 

Recognizing the connection between giving back and sustainability, GFI has been inviting lumad, a group of indigenous people from Mindanao, to the farm. They learn about organic farming methods.

 

“We pay for their trip and educate them. Hopefully, they can transfer the technology back home. When there is an excess in supply, we buy it from them,” says Escaler.

 

Reyes says GFI has established rapport with farmers who invariably provide them with the best quality coffee beans.

 

Enjoying coffee is a subjective experience, notes Reyes. He advises coffee lovers to buy whole beans for freshness and grind them. “If you buy ground coffee, keep it in air-tight containers so that oxygen doesn’t come in. The key to coffee is  freshness. If it smells, it sells.”