Commodity Profile

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Coffee

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COFFEE

Technical Description
Coffee is a beverage crop that grows best at elevation of 600 to 1,500 meters above sea level, depending on the variety. There are more than 40m coffee varieties existing worldwide, however, only 4 varieties are commercially cultivated, namely, Arabica, Robusta, Liberica and Excelsa.

Arabica offers the best quality because of its excellent flavor and aroma. The shrub is smaller than Robusta, Liberica and Excelsa. Arabica berries are oblong, about 1.5 cm long and green when immature. They turn red and yellow when ripe. The Arabica usually starts bearing fruits early in 2 – 3 years after planting. However, it is susceptible to coffee rust and is exacting in soil and climatic requirements.

Liberica is locally known as “kapeng barako”. The trunk is upright and weedy while the leaves are thicker than Excelsa and Arabica. The berries are the largest among the 4 varieties. They are dark red when ripe, round or oval-shaped, and covered with a thick oval firm pulp. Liberica is drought tolerant. It grows in a wider range of soil types and starts bearing berries 4 – 5 years after planting.

Excelsa trees resemble Liberica, except for the shorter internodes. The berries are ovoid, compressed and borne in heavy cluster. Drought-resistant Excelsa, like Liberica, start bearing fruits 4 – 5 years after planting.

Of the 4 varieties, Robusta is the most disease resistant and high yielding. The trees start bearing in the 3rd year after transplanting, by the 7th year. The Robusta plant is marked by a large umbrella-shaped growth with a semi-round canopy. The blood-red, ripe berries are smaller than those of Arabica and are closely clustered.

Farm Practices
The predominant coffee variety in Iloilo is Robusta. Coffee farms range from 0.5 – 1.0 ha, containing an average of 600 – 1,000 trees.

Most of the coffee trees in Iloilo were planted several years ago. Thus, pre-harvest activities are limited to rejuvenation, fertilization, pruning and pest/disease control. The most common pest affecting coffees are borers, leaf folder, carpenter moth mealy bugs.

Harvesting starts as soon as the berries turn red. Coffee is usually handpicked from the trees. Ladders are used on tall trees for efficient harvesting. Poles with hooks at the ends are used to prevent coffee branches from breaking.

Upon harvest, berries are either dried or sold as fresh beans. When dried, the pulp is usually removed from the seed and sun-dried on concrete pavements, mats or canvasses for 3 – 4 straight days.

Specifications
Coffee is traded in various forms: fresh berries dried green beans and roasted beans.
Robusta, the most common variety in the market, is usually traded as dried green beans and fresh berries.
The moisture content and level of purity are the primary considerations in classifying dried green beans. Impurities such as broken black beans, foreign matter or twigs and pieces of wood must be absent. Moisture content must be 14% or below.
Specifications of dried, green beans are as follows:

1. 1st Class – whole grains; shiny and clean; below 5% impurities; moisture content of 14% or below

2. 2nd Class – whole grains w/ few cracked grains; 5% impurities; moisture content of 14%

3. 3rd Class – more cracked grains; impurities of more than 5%; moisture content above 14%

The minimum wholesale volume is from one-half to one sack. A sack usually contains 50 – 80 kgs of dried, green coffee beans.Retailers usually sill roasted coffee to consumers at a minimum transaction volume of 1 kg. The milled grains are dark brown with coarse granules.

Seasonality
Coffee berries are harvested only once a year from December to March. Lean supply months are from April to November. Calinog, Janiuay and Passi are the major coffee – producing municipalities in Iloilo. The supply of coffee in Iloilo is augmented by supply from Capiz, whose harvest season coincides with that of Iloilo.

Price Formation and Differentiation
The price of coffee is primarily governed by bean quality. Buying prices are often low since coffee is sold as fresh beans. Traders themselves exert effort to dry and clean coffee beans to obtain higher financial returns. Well-dried, cleaned green beans fetch a higher price in the market than fresh berries. There is a price difference of P 15.00/kg between fresh berries and dried green beans. Among coffee classes a price difference of P 7.00/kg exists between first and second class. A difference of P 2.00/kg occurs between the second and third class coffee. Between the first and third class coffee, a total difference of P 9.00/kg exists. “Casa” traders procure a substantial coffee volume of ½ - 1 ton of fresh or dried beans during harvest time, giving them enough clout to set the price.   

Market Flow
Farmer/ProduceràWholesaler/MiddlemenàRetailersàConsumers
Farmer/ProduceràProcessoràRetailersàConsumers
Farmer/ProduceràConsumers
Farmer/ProduceràWholesaler/MiddlemenàProcessorsàRetailers/Consumers

Western Visayas 2002 Coffee Production

Provinces	(MT)
Aklan Antique Capiz Guimaras Iloilo Negros Occ.	5.62 48.77 380.74 5.78 18.66 990.77
Total	1,450.34

The total area harvested is 8,167 ha with an average yield of 0.2 MT/ha.
Source: Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, Region 6, Iloilo City    

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