Bataan growers boost coffee production
ORANI, Bataan — The best tasting coffee of Bataan will reach more corners of the country as coffee growers in Orani get advanced sets of equipment from the government to improve their production.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recently turned over P1.6 million worth of coffee processing equipment to Tala Orani Multi-Purpose Cooperative (TAMCO), which will help the farmer group to produce more milled coffee beans.
“TAMCO supplies coffee to Nestle Philippines so if they will be provided with upgraded equipment, the price of their produce will be improved and their productivity and quality of products will be enhanced,” DTI Provincial Director Nelin Cabahug said.
The growers are able to sell a kilo of milled coffee bean for P103 in which about 50 percent goes to their earnings.
Under the Shared Service Facility (SSF) program of DTI, the cooperative received a dryer, dehauler, coffee roasting machine, band sealer, vacuum sealer, and digital weighing scale.
Local growers in the area can now go to the cooperative and pay only P15 per kilo of coffee bean for milling after which they can sell the produce to the company.
Cabahug also saw this as an opening for the local growers to penetrate big coffee chains in Bataan and outside the province.
“We can link the coffee of Bataan to huge coffee stores here like Starbucks and Beanery. They know that if it’s from Bataan, the coffee is delectable,” she said.
This equipment will be loaned without interest to the 33-member strong TAMCO provided that they will maximize its use and be able to generate jobs.
This was the fourth SSF project of DTI in Bataan this year.
The first was for the Pilar Rural Improvement Cooperative in Pilar town and the second for the Samahan ng mga Kababaihang Ayta sa Kinaragan in Limay town which both received food processing equipment worth about P2 million.
The third was for the Bataan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc., which received over P1 million worth of packaging equipment. (PIA 3)
