yLubuagan coffee grower is TOP 10 in 2022 Philippine Coffee Quality Competition

Lubuagan, Kalinga – Olimpo Lumasok, an yLubuagan coffee grower, ranked 10th during the 2022 Philippine Coffee Quality Competition under the Robusta Category held on March 18, 2022 at the Waterfront Insular Hotel Garden Pavillion in Davao City.

This year’s Philippine Coffee Quality Competition (PCQC) was attended by 87 local coffee growers coming from different parts of the country. The competition is held annually aiming to encourage coffee farmers to improve the quality of their products.

Olimpo who is from Barangay Canao narrated to Guru Press that he has been maintaining their coffee plantation in Barangay Mabilong since 2014.

For seven years, he and his family have been producing coffee, but it was only in 2021 that he joined trainings at the Department of Trade and Industry Kalinga. It was also then that he learned about the Philippine Coffee Quality Competition after he was recommended to participate in the activity.

In April 2021, he joined the said contest but failed to get into the top 10 best coffee of the year. However, his coffee was labeled at a ‘premium’ level.

After losing at the 2021 PCQC, Olimpo reviewed the recommendations given to his entry and sought the assistance of the DTI – Kalinga.

“Insigurado mi nga haan kami manen mapaay isunga in-review mi diay dapat a maikkat ta idi first gamin ket naka-sagpat kami iti premium ngem adda iti komentaryo dagiay nag-test nga ‘beware of immature’,” he recalled.

He said DTI-Kalinga explained immature coffee should not be added or mixed into their product.

Following the suggestion and all the lessons he learned, Olimpo joined again the 2022 PCQC and this time, he won the 10th spot with a score of 80.47.

What’s special with his Robusta coffee?

When asked what is special about his coffee, Olimpo said that their coffee plantation was located along the river in Barangay Mabilong and that it is far from vehicles.

“iti kuna iti taga DTI siguro iti ayan na diay kanu haan maang-anginan dagiti asok iti lugan. Diay asok kanu iti lugan isu kanu mang-apektar iti raman na nu maminsan, siguro diay kanyak diay iti nakaalan na nga naimas ta awan met iti asok nga lumablabas,” he said.

He said he was told their coffee tastes like guava.

As to the production, Olimpo explained that their process is simple as they do not have the best materials to use. He said that they just follow the instructions and the lessons they learned from their training at DTI.

“Sinurot ko lang diay proseso nga inbagbagan iti DTI a diay iti dapat a masurot … diay amin nga insursuro da ket isu iti sinursurot mi,” he said.

Olimpo’s Robusta has already reached the City of New Orleans in Louisiana in the United States of America last year.

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