Kanto Vol 3, 2018 | Page 88

PA L AT E When work becomes play; The Philippines presents a new source and flavor profile to the burgeoning coffee industry That does sound like a wonderful experience! Let’s bring the experience closer to home. Kalsada Coffee currently partners with coffee farmers in Benguet and Bukidnon. Which coffee cup from your partners has made an impression on you? They’re all so amazing and different! I don’t think I could pick just one. What was the state of coffee farming like when Kalsada first started? In the community we now work in, each farmer was processing in their own backyard. There wasn’t a centralized area for them to collectively work together. This situation put a lot of the responsibility on the farmers, which explains why most coffee farmers eventually focused on other crops. One of our missions at Kalsada Coffee is to sustain the country's coffee farms. The Philippines has such a great coffee history, and it would be a shame to let it fade away. This was also one of the reasons why we wanted to pay farmers more. In 86