March 28, 2024

The Sagada Coffee Growers and Producers Organization (Sacgpo) in Mountain Province can now expand its coffee business with the upgrading of its processing facilities through the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP).

For its enterprise development (I-REAP) subproject on coffee, the Sacgpo received processing equipment and supplies amounting to P4 million with counterpart funding from the World Bank, the DA, the provincial local government, and the Sacgpo.

The group received coffee grinding machine, stainless tables, shelves, basins, pots, food-grade packaging materials, coffee making tools; working capital; and cupping laboratory supplies and materials.

“This enterprise is really of great help not only to the organization but to the community because we have to maintain and ensure the quality of coffee produced in Sagada,” said Sacgpo manager Vincent T. Andawi.

Provincial Asst. Agriculturist Mary Jane Tumapang, I-REAP focal person, said the procurement and upgrading of food-grade coffee processing equipment and supplies led to a more organized and cost-effective coffee processing activities.

“The cupping laboratory will help the members improve their coffee production practices and come up with a uniform quality blend of coffee,” she said, adding the enterprise increased its income by 25 percent last year through the assistance they received from the DA-PRDP.

The delivery of supplies and materials per tranche started in early 2019 and was completed in February.

The official turnover was held in October at the Sacgpo Coffee Processing Center in Poblacion, Sagada led by Gov. Bonifacio C. Lacwasan, Jr.

The province also inaugurated in February a P14.3M coffee consolidation and marketing enterprise with four buying stations and a main consolidation center in Besao. – Novy D. Afidchao