Years ago, coffee meant little more than firewood to farmers in Camindangan, Sipalay City. With no buyers and prices barely worth the labor, many cut down their trees and turned them into charcoal, a quicker way to survive than waiting for beans no one wanted.
Leonorina Tabat, treasurer of the Camindangan Planters and Farm Workers Association (CAPFWA), told Brigada News Philippines on Saturday, July 12, that they used to sell fresh coffee cherries for as low as six pesos per gantang.
“Sometimes, we didn’t even bother to harvest,” she said. “Bacolod was too far, and traders controlled everything — the prices, the terms, all of it.”
The nearest market — Bacolod City — was around 140 kilometers away. Transporting their crops cost more than what the beans could fetch. For most, abandoning coffee seemed like the only choice.
CAPFWA was first established in 2014, organized to address general farming concerns in the village. But for years, the group had limited resources and struggled to make meaningful gains.
That changed in 2020, when members shifted their focus to coffee and launched their own enterprise. What started as a grassroots initiative became the CHICKS Area Coffee Processing and Marketing Enterprise.
Today, the enterprise — managed entirely by CAPFWA — supports more than 300 farmers and has become a model for rural community transformation.
Transformation
By 2023, the shift was undeniable. Coffee prices had surged, and the returns were life-changing.
“One of our members harvested 2,000 kilos and earned P600,000,” Tabat said. “That would’ve been impossible a few years ago.”
Coffee farming has since become a source of pride. Women pick ripe cherries. Men carry heavy sacks from the hillsides. Farmers are now trained in post-harvest processing and quality assurance — skills that were once out of reach.
In 2024, the association took full control of a P15-million coffee processing facility, constructed through the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), with support from the World Bank and the provincial government.
“Before, we didn’t know where this would lead,” said CAPFWA president Richard Vallota. “Now we manage our own facility, process our own beans, and sell our own coffee — with confidence and pride.”
About 90 percent of CAPFWA’s members now grow Robusta coffee across a combined 500 hectares of farmland — not in a single area, but scattered across different locations where their members are based, from Camindangan to nearby communities.
Each hectare can hold up to 1,000 coffee trees, and each tree yields at least a kilo of beans, contributing to a growing annual volume.
Their coffee now reaches Bacolod shops and even businesses in Manila. A kilo of their roasted and ground beans retails for P700, while their 10-piece drip packs sell for P180.
“Before, middlemen dictated our worth,” Vallota said. “Now, we have full control — from harvest to packaging to pricing.”
The transition wasn’t always easy. “Some farmers were afraid to let go of old habits,” he said. “But when they saw better yields and income, they started believing.”
Though the coffee season runs from November to January, CAPFWA remains active all year. They operate a rice mill and are set to launch a P10-million hog project as a sustainable income source during the off-season.
Vallota said the next challenge is to expand their storage facility to better protect beans from moisture and meet growing demand.
But CAPFWA’s progress is just one piece of a much bigger puzzle.
According to Digicast Negros, quoting OIC-Provincial Agriculturist Dina Genzola, coffee growers in Negros Occidental produce only 650 metric tons annually — covering just 16 percent of the province’s total consumption of 4,070 metric tons. This leaves an 84 percent supply gap.
Across the province, there are 4,556 coffee farmers cultivating Robusta, Arabica, Liberica, and Excelsa varieties on a total of 2,532.42 hectares, the report added.
Homegrown
22-year-old Arniel Canoy has become one of the youngest driving forces behind CAPFWA’s coffee transformation. As the resident barista of the association, he helps promote their locally grown brews — preparing blends, serving at events, and inspiring a new wave of coffee advocates.
Though financial constraints prevented him from pursuing college, Canoy found his path in coffee. He learned the craft entirely through hands-on experience, immersing himself in the day-to-day work of the association.
“I learned everything by doing,” he said. “And I’ve come to love every part of it.”
He’s now part of a 25-member youth group within CAPFWA that assists farmers in various tasks. Canoy also hopes to encourage more young people to join, especially those interested in becoming homegrown baristas.
Vallota said that they plan to support Canoy’s formal barista training, a step toward honing his skills and strengthening the association’s growing coffee brand.
Meanwhile, 6th District Representative Mercedes Alvarez reminded the farmers to take care of the resources now in their hands.
“Let’s take care of this investment from the national government,” she said. “I hope you now feel that you were never overlooked.”
She added, “At least now, something has been given back to you — and we will always be here to support you.”
Reymund Titong is a Filipino journalist steadily building his voice in the field of news reporting, driven by a commitment to tell meaningful and relevant stories.
He serves as a correspondent for Rappler, maintains a personal blog on Medium, and is the communications officer of Hope Builders Organization Negros Island.