ORMOC CITY – The community-based Coffee Processing Center in Brgy. Tongonan, this city, which is jointly funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) regional office 8 through a ‘Grant-in-Aid Program’ and the Energy Development Corporation (EDC), will soon begin producing ground coffee using coffee beans grown in the said barangay.
The project aims to make the local coffee available in the local market, subsequently creating livelihood opportunities for the center’s farmer-members.
Accordingly, the project is implemented as a collaborative endeavor of EDC, DOST-8 through DOST-Leyte, the Barangay Local Government Unit (BLGU)-Tongonan, LGU-Ormoc City, and the Tongonan Farmers Association (TOFA).
Meanwhile, in order to assure a consistent quality of the final product, a training on how to process coffee beans into roasted ground coffee was conducted during the first week of August 2022, which included methods for sorting and preparing beans for processing.
TOFA’s vice president, Albert G. Calarion, welcomed all guests, participants, DOST-8 through DOST-Leyte, and EDC-Ormoc to the said training activity.
Meanwhile, it was Mhardy C. Montejo, Science Research Specialist II of DOST-Leyte, who presented the rationale of the project including its background, objectives, and the list of equipment provided. He also highlighted the role of the proponent and the beneficiary group in the implementation of the coffee processing project.
On the one hand, Dr. John Glenn D. Ocaña, Provincial Science and Technology Director of DOST-Leyte, commended TOFA for its sustained passion to make the project work, as well as discussed food safety and good manufacturing practices.
Finally, a training on coffee processing was done by Candelaria Adanza of Adanza Coffee Farms, wherein Adanza emphasized the need for the proper sorting of raw coffee beans and observing the ideal moisture content to achieve a quality product. Accordingly, roasting and grinding processes using the equipment funded by DOST-8 were done at a later date when experts from suppliers were already available. By Gwen Maurillo (EV Mail August 22-28, 2022 issue)
