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if you try and look up the history of
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Philippine coffee on Google
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it would go something like this
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a Franciscan fryer brought coffee from
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Mexico and planted them in Lipa Batangas
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in the year 1740.
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and during the 1800s Lipa gobernidor
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Celio Don jalo De Los Reyes made
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planting of coffee trees mandatory for
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all residents
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and with the help of augustinian Friars
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by 1859 up to two-thirds of Lipa was
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planted with coffee Lipa became the
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epicenter of coffee production in the
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Philippines but in the year 1889 coffee
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leaf rust devastated the coffee
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plantations and the immense wealth that
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the Lipa coffee Barons enjoyed was no
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more
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now this version of the story is almost
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universally accepted and is definitely
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the most widespread many coffee websites
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feature some kind of version of the
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story
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so
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it sounds awesome doesn't it the glory
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the Splendor the extravagance the
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romance Horizon Fall Story
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it's so appealing
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but
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this history appeared kind of
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superficial to me it was lacking detail
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I mean for a coffee producing country
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like the Philippines
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we've been producing coffee for more
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than 200 years
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there's got to be more depth more detail
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more Nuance behind this whole
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history this whole origin story of
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growing coffee
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displeased with what I found I wanted a
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more nuanced understanding of our coffee
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growing history
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so I dug deep I dug deeper into the anus
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of the internet and found a gem of a
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work
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demythologizing the history of coffee in
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deepam Batangas in the 19th century by
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Belle Castro according to Belle Castro's
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work there are three points that seem
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off and invalid about this story
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what she calls actually a myth not a
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story
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one the myth claims that in the year
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1740 a Franciscan Friar brought coffee
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into the Philippines from Mexico she
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finds this dubious the second
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the popular story told about the history
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of coffee in the Philippines is one of
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grandeur yes but not necessarily
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completely true
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the Philippines
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as the story claims was the world's
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fourth largest exporter of coffee in the
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entire world and at one point
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had a monopoly on coffee sometime
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between 1886 to 1888.
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and finally the claim that coffee or
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Leaf Frost ended the Philippine coffee
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blue
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these three points about the story we
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just shared are all problematic a spell
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Castro
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eloquently demonstrates in her paper all
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these three points are all problematic
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for one coffee was only introduced in
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Mexico in the Years
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1790 to 1794.
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so how could the coffee arrive in the
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Philippines from Mexico 50 years earlier
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than it arrived in Mexico
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in addition to this
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the coffee varietal introduced in Mexico
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is bourbon not the typical varietal that
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was introduced in the Philippines at
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that time
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secondly the Philippine coffee export
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was peaking in the 1880s but even at our
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very highest point we were only
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exporting 80 000 metric tons of coffee
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only 1.5 percent of the entire world's
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production so how can that possibly be
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the fourth largest exporting country
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in addition it's simply not possible for
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the Philippines to monopolize the sale
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or production of coffee
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coffee which is a commodity held in very
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high demand from all over the world
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true enough if we consult the chart that
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bellcaster demonstrates other coffee
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producing conges were supplying a lot
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more coffee than us at that time even
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during our supposed
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monopolistic coffee producing years and
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for the third point
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coffee leaf Frost just does not work
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like that it does not swiftly kill all
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its coffee all the coffee plants nor
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does it instantly wipe out all coffee
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production
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coffee plants hit with coffee leaf rust
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actually still bare viable coffee
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cherries and we will see in Castro's
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investigation later on
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that it's actually a combination of many
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many factors that led to the demise of
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our local coffee production so now we
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ask the question what actually happened
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I'm sure everyone now has the burning
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desire to know
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so these are two of my favorite theories
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from Castro's paper and it's highly
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likely that both happen but not
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necessarily at the same time
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the first theory is that Arab traders or
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Muslim clerics introduced coffee here in
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the Philippines owing to a Malay
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settlement somewhere in taal River
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Batangas this Theory becomes especially
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more likely given that malabari Muslim
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Traders and Sufi Mystics were
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responsible for spreading coffee
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production and consumption in India
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Ceylon and Sumatra
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meaning the very first coffee plants
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introduced in the Philippines may have
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been from Arabia or Indonesia the other
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theory is that coffee's introduction was
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actually instigated by the real compania
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de Filipinas during the year
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1790. you see if we take a look at
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global politics at the time
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1791 was the year that slave uprisings
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in French Colony Saint Dominic occurred
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thus leading to a decrease in the supply
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of coffee at the same time the real
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compania the Filipinas was formed this
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company promoted Philippine export crops
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from Manila to Spain and they would have
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definitely picked up on this lucrative
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opportunity sensing the eventual lower
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supply of coffee in the world due to the
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slave uprisings in Saint Dominic it
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would have been likely that the
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opportunistic businessman behind the
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companion would instigate the production
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of coffee in the Philippines for export
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so given these two we cannot be certain
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of exactly when where and how coffee
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came to the Philippines but what we did
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know is the Spaniards
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were interested in trading it and so
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they did in the beginning the compagna
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started small they would give cash
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advances to small Growers to incentivize
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small Growers to produce coffee
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and then as production grew they
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Enlisted the help of Governor dorsilios
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Cabeza de barangay and you're not so
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friendly local Friars to help develop
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coffee in their respective areas
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of course for a generous cut of the
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prophets coffee as a cash crop for
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export gained momentum when Paul proves
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that
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I'm gonna butcher this led gironere won
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a prize of 100 000 pesos from the
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sayadad economically Bell
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is
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for raising sixty thousand coffee plants
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this prize money and recognition drew
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the attention of other Spaniards in the
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area with the collective efforts of all
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these men by the mid-1850s Lepa was
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already exporting coffee to countries
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such as Australia U.S Britain Spain and
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France the Spaniards and the wealthy
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local families controlling their coffee
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Estates were essentially at the right
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place and at the right time during the
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years 1886 to 1889 because you see at
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that time there was a shortage of coffee
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production from Key and top producing
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countries such as Brazil and Indonesia
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low coffee Supply and the insatiable
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hunger and demand for coffee in the west
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likely drove price upwards and the local
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coffee Barons of Lepa experienced a
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windfall
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as a result the local Elite was able to
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enjoy the favorable effects of a
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commodity being in short supply and high
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demand meaning the local Elites got to
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sell the coffees they had for a high
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price since the production of coffee was
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going so well and that they could meet
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the demand of the international
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customers a and this is presumably where
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all the past glory and illusions of
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wealth and fame come from this short
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period in time where the stars aligned
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where the complex web of global trade
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supply and demand
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turned completely to the favor of the
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local Elites
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as a side note as a passionate coffee
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roaster myself
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you also have to ask the question I also
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have to ask the question what did
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the wealthy local Elites do with their
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money
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did they reinvest
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did they build high-tech
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coffee systems
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no
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what did they do show off of course
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in an unprecedented show of wealth the
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local coffee Barons of Lipa built
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palatial homes filled them with Goods
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imported from the West curtains from
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Paris mirrors from Austria stop chairs
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from Vienna chandeliers from Germany
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porcelain from France there are even
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stories that depict these rich coffee
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families having their servants bring out
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sacks of gold coins and silver Mexican
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pesos from their storerooms
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and have their servants wash them and
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spread them out in piles along their
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mansion to dry in the Sun
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no wonder the industry died
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the coffee boom eventually came to an
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end
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a combination of factors led the demise
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of the local coffee industry especially
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in Lipa coffee Lily Frost wood boring
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worms
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came to become a huge nuisance for the
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coffee Estates and their Farmers also a
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huge issue as to the lack of
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sustainability in the past coffee chain
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is that it is actually not the best
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place to plant and harvest arabica
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coffee because you see arabica coffee
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comes from the mountains of Ethiopia so
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it tribes in that kind of growing
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condition
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okay high elevation cool climate that
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encourages the slow growth of coffee
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cherries
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so these mountains are situated or these
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trees these coffee trees in Ethiopia are
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situated around
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1700 to 2 200 meters above sea level and
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Batangas where lipais is basically the
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opposite
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the low elevation of around 312 meters
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above sea level was hot and humid and
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made the coffee trees grow too quickly
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flour profusely and exhaust rapidly with
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no widespread effort to contain the
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infestation nor enough money spent on
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proper research and development the
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landed Elites decided to switch crops
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they cleared their coffee fields and
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moved to produce sugar cane corn and
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rice so what happens next in our story
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well
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the next set of colonizers arrive The
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Americans
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so when the Americans colonize the
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Philippines there was no great push
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to further cultivate coffee the economic
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picture looked absolutely terrible for
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coffee production when the Americans
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came into the picture
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at that time there was a huge increase
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in the supply of coffee coming from
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Brazil which saw the coffee
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price plunged record lows that made
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coffee production not economically
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viable as a result the Americans pushed
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for the production of other cash crops
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such as tobacco sugar and hemp so this
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was the story of the rice and fall of
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Philippine coffee from the 18th to early
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20th century
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I think a lot of lessons can be learned
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here
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the quick rise and fall of the coffee
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industry isn't because the landed Elite
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of Lipa were brilliant and enterprising
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business people
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their rice and quick demise owed the
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factors outside of their control
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trading coffee at the commodity level
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place them in the hands of the global
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market where they have no say or control
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over the price of the coffee that they
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were selling
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and I think this is a valuable lesson
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that we must learn as the Philippines
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right now is pursuing growth and
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development of a local coffee industry
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it's important to set the stage
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correctly for coffee producers will we
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participate and sell Commodities that
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will once again place your coffee
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producers in the hands of affinity and
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unfair Global Commodities coffee Market
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or will the government and private
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businesses put up incentives that will
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enable our local coffee producers to
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innovate and market and sell their
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products as specialty coffee
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and create a system that allows our
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Farmers to sell their coffee at a higher
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price commensure it to the amount of
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work and labor and costs involved in the
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production of their produce now that's a
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story for another time and if you want
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to see a video like that comment down
00:15:35
below and we'll make it happen for you
00:15:37
special mention to the brilliant Bell
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Castro who authored the paper the
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mythology
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the history of coffee in depa Batangas
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in the 19th century which which was the
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main source we used to create this video
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we would like to extend her message
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in her paper by inviting coffee lovers
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from all parts of the world to help us
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find more cool information about coffee
00:16:02
if you would like to
00:16:04
reach out and collaborate please do you
00:16:07
can email us or message us on Facebook
00:16:09
or Instagram that's it for today's video
00:16:13
hope you liked our mini documentary
00:16:16
see you again soon thank you
00:16:20
[Music]
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thank you
