At present, the Barako is considered by many to be a non-commercial variety. However, the foundation has reason to believe that this variety can be the country's ticket back on the Coffee Belt.
The Liberica, commonly known in the Philippines as Barako, is in fact, a rare and exotic variety as it grows only in 3 out of 70 coffee-producing countries in the world. Opportunely, the Philippines is one of those countries. The foundation believes that the Philippines can capitalize on the beans' rarity and exoticness with proper marketing to create interest and demand for the variety. Just as Hawaii with their Kona and Jamaica with Blue Mountain, the Philippines can do well with the niche marketing of its Barako.
In the recent past, in spite of the Barako's unpopularity in the market, it has been the main bulk of our country's coffee exports. It enjoys a steady demand in the Middle East market while it is slowly regaining its niche in the local coffee industry. Through aggressive marketing campaigns and quality production, the Foundation endeavors to capture a part in the global specialty and exotic coffee market.
Unfortunately, for all its potentials, coffee farmers have refused to plant the Barako. Farmers would rather grow other "cash-crops" or other varieties that, although highly in demand, have low potential market value. While the Foundation does not discourage the cultivation of other coffee varieties, they would like to prevent plantings of other crops at the expense of the variety. Cutting of Barako trees is widely done in the country to give way to other crops and varieties. As a result, the Barako is now in danger of extinction. The Foundation simply wants to encourage farmers to maintain their existing coffee trees, rejuvenate the older trees and even, plant more coffee.
Because of these premises, the Foundation has launched Save the Barako, a program that raises public awareness on the potentials of the bean. The program also aims to advance standardization of production and promotion of the crop in the premium market.
As a result of the Save the Barako campaign’s continuous efforts to raise awareness about Barako both as a crop and a commodity, farmers are reaping the benefits of its increased maket prices. Consumers, on the other hand, have taken to enjoying Barako coffee as their brew of choice. Aside from their cultural inclination to prefer Barako over other types of coffee, most consumers have also switched to Barako with the knowledge that they are helping a worthy cause.
The Save the Barako program is a cooperative project of the Figaro Foundation Corporation and other agencies aimed towards the revitalization of the local coffee industry and Barako farming.
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