DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez (left photo), and Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan (right photo) at the   KAPEtirya launch

BAGUIO CITY – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) opened its first KAPEtirya store at the Crafts and Productivity Center in Baguio City on 20 March 2019. KAPEtirya sources its beans directly from farmers to help alleviate them from poverty and mainstream Philippine coffee. Through an agreement with the Baguio City government and DTI, the pilot store will be operated by Ervine Pangwi, the owner of Il Padrino Coffee. The cafe features Arabica coffee from Benguet and Robusta coffee from Kalinga. But future stores will also feature beans from other regions in the country.

KAPEtirya began as the Coffee Pavillion six years ago, as an attraction in local trade fairs. DTI Sec. Lopez always believes in mainstreaming Philippine SME products to unlock its potential. DTI then rebranded it to KAPEtirya, and converted it into a sustainable business model that will eventually be franchiseable to any Filipino entrepreneur and expand its presence nationwide. This will expand, as well, the demand for Philippine coffee that will benefit our local coffee farmers, in addition to offering business opportunities for entrepreneurs.

DTI registered KAPEtirya with the Intellectual Property of the Philippines in 2018. From three-day trade fairs, the agency now wants permanent stores through offering KAPEtirya as a franchise. Apart from inline stores, the DTI also plans to offer kiosks and mobile stores as franchise models.

“Our main objective is to help small businesses and coffee farmers. That is also the vision of our President Duterte. He really has a soft heart for the poor and wants them all to live more comfortable lives. KAPEtirya is just one of our initiatives to help achieve that goal,” said DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez.

He then shared that the Philippines is the top importer of coffee and majority of these are instant coffee. This, he said, means the country has to ramp up coffee farm production to meet the demand for coffee. The Secretary also said that although coffee shops have a smaller market, it is increasing because of the growing middle class.

“There are several good coffee beans and brands in the country, we just need to promote them so they can be known in the country and the world,” said Sec. Lopez.

National Industry Cluster (NIC) Coordinator and DTI Assistant Secretary Blesila Lantayona said that KAPEtirya is just one of the projects under the Coffee Industry Roadmap signed in March 2017 in the presence of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

Present at the event were NIC Coordinator for Coffee and DTI-CAR Regional Director Myrna Pablo, Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan, and Councilor Michael Lawana. Also present were DTI mentors Dean Pax Lapid, Jorge Wieneke, and Jenny Wieneke who provided free technical assistance for the development of the KAPEtirya franchise concept.♦

Tripartite agreement signing for operating KAPEtirya. (1st row, from L to R: Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan, DTI-CAR Regional Director Myrna Pablo, Baguio City Councilor Michael Lawana, Ervine Pangwi, DTI Provincial Director Juliet Lucas. 2nd row from L to R: Dean Pax Lapid, Marikit Pangwi, DTI Sec. Ramon Lopez, DTI Asec. Blesila Lantayona, and Jenny Wieneke.

KAPEtirya Ribbon Untying Ceremony (From L to R: Jenny Wieneke, Dean Pax Lapid, Baguio City Councilor Michael Lawana, DTI Sec. Ramon Lopez, Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan, DTI Asec. Blesila Lantayona, Ervine Pangwi, DTI-CAR Regional Director Myrna Pablo, and Jorge Wieneke).

Date of Release: 22 March 2019