Kalinga Coffee to be registered as a Geographical Indications (GI)

Kalinga’s aromatic coffee known as Kalinga Coffee is a heritage product of Philippines. Kalinga is identified as the No. 1 coffee producer in the region and the No. 7 top producer in the country. Recently, The Coffee Stakeholders agreed to have the Kalinga Coffee be registered as a Geographical Indications (GI) product. Kalinga Coffee is identified as one of the five products to receive a \’Geographical Indications (GI) Certificates of Registration\’ in Philippines.

Kalinga, one among the six provisions of The Cordillera Administrative Region in Philippines produces the world’s best coffee beans. The Cordillera Central is a massive mountain range situated in the northern central part of the island of Luzon, in the Philippines. The Gran Cordillera is the highest and largest mountain range in the Philippines. It comprises about 1/6 of the whole Luzon Island with a total area of 18,300 km2, which is best suited for coffee cultivation.

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Provincial Director Grace Baluyan said that to take advantage of the opportunity, there is a need for the coffee farmers, producers and processors to work  together  to comply with the requirements of GI systems. She also said, “It is not enough to commit to enroll the Kalinga coffee for GI for we have to work together to acquire that certification.”

By Akshatha Karthik

Image Courtesy By Photokanok/www.freedigitalphotos.net