Marietta Claver, the owner of JAC Farms and a known coffee grader of Arabica and Robusta variety from Kalinga didn't actually drink coffee and had no knowledge about the coffee business before deciding to start the venture almost a decade ago.
In her inspirational talk to the graduates of the Department of Trade and Industry’s ‘Kapatid Mentor ME’ and ‘Youth Entrepreneurship Program’ this November 18, Marietta revealed she was actually more of a tea drinker, and she only drank coffee when she was reviewing for her board exam.
She said she had no knowledge about coffee; however, she was inspired to venture into the coffee business in 2012.
“Nakitak nga diay kape, inaldaw, ipadpadawat ni katugangak. So, what came into my mind, why not make it as a business,” she recalled.
Marietta narrated that the first thing she did was to go to DTI to request a training workshop.
From 2012 to 2015, Marietta focused on training herself before she finally released her own coffee product.
Among the challenges back then, she recalled, was to innovate and to think about what new things she could offer since there were already 11 coffee processors in Kalinga at that time and she was the 12th.
“Nag-isip ako, I have to innovate, I have to think. Anya iti edge mo para mapansin ka?” she said.
After a year since she started her business, she was able to build a coffee processing facility, and the next year, she increased and expanded the business.
Marietta discovered coffee is sweet
One time, Marietta attended a seminar, and she didn’t believe their speaker when he said that coffee is sweet. This information, however, inspired her to research further, which then led to one of their best-selling products at the JAC Farms.
“Sabi ko, ha? Di ba coffee is bitter? Diay iti nang-entice kanyak nga birukek man dayta a sweet coffee inggana nga nagparwar nak iti sweet coffee idi 2015,” she shared, adding that their coffee was graded 82%, higher than the Tanzania coffee.
‘No bad coffee, just bad processing’
Marietta recalled that during her training period between 2012 – 2015, part of her research was on coffee processing. What she did was she travelled around Kalinga until she saw an old lady in Cagaluan, Pasil, and watched her process their coffee.
She adopted the old lady’s process, but she modified it, “inaramid ko diay pero I did a different way and so I was able to do the honey process nga dati gayam nga ar-aramiden ditoy Kalinga ngem haan nga ammu iti tao nga honey process gayam iti ar-aramiden da.”
She then met a German grader who told her that what she was doing was the honey process.
Meantime, Marietta said there is a sweet coffee since the coffee itself has sugar content. It just happens that sugar is burnt most of the time during the processing.
She added that following the right process is important as this could destroy the product if not followed well, “nakatikim na ako ng kape na agat abono, agat kerosine, agat rubber, agat agas – those are because of the processing.”
“Para sa akin, there is no bad coffee, only bad processing kasi coffee itself is already good. Walang pangit na kape, pangit ang proseso,” she asserted.
Among the highlights of her message to the graduates of DTI YEP and KMME, the coffee grader mentioned the importance of registering their businesses.
JAC Farms has its license to operate from the Food and Drug Administration.
“When I first brought up my product, kunak, madik nga pang Kalinga lang, kayat ko pang-international. Umabot na ako sa Russia, umabot na ako sa Japan,” she shared, adding that her product may be expensive, but she put efforts and quality into them.
“Dagitoy nga mabay-bay- an tayo dita ban-bantay tayo, agbalin a kastoy that many will pay for it for a price of P150 per cup nga daytoy nga binal-balewala tayo lang, bay-bay- an tayo nga matintinnag, haan tayo nga ay-aywanan coffee trees tapos kastoy gayam ti pagbalinan na,” she expressed.
In her concluding message, Marietta highlighted that in order to succeed, there is a need for MAP, which stands for mindset, attitude, and passion.
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