A NESTLÉ satellite coffee buying station was recently opened in Diffun, Quirino to provide a more convenient venue where producers in the area can sell their green coffee beans at prevailing world market price. The buying station is a component of the Quirino Integrated Coffee Center, established by Nestlé Philippines, Inc. within a Department of Agriculture facility to supply the needed coffee planting materials in the northern part of Luzon. Nestlé, in a statement yesterday, said it has been setting up buying stations near coffee-growing communities as part of its livelihood development program. The company said there are currently some 34,000 smallholder coffee farmers in the country. Local annual output of green coffee beans is estimated at 23,000 metric tons (MT), just 36% of the annual requirement estimated at 64,000 MT. Nescafé said it aims to close this supply-demand gap by helping the coffee industry expand.

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