WE’RE READY TO OPEN ‘COFFEE FOR PEACE BISTRO’ IN DAVAO CITY’S PRIME AREA

30.July.2016

30.July.2016

cfp-switodesigns

We share the excitement of our partner organization, Coffee For Peace, as they prepare to open their second shop called CoffeeForPeace Bistro. It’s located at One Oasis Davao, a community that, according to our market study, would sustain our social business and would help in strengthening our advocacy among young professionals in Davao City. We’re happy with the work of our partner, Swito Architecture Designs, Inc., especially Gloryrose Dy Metilla, who’s passionately overseeing the construction of this shop.

CoffeeForPeace Bistro will be managed by Edna Pantoja who is the major investor in this branch. Edna has more than 25 years’ experience in food and beverage business; in the past 17 years, she and her crew were running the cafeteria of an American school in Shanghai. This Bistro will serve world class pastries by Mary Selorio, our CFP Baker. Most of the food we’ll serve will be designed by our CFP Chef, Nite Alparas, who is a graduate of Center for Asian Culinary Studies. Our coffee service quality will be maintained and will continually be enhanced by Byron Pantoja, our Master Barista.

joji-lectures

Coffee for Peace, Inc. (CFP) was established on April 15, 2008 in Davao City. It began when the founders, Dann & Joji Pantoja, facilitated an informal conflict mediation in the field between a Migrant farmer and a Bangsamoro neighbor. The two were trying to kill each other for the ownership of the rice field ready for harvest, regardless of who planted the rice or who owned the land. Instead of shooting each other, the two were invited for a dialogue over coffee. Since then, the two avoided killing each other. They started inviting other members of the community to have coffee together — for peace.

CFP started as an income generating program (IGP) of the PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI). To enable PBCI to become self-sustainable, an IGP was created to support its mission. However, due to the organic social involvement of CFP, it became a separate business entity with the following mission:

Coffee for Peace has been training farmers on Arabica production, the principles of fair trade, trading policies and pricing since 2008. Aside from working in Mindanao, CFP has also trained coffee farmers in the Cordillera Region and is looking forward to train more in the different provinces of northern Philippines.

We remain faithful to our company’s “learnings and commitments“:

WALKING WITH THE PEOPLE TOWARDS PEACE AND RECONCILIATION

We are being taught by the Indigenous People in the Philippines to join them as they journey towards their right to self determination. We will support their view of their future and we will help preserve and nurture their respective Ancestral Domains.

We have learned to respect the dreams of their elders and we are enriched by listening to the visions of their young people. We will walk with them towards their dream of a sustainable livelihood that respects their culture and dignity as a people.

We are seeing a lot of Indigenous People living on mountains higher than 500 meters above sea level who have existing coffee trees. We will share a coffee processing technology that would meet the highest local and global standards at Fair Trade prices.

We are invited to look to the future when all the Indigenous People in this land are trading fairly in local and global markets. We will assist in developing their entrepreneurial skills by practising direct trade philosophies and inclusive business models to the coffee industry.

We are facing the reality that our resources and the money earned may lead to conflict if we as a community do not prepare or plan for our financial future. We will journey with community leaders and their people in basic conflict resolution approaches and financial management strategies to ensure the sustainability of their culture and resources.