A roadside coffee stand in Pampanga has gone from selling branded instant coffee to actually brewing it themselves using beans sourced from Filipino farmers.
The Coffee Bros cart, situated along Candaba road in Pampanga, caters to passersby on the weekends who are usually bikers and joggers looking for a cheap coffee fix. It is owned by the Gallego siblings, Johndoe and Kim Martin, and cousin Bill Lawrence Estacio.
When they started, they were only able to sell three cups of instant coffee on average.
"'Pag instant, aalis sila. Yung hinahanap nila yung brewed coffee talaga," John Doe Gallego said, adding it pushed them to learn how to brew coffee using beans themselves.
With the help of a coffee community on Facebook named 'Coffee Lovers Philippines', they invested on a french press and a manual coffee bean grinder which they used to practice.
Since then, with the rice-fields of Pampanga behind them, the Coffee Bros have been brewing coffee using beans sourced from farmers in Kalinga, Sagada, Benguet, Mt. Apo, and Batangas.
"May naging customer kami from UK. Sabi niya, yung local coffee natin papantay na sa branded na coffee. Hindi niya rin po kasi alam kung bakit yung mga tao daw nagspspend ng hundred of bucks eh samantalang maachieve mo yung lasa kung talagang coffee lover ka," Gallego said.
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On weekends, from 5 am to 9 pm, they sell 60 to 100 cups of coffee worth at least P30 each.
"'Nung una bago po ilatag yung mesa, wala pong self-confidence. Nahihiya ka po. Eh ngayon po, pag labas mo, super proud ka po sa sarili mo. Kung gusto mo, kakayanin mo po kumita kahit sa maliit na halaga," said Estacio, the cousin.
"Kung halimbawa, ang kagaya po namin na nagtitinda kahit ano pa man yan, nakabenta ka ng dalawa, isa,.. Wag ka po mawawalan siguro ng pag-asa kasi malayo mo bukas, maging sampu na yan, maging sikwenta na yan. Try nang try lang po," Gallego said.
