The Davao City Library and Information Center (DCLIC) is now being served locally-produced coffee through the Library Café by Coop Cups.

During its grand opening Wednesday afternoon, the Library Café offered local coffee with additional products such as pastries and rice meals for library-goers.

The café is jointly run by the Manuel Guianga and Sirib Growers and Employees Multipurpose Cooperative (MAGSIGE MPC).

It is envisioned as a venue for coffee appreciation and a space for local cooperatives to promote their products.

In his speech, Magsige MPC chief executive officer Agripino Torres said the shop is to showcase the local coffee flavors of the Davao Region to the library-goers.

He said the indigenous coffee farmers in Marilog and Toril districts and nearby communities will also benefit as they will primarily supply the coffee beans.

“The yield from the Marilog and Toril coffee planted and tilled by the members of Magsige will soon add to the beans used in the shop,” Torres said.

Meanwhile, Model Cooperative Network chief executive officer Rhoda Ruth Pillerin said the shop sources its coffee beans from local producers such as the Balutakay Coffee Farmers Association (BACOFA), the producers of the award-winning Arabica coffee grown on the foothills of Mt. Apo in Bansalan, Davao del Sur.

Aside from BACOFA, a cooperative from New Leyte, Maco, and another from Maragusan also contributed to producing and promoting local coffee beans.

As the first coop-run coffee shop nationwide, both Torres and Pillerin see the possibility of the Coop Cups opening franchises soon in areas outside Davao.

“We will be holding a coffee appreciation series where cooperatives can promote their products and services,” Pillerin said. (PNA)