TABUK, Kalinga — The Kalinga Brew, a locally produced coffee, is now in demand in China because of its lasting aroma and caramelized taste which had attracted Chinese and other international coffee drinkers.

Kalinga Brew was one of the 27 processed foods manufactured in the Philippines exhibited in China during recent 6th China-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Expo held at Nanning, Guangxi.

Antuza Refalda, proprietor of the Kalinga Brew, said the Chinese are now declining tea and are now looking for the locally grown and manufactured coffee because they claim it has a wonderful aroma and convincing taste plus the fact that it is said to be medicinal.

The 500 kilos of Kalinga Brew brought by exhibitors to the famous trade fair was consumed by the Chinese coffee drinkers within a span of two days out of the seven-day exhibit period.

Described by patrons in five countries as the best brewed coffee in the world, the local brewed coffee gained its trademark in the global market when introduced by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from the Cordillera in their respective places of work.

The bandwagon for the consumption of the Kalinga brewed coffee started to be known worldwide as it was served in small coffee shops managed by OFWs, particularly in Hong Kong, Singapore and in the Middle East.

By next year, the brewed coffee will be introduced in Thailand, Australia and other Southeast Asian countries to continue the expansion of its market to ensure the increased production of the native product.

The local manufacturers of the brewed coffee have been receiving increasing orders from both local and foreign patrons, thus, Refalda claimed they were forced to seek the assistance from concerned government agencies to allow them to successfully purchase new coffee processing equipment.

In response, the provincial office of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) gave the local manufacturers some P910,000 as financial assistance so that they could immediately purchase the coffee processing equipment in order for them to be able to meet their increasing orders from local and international patrons.