Philippines - Boy Javier Bukidnon - Liberica

Among the Philippine archipelago’s 7,600+ islands, its 2nd largest island, Mindanao, is home to smallholder farms striving to place the country’s most distinctive coffees in the world specialty coffee map.

Cultivated by life-long farmer Wilfredo “Boy” Javier, Kape Kumaykay Farm — situated at 400 masl in land-locked Northern Mindanao locale Baungon, Bukidnon — produced an exceptional Liberica lot that placed Top 10 in the 2026 Southeast Asia Green Coffee Competition.

Originally dedicated to food crops like lettuce and bell peppers supplied to large corporations, Boy turned to coffee upon a friend’s advice, after a bout of plant disease ceased the viability of vegetable cultivation on his land.

Persisting through the challenges of transitioning from the faster turn around of seasonal vegetables to waiting years for his Liberica trees to finally bear fruit, Boy let go of farming for volume and embraced growing for character and distinction.

While Liberica has long been grown in the Philippines, its potential has remained largely untapped. As specialty coffee communities open up to a greater range of flavor diversity, while remaining exacting about cup quality, carefully cultivated and intentionally processed Liberica signals new possibilities. At Kape Kumaykay, a prize-winning cup sheds light on a species and terroir carrying the promise of a bountiful future for as long as its stewards continue to nurture it.