Nestlé Philippines has inaugurated a new integrated coffee research center - Nestlé Lipa Integrated Coffee Center (LICC) – in Lipa City, Batangas.
LICC joins Nestlé Experimental and Demonstration Farm (NEDF) in Tagum City, Davao del Norte, which is the first facility of its kind in the country.
With a capacity to cultivate 500,000 coffee seedlings, which will be distributed to coffee growers, the new PHP25m ($578,300) coffee research center will serve as coffee beans buying station for its Nescafé coffee brand.
The plant features nurseries for the production of robusta coffee seedlings, a technology demonstration center for new coffee varieties and a composting facility for organic fertilizer.
LICC will help farmers in improving the quality and quantity of coffee yield and gives access to the Robusta coffee farming technology as well as planting materials.
Nestlé Philippines senior vice president and corporate affairs head Edith de Leon was quoted by philSTAR.com as saying: "This is a significant milestone which underlines our continuing support of the Philippine coffee industry and our commitment to creating shared value for its various stakeholders, especially the small coffee farmers."
