TABUK, Kalinga - another brand of Kalinga processed coffee brews in

the market, bringing to three the number of such products produced in

this province.

The Kalinga Blend, which is processed by the Our Tribe Food Products

of Dagupan Centro, this town, was launched during the Patawid

Agro-Industrial Fair, which was one of the highlights of the 57th

Foundation Day of this town last June 16.

Grace Agtina, owner of Our Tribe Food Products, told the media that

the idea to come up with a combination of the three famous Kalinga

coffee varieties, namely, Excelsa, Robusta and Arabica, occurred to

her after she noticed that before harvest time, there is a shortage of

processed coffee products in the province and that the price of the

raw coffee beans in the market rises sharply.

This should not be the case, she said.

She also said that with all the coffee farms in the province, there is

a great potential of the coffee processing business.

Agtina, whose main business is farm supplies, said that she was

assisted in the establishment of her new venture by the Department of

Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of Science and Technology

(DoST) and the Tabuk municipal government.

The DTI guided her in starting the new business, the DOST assisted her

in procuring the right packaging material and trained her and her

workers in the processing technology, and the Tabuk municipal

government lent her its roasting machine which, according to her,

would have cost her R300,000 had she bought it.

The Kalinga Blend will be promoted under the "One Town, One Product"

(OTOP) program of the government.

Agtina said that with three outlets in the province and one in

Santiago City, the Kalinga Blend, which weighs 400 grams and is packed

in paper bags with an inner aluminum foil packaging, is enjoying brisk

sales.

The wholesale and retail prices of the Kalinga Blend are R85 and R95,

respectively.

The Kalinga Brew of the NorRef Food Products of Dagupan Weste

pioneered in coffee processing in the province in 2004. While the

Mananig Wild Coffee which is produced by the Mananig Multipurpose

Cooperative of Pinukpuk town, this province, was launched early this

year.

Meanwhile, the president of the BagoIgorot-Tagalog- Ilocano-Kalinga

(BITICK) Women's Group of Dagupan Weste, Tabuk has asked the media to

help announce that the organization is buying bignai, a berry which is

known as "bugnay" in the local dialect, at R20 per kilo.

Nancy Busacay said that the organization, which produces the Tabuk

Wine from bignai, has the capacity to accommodate all deliveries,

adding that they are taking advantage of the harvest season of the

berries which comes only once a year.

Busacay said that among the berry suppliers is the Ryan's Farm in

Ipil, Tabuk, which has a bugnay-kalabaw plantation whose trees started

to bear fruit last year.

It was learned from Corazon Ryan, owner the farm, that she was

encouraged to plant the bugnay trees after she tasted the Tabuk Wine

in 2002. She said the taste could compare with wines of grape juice.

Busacay said that the Tabuk Wine is different from other bignai wines

made elsewhere because it does not contain any chemical and is aged

the natural way.

"We heard that some bugnay wine producers mix their products with

brandy which enables them to age their wines for as short as two

months, but ours takes a year before it becomes shiny and mature,"

Busacay said.

The BITICK sells the Tabuk Wine at R100 per 700-ml bottle.

Busacay said that BITICK also processes other fruit wines and "tapey"

or rice wine which it sells at R150 per 700-ml bottle.

Busacay also said that fruit-wine processing is economically

worthwhile and is encouraging other women to venture into the business.