Agnep Heritage Farms

Welcome to Agnep Heritage Farms.

We are budding coffee producers cultivating shade-grown Benguet Arabica Coffee. We envision planting coffee under the canopy of Benguet pine and Alnos trees.  Shade grown coffee is a way of growing coffee in concert with nature.

It is our goal to encourage a future generation of coffee growers in Benguet using sustainable agricultural processes.

Source of featured image: Image via ©Shade Grown Coffee – The Movie.

Who We Are

We are a family of budding coffee producers cultivating shade-grown Benguet arabica coffee in the Cordilleras mountain range of the Philippines. Our farm started in January 2018 with a simple question: “What if we could grow coffee using our great-grandmother’s land?”

Intrigued by this possibility, we took a closer look at our ancestral land in Benguet, and discovered that its forest-like environment had just the right amount of shade for growing coffee. In fact, our great great-grandmother Agnep was Bontoc native and a backyard coffee grower who kept typica plants underneath a thick canopy of Benguet Pine, Kalasan and Alnos trees. Several years ago, our grandmother and uncle planted Typica, Granica, and Red bourbon coffee plants, which ended up yielding cherries despite being left on their own. This was all the encouragement we needed to begin our coffee journey.

Five months later, we finished planting 1,200 red bourbon coffee plants, and we are learning everything we can about coffee farming and processing. Our dream is to offer Philippine specialty coffee to the world, while providing sustainable benefits to local farmers and nurturing the next generation of coffee growers in the Benguet region.

As of today, May 1, 2020, we have planted 3,820 coffee plants and sowed 1,000 seedlings. We plan to plant around 2,000 coffee seedlings this year, but let’s see…the Covid-19 pandemic prevents us from travelling from the city to the farm.

Our Mission

To be among Benguet’s leading producers of specialty coffee that grows sustainable, high-quality Arabica. We aim to be cost-competitive and aligned with global quality standards, while following environment-friendly growing processes. Through our farm, we want to provide sustainable benefits to farmers, processors, traders, exporters and consumers.

Core Values

• Environmental responsibility. We value the environment where we grow our coffee. We will only use sustainable agricultural practices that preserve our forest system and maintain the productivity of the land over time.
• Commitment to the community. We are committed to giving fair compensation for the work of our coffee farmers. We aim to educate and empower the next generation of coffee farmers in Benguet, so they can grow along with us and develop sustainable livelihoods of their own.
• Continuous improvement. We strive to maintain high standards in everything we do, while improving our methods with practice. Through our culture of constant education, research, and growth, we aim to constantly refine our methods as we strive to make our Benguet arabica meet global standards.

Meet our lead farmers

The Dado Family
May 1, 2020

The coffee variety, ARABICA, is now officially in the Slow Food’s Ark of Taste as the number of trees in Benguet continue to dwindle. Many reasons contribute to its declining population, such as climate change, coupled with the diminishing interest of the younger generation to go into coffee farming. Read more?

Our farm is located at Benguet, Philippines. “Agnep Coffee Farm” is the registered business name with the Department of Trade and Industry.  For any inquiries on collaboration or partnerships, please contact us below:

Thank you.

Marielle Dado
[email protected]
Project Director
Berlin, Germany

Noemi Lardizabal-Dado
[email protected]
Farm Manager
Mankayan, Benguet
Manila, Philippines

Luis H. Dado
[email protected]

Owner/Proprietor, Agnep Coffee Farm
Mankayan, Benguet
Manila, Philippines

Lauren Dado
[email protected]
Marketing Director
Singapore

Our Lead Farmers: Farmer Edmund and Farmer Angeline

Follow us on instagram
@BenguetArabica