La Salle, Gourmet Farms ink partnership on Coffee Science program

Pushing for the development of the local coffee industry, De La Salle University through its La Salle Food and Water Institute has introduced the country’s first multidisciplinary elective on coffee in collaboration with Gourmet Farms.  

DLSU President Br. Bernard Oca FSC and Vice President for Research and Innovation Dr. Raymond Tan, together with Gourmet Farms Chairman and Founder Ernest Escaler and Special Projects Director Roldan Capito, signed a Memorandum of Agreement and Deed of Donation last January 6 in Silang, Cavite. 

The 10-year partnership involves the further development of the pioneering program under the Department of Chemistry, open to all students in the university. 

The elective, centered on the chemistry of coffee, involves a multidisciplinary approach to addressing issues, research gaps, and concerns surrounding coffee. An endowment fund was also established to support activities that would also serve the public interest, particularly the actors involved in the coffee value chain.

An integral part of the agreement is setting up a laboratory specifically for coffee experiments and classes. The laboratory features state-of-the-art coffee-making and coffee sensory equipment for roasting, brewing, and espresso-making, as well as physico-chemical devices and apparatuses. 

Dr. Emmanuel Garcia, chemistry professor, director of the La Salle Food and Water Institute, and Chairperson of the Philippine Coffee Guild, shared that the program is a product of years of working and exchanging notes with members of the coffee industry and is aimed at responding to the clamor of these industry actors.