BOTE CENTRAL
Bote Central is an ecofriendly Filipino coffee company focused on the production and consumption of coffee in the Philippines. Through rationalizing the supply chain and embedding Fair Trade principles they promote sustainability in the Philippines coffee industry. They do this by dealing directly with farmers thereby avoiding traders and middlemen. In addition, with the assistance of technology, Bote Central promotes efficiency at community levels as a mean of improving and sustain business. Find out more at
https://botecentral.com/.
https://botecentral.com/.
The Story |
Bote Central, is a social enterprise that was conceived by coffee entrepreneurs Basil and Vie Reyes. During a climbing expedition in Philippines, the couple had a chance encounter with a civet cat, or the Alamid. The Alamid is known to have digestive enzymes that add a fragrant aroma and unique flavor to coffee beans that they consume and then expel. This encounter made the couple realise that while the Alamid is a native animal of the Philippines, there was no industry around exporting civet coffee from the Philippines.
Basil and Vie did their research and found that farmers prefer growing rice to coffee as coffee was not deemed sustainable due to the low price it fetched in the local marketplace. They also discovered that even though the farmer communities were also coffee consumers, the high costs of commercially roasting coffee were too high that it prevented them from economically processing and consuming their own coffee. 
Knowing that the asking price for international coffee was much higher, they saw an opportunity that led them to start a social business that would give farmers an incentive to start considering coffee as an alternative source of employment for local communities once again. |
The Impact |
Bote Central’s aim is to:
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