Bukidnon

Bukidnon is two coffee provinces in one. On the plateau of Northern Mindanao, farmers grow robusta in volume, much of it for instant coffee. Higher up, a much smaller crop of arabica has become one of the most decorated coffees in the Philippines. The province now plans to plant far more of it.

The short version

• About an eighth of the Philippines’ green coffee.
• Robusta is 98.9% of its output; arabica under 1%.
• Arabica at 1,200–1,800 metres, on volcanic soils.
• Competition winners: the top two estate arabicas in 2025.
• Harvest mainly October to February.
• A roadmap to 10,000 hectares by 2035.

What does Bukidnon coffee taste like?

The arabica that wins competitions is sweet, floral and citrusy. At the 2025 Philippine Coffee Quality Competition, the Department of Agriculture’s regional office published the judges’ notes for Bukidnon’s winners:

Farm	Place, 2025	Notes
Finca de Garces, Pangantucan	1st, estate arabica	Caramel, floral, nutty, orange-peel acidity, tea-like finish
Daraghuyan Ancestral Domain, Malaybalay City	2nd, estate arabica	Floral, banana, caramel, lemon-candy sweetness, grapefruit acidity
Granja Alegre, Pangantucan	4th, smallholder arabica	Brown spice, black dried fruit, sweet finish
Milalittra Farmers Agri Coop, Talakag	8th, smallholder arabica	Brown sugar, black tea, citrus acidity
Inhandig Tribal MPC, Malaybalay City	11th, smallholder arabica	Floral, roasted peanuts, tropical fruit

Source: DA Region 10. Another Talakag lot won the prize for best honey-processed arabica. Bukidnon’s robusta does well too: in 2018 Lorna Libante of Bukidnon placed second in the robusta category, SunStar reported. In 2022, 22-year-old Eljean Dagohoy from Pigtauranan became the competition’s youngest winner, Daily Coffee News reported.

How much coffee does Bukidnon grow?

Measure	Figure	Source
Bukidnon’s share of national green coffee	12.48%	Bukidnon Coffee Roadmap, via PIDS
Robusta’s share of Bukidnon’s output	98.9%	Bukidnon Coffee Roadmap, via PIDS
Northern Mindanao, 2020	2,799 t green coffee on 11,639 ha	PSA, via DA roadmap
Northern Mindanao arabica, 2020	199 t of dried cherries, of 5,598 t	PSA, via DA roadmap
Coffee land in Bukidnon, 2017	About 2,000 ha, mostly in the highlands	DTI, via SunStar

Northern Mindanao, which includes Bukidnon, grew 9.23% of the Philippines’ coffee in 2020. The province’s reputation and its output don’t match: PIDS calls Bukidnon “the country’s leading Arabica-producing province”, yet in the Department of Agriculture’s 2020 figures the whole region grew less than 2% of the country’s arabica. Robusta took hold through legacy plantings and buying programmes such as Nestlé’s, PIDS says.

Altitude and harvest

Bukidnon’s arabica highlands lie at 1,200 to 1,800 metres, with fertile volcanic soils, PIDS says. In a survey of 150 growers in Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental, robusta dominated in the low and middle elevations of Claveria and Impasugong, while arabica was concentrated in high villages such as Miarayon, in Talakag. Of these growers, 63.3% pick selectively, mainly on the arabica farms of Miarayon, while 36.7% strip-pick robusta; 85.3% dry their coffee in the sun. 69.3% sell in the main harvest season, from October to February, when supply peaks and prices tend to drop.

The roadmap

The Bukidnon Coffee Roadmap 2025–2035 sets a goal of expanding the province’s coffee plantations to 10,000 hectares, with the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Mindanao Development Authority and local governments behind it, PIDS says. The obstacles are familiar: ageing trees, few certified seedlings, weak extension services and too few dryers, PIDS found.

Bukidnon and other Philippine origins

• Coffee in the Philippines: the whole country, its four species and its imports.
• Benguet: the Philippines’ other famous arabica, in the north.
• Coffee in Vietnam: where most Philippine coffee imports come from.