Davao (Mount Apo)

Davao is the Philippines’ second coffee region, in Mindanao. Most of its coffee is robusta, but on the slopes of Mount Apo, the country’s highest peak, farmers grow arabica that Philippine speciality roasters now sell under the mountain’s name.

The short version

• Second region in the Philippines: 5,413 tonnes of green coffee in 2020.
• Mostly robusta, with arabica and excelsa.
• Mount Apo arabica at about 1,200–1,600 metres.
• Cacao, citrus, dried fruit and berries, by roasters’ notes.
• Mostly Catimor, often natural-processed.

What does Mount Apo coffee taste like?

There is no official profile, so the evidence comes from the roasters who buy it. Their descriptions of Mount Apo arabica:

Lot	Altitude	Variety and process	Notes	Source
Kapatagan, Mount Apo	1,200 m	Catimor, natural	Cacao, a hint of citrus, dried fruit	Everyday Coffee Roasters
Mount Apo, Davao del Sur	1,450 m	Catimor, natural	Floral, dates, blueberries	Curve Coffee
Davao del Sur (Apron Conzon)	1,400 m	Catimor, natural	Lychee, almonds, red cherries	Kokowks Coffee Roasters
Bansalan, Davao del Sur (Sergio Loon)	1,400–1,600 m	Catimor	Wine and fruit	Philia

Philia says Sergio Loon’s coffee won places in the Philippine Coffee Quality Competition in 2021, 2023 and 2024; the official results could not be checked.

Where and how is it grown?

Mount Apo is a large, dormant volcano with three peaks on its summit plateau, one of them Kapatagan, Everyday Coffee Roasters says. The arabica described above grows on its Davao del Sur side, in Kapatagan and Bansalan. Most of the region’s coffee, though, is robusta. In 2020 Davao and SOCCSKSARGEN were the leading producers of both robusta and arabica, and Davao also grew much of the country’s excelsa, the government roadmap says.

How much coffee does the Davao Region grow?

Measure	2020	Source
Area	15,881.29 ha	PSA, via DA roadmap
Production, dried cherry	10,826.25 t	PSA, via DA roadmap
Production, green coffee	5,413.12 t (17.85%, second)	PSA, via DA roadmap
Yield	0.68 t/ha	PSA, via DA roadmap
Robusta, dried cherry	7,313.62 t	PSA, via DA roadmap
Arabica, dried cherry	2,317.61 t	PSA, via DA roadmap
Excelsa, dried cherry	1,124.99 t	PSA, via DA roadmap

In 2023, Region XI, Davao, produced 5,241.06 tonnes, 20.25% of the national total and second to SOCCSKSARGEN, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies reports. Davao coffee in robusta, arabica and excelsa versions is among the local ground-coffee brands the roadmap lists, alongside a Mt. Apo civet coffee.

Davao and other Philippine origins

• Coffee in the Philippines: the whole country, its four species and its history.
• Bukidnon: Northern Mindanao’s coffee province.
• Benguet: the Cordillera’s heritage arabica.