The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2024
LIFULL turned coffee waste into syrup to lift Philippines farmers
A syrup from coffee flowers, leaves and branches gives farmers a year-round income; LIFULL open-sourced every cost and recipe.
LIFULL
the move
Philippine coffee farmers face structural poverty: Liberica, long beloved locally as 'barako', is bought at a low price for domestic use, so incomes are tied to a single harvest and heavily seasonal.
LIFULL's 'Earth Cuisine - PROUD LIBERICA COFFEE' project focused on what coffee growers usually discard — the flower, leaves, branches and cascara — and worked with champion barista Hidenori Izaki and coffee advocate Michael Harris Conlin to make a syrup.
Because a syrup is easy for coffee brands to use, it both gives farmers a year-round product and carries the Liberica name to more consumers. LIFULL openly published the production costs, process and recipes on a dedicated site.
why it works
- Turning waste into a product adds a second income stream rather than a higher price.
- A syrup is easier for buyer brands to adopt than a raw ingredient.
- Open-sourcing the data makes the trade transparent, the first step to fairer prices.
- It revives a culturally iconic variety, restoring pride and interest in Philippine coffee.
what transfers
When farm poverty is structural, don't just pay more for the crop — create a second income stream from the parts everyone discards.
what came after
The project won a Silver Clio in Partnerships & Collaborations at the 2024 Clio Awards. By publishing cost, process and recipes as open data, it shifted the conversation from charity to a replicable, transparent value chain that others could adopt to lift coffee-farmer incomes.
references
- LIFULL地球料理「PROUD LIBERICA COFFEE」がClio Awards 2024シルバーを受賞
- LIFULL地球料理第4弾PROUD LIBERICA COFFEEがClio Awards 2024でシルバーを受賞
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