PH Barista Champion Builds a Coffee School for the Filipinos
Michael
Harris Lim, the 2019 Philippine National Barista Champion and the first
Filipino to make it to the semi-finals of the World Barista Championship in
Boston, USA, opens the Institute for Coffee Excellence, an educational
institution committed to developing a variety of educational initiatives
that focuses on instilling positive values that will help grow and excel as
coffee professionals.
After
successfully sharing his advocacies in the international stage, Harris
continues to carry out his life’s work of creating a fully-sustainable coffee
economy and takes another step towards realizing this vision—by officially
opening the Institute for Coffee Excellence.
Since
he first ventured in the coffee business in 2001, he has been committed in
providing solutions to elevate the quality of local crops and equip the
Filipino farmers with tools and knowledge to help them keep up with the
evolving industry. But through the competitions, Harris was able to see the
industry in the perspective of a barista which made him realize that they also
needed training in delivering the best coffee experience. As he stated, “This
journey has inspired me to create a space to nurture the baristas and our
Filipino coffee farmers.” Thus, he built the Institute for Coffee Excellence to
have its thrust work at both ends of the spectrum: for farmers and baristas.
Harris
envisions the institute as an instrument in fostering a community that works together for total
sustainability to achieve the ultimate goal of having an increasingly steady
food and coffee security for the Philippines and for the future generations to
come. “The
transformation of a community begins with education. In the case of our coffee
community, I believe we would have to start by empowering our farmers and
baristas with the knowledge, values and passion to work towards a beautiful
coffee future,” he shares.
Prior
to his participation in the national and world competitions, Harris makes
vigorous effort in extending a helping hand to the thriving coffee industry as
a social entrepreneur. While he actively supports coffee-producing communities
in Benguet through the platforms he built such as the Foundation for
Sustainable Coffee Excellence (FSCE) and The Giving Café, his eagerness to
create greater initiatives that will benefit the local industry never ceased.
Driving
his inspiration from the members of the coffee community, he's also aiming to
make the Foundation for Sustainable Coffee Excellence as the country’s National
Body licensed by World Coffee Events to hold the next competitions in 2020.
To
know more about the Institute for Coffee Excellence, visit,
coffeeexcellence.org.
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