Iona

Paulo and Iona first met in a coffee shop, so of course, coffee has a special place in their heart. They first entered the coffee industry by managing Iona’s aunt’s coffee shop in the Philippines in 2003. Through helping her aunt, they two visited many coffee farms and had the opportunity to connect with Indigenous farmers and their families. The pair later immigrated to Canada to join the rest of Paulo’s family who had already immigrated.

Iona initially had feelings of denial and guilt from moving outside the place she called “home”. Having gone to school in the Philippines, there was a lot of talk of “service to the country and service to your people”, so at first, immigrating to Canada felt like a betrayal to her country. She reconciled with these feelings by bringing a piece of home with her — coffee.

This was one way she could still serve her country while also making a difference in the lives of the Filipino coffee farmers whom she called family. Kape Philippine Coffee is one way that “connects me to my heritage, and that keeps me rooted and grounded” as well as other diasporic Filipinos who discover this coffee brand.

Iona continues to be connected with these Indigenous farmers while working in Canada. Prior to COVID-19, they would organize an annual mini-volunteer trip which connected like-minded individuals interested in learning more about the coffee story. This coffee story is much more than just “getting up close and personal to how coffee is produced” — it also includes “understanding the lives of farmers and how this kind of livelihood makes a difference to them”. Thanks to technology, Iona still maintains these connections with the farmers and continues to bring their coffee over to Canada.

2003 is when my story with coffee started. And now it’s 2024. I didn’t even realize it’s [been] more than two decades of being connected with the farmers. And it’s such a blessing.

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Paulo

On the flipside, Paulo, a professor and urban planner by training, was not interested in running a business, saying that the ins and outs of operating a business weren’t for him. However, by bringing coffee beans from the Philippines to Canada, he was inspired to share it as “a story of migration, a story of diaspora, a story of struggle, and the many hands that would work so hard just to bring that coffee to [a] cup”.

With Kape, we aim to connect people. We tell the story of the coffee by honouring the farmers by telling the stories of the farmers who grew the coffee themselves. We aim to tell the stories of how coffee connects people in our culture.

Kape was started with the support of Groundswell. Not only did this provide Iona and Paulo with support for a new business, but also provided them with a community as new immigrants. Through Groundswell test markets on Granville Island, they were able to gain validation and feedback from local coffee drinkers and tourists. This was especially special for second-generation Filipinos who were seeking to reconnect with their roots, and having a specialty coffee brought from the Philippines to Canada was something they could connect with and relate to.

However, the feeling of imposter syndrome was incredibly high in the beginning — starting a new business in a community that she did not know too well yet was both challenging and daunting. Additionally, the logistics behind importing coffee halfway across the world was another large hurdle to overcome. Despite these challenges, Iona states that “[Bringing] something from home, from coffee farmers who have worked so hard and continue to work hard for their livelihood is something I am deeply proud of and I know they are benefiting from this as well because their coffee is now on the global stage…

We are so proud to showcase the farmers by just simply putting their names on the coffee bags.” The farmers that Kape works with are dedicated and committed to the quality and learning about the coffee process, and this allows them to have more sustainable income as specialty coffees are what allows them to earn more as opposed to commodity coffee. Kape is committed to having them earn four times more than they would in the usual market as specialty coffee requires much more time and effort.

It’s a privilege to be able to start something like [Kape] and to be able to do this. But to help others as well see their connection back home to our roots is something special that I am and will always be grateful for.

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Filipino Coffee Culture

To put it simply, Paulo describes Filipino coffee culture as coffee + conversation = coffee culture. Though it was the Europeans who originally brought coffee beans to the Philippines, Filipino coffee culture is very much created within the Philippines. Rather than simply admiring how colonizers brought new things to the Philippines, Paulo describes the process as something that Filipinos took, appropriated, and made into their own — rather than glorifying things that came from outside, Filipinos managed to innovate and make it ingrained into their culture. This goes to show how culture can be created, necessitated, and innovated, despite having external influences.

The way Filipino coffee is processed is what makes it stand out from other cultures. They process coffee beans using traditional methods in processing such as pulping, in which they hand-pound the parchment coffee to reveal the bean. Although this method is considered more inefficient, it is a labour of love that allows the quality of the coffee to truly shine through. It is an appreciation of all the hands that have passed on these traditional practices to maintain the unique characteristics of the coffee.

My wife and I have coffee every day. So every day is a special day; every day is always making new memories and conversation…it’s always a delight to have coffee with, you know, the people you love

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