The Benguet Coffee Project (BCP) of Saint Louis University continues to strengthen its advocacy for sustainability, local empowerment, and community partnership, embodying SLU’s mission to form competent, creative, and socially involved persons guided by CICM values of charity, justice, integrity, and peace.
What began as a three-year extension project of the School of Accountancy, Management, Computing and Information Studies under the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management has now evolved into a cross-disciplinary research endeavor, engaging students and faculty from Information Technology, Biology, and other academic units and schools and reaching as far as Japan. The BCP has become a living laboratory and experiential learning platform, where theory meets practice and where education directly contributes to community well-being.
In collaboration with the Domolpos Ansipsip Ancestral Domain Indigenous Peoples Organization, the project’s efforts have paved the way for the community to recognize and accept coffee tourism as an emerging form of sustainable livelihood in Benguet.
Through its immersive Harvest Season Tours, the project invites travelers, students, and coffee lovers to experience the heart of local farming while directly contributing to the sustainability of the community’s coffee heritage. Each tour is a hands-on exploration of the coffee lifecycle—from cherry picking and pulping to drying and cupping. Visitors walk alongside farmers, learn traditional methods, and witness the care that goes into every bean. For mountain hikers, the trail can continue all the way to the summit of Mt. Ugo.
The tour will start at the pick-up point in Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya. After a scenic ride through the mountains of Benguet, you will be greeted by community guides to explore backyard farms and indulge in snacks prepared by the locals themselves. Since its harvest season, you will likewise experience picking coffee berries. Roasting and coffee tasting will be part of the journey as well. A coffee experience that is slow and mindful while immersing yourself in this cultural landscape. Travelers can choose between an overnight trip or a day trip. Tours are available anytime and shall be coordinated through the Benguet Coffee Project’s facebook page. Harvest season starts this November through February.
More than just a drink, coffee becomes a symbol of shared responsibility and transformative education. Each cup tells a story — of local farmers, of academic collaboration, and of the CICM spirit in action.
Let the Benguet Coffee Project stand as a testament to how education can brew hope, sustainability, and empowerment — one cup at a time.
