February 20, 2023
Bud’z Café brings Bukidnon Pride to SM CDO Downtown Premier
By Tito Mike
An innovative café is bringing the best of Bukidnon’s produce to Cagayan de Oro with the recent blessing of its first outlet at the 5th floor of SM CDO Downtown Premier.
“When we joined the 2nd Banog-Banog Festival of Manolo Fortich we found that most of the people who were flocking to our stall and telling us how they liked our coffee, pizza and mocktails were from Cagayan de Oro so this gave us an idea to open a branch in Cagayan de Oro to better serve them from there,” said Edward E. Asok, who together with his wife Sarah Jane, and brother Emman form the driving force behind Bud’z Café.
The 2nd Banog Aerial, Arts, Music & Food Festival so named because it is Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon’s premier festival that pays homage to the Philippine Eagle was held on April 29-May 1, 2022 at the Provincial Economic Zone (formerly BRCI).
Bud’z Café, originally named after the couple’s youngest daughter, first opened in October 2020 at PCH1 Entrance in Barangay Damilag but will soon open in a much better and larger location to better serve its growing clientele.
Originally conceived at the height of the global pandemic when business for their digital marketing company slackened, the enterprise became a convergence of the three partners interests: Edward’s passion for coffee, Sarah Jane’s affection for mocktails, and Emman’s zeal for breads and baking.
Thus their initial menu featured traditional and contemporary coffee variants, mocktails by Sarah Jane and croissants and pizza by Emman.
“We didn’t expect the enthusiastic response to our products during the Banog-Banog Festival but it encouraged us to spread our wings further and diversify our menu,” Edward noted.
Thus, they are now focused in promoting their single origin Typica Arabica variety, which was first introduced to the lowlands of Benguet Province by the Spaniards as early as 1875.
Typica coffee is a global icon amongst existing coffee varieties and gave rise to many sub-varieties ones like Pacamara, Criollo, Arabigo, Kona, and the famous Jamaica Blue Mountain. Originating in the coffee forests of southwestern Ethiopia before spreading to Yemen, India, and beyond, it has come to spawn one of the most culturally and genetically important groups of arabica coffee in the world.
Typica is a particularly tough type to cultivate due to its high susceptibility to pests and disease and Typica beans are usually marketed as a premium coffee for a more expensive price. Despite this, Typica remains an immensely popular variety among coffee growers thanks to its clean, complex, and generally high-quality cup profile.
The Typica variety being championed by Bud’z Café is generically branded as Bukidnon Coffee and grows at 1,400-1,700 meters above sea level (MASL) in the foothills of Mt. Kitanglad and usually processed by hand and sun-dried on raised beds.
“Our customers love its clean and fruit taste which has made it an easy favorite for coffee lovers, and we are currently polishing the process for a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) pour-over version to make it more customer-friendly and educational,” Edward said.
(photo courtesy of Kag. Suzette Magtajas Daba Office)
“Besides promoting single-origin Typica Arabica from Bukidnon, Bud’z Café has also made an advocacy of promoting local products from Bukidnon like the cow’s milk we use in our coffee and frappe’s, and local fruits such as strawberry from Dahilayan, pineapple from Montegelo, mint and herbs from Aloma’s, with more to come in cooperation with the Manolo Fortich Chamber of Commerce and Industry,” he added.
Besides its new branch at the 5th Floor of SM CDO Downtown Premier, Bud’z Café is also looking to inaugurate its bigger main store with a larger parking space at Villa Violeta, Bgy. Damilag, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon by the end of February.
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