Davao City Library Cafe to open soon

The coffee shop will be operated by cooperatives and will be launched on September. 

The project dubbed “Coop Cup” will be jointly run by the Manuel Guianga and Sirib Growers and Employees Multipurpose Cooperative (MAGSIGE MPC) and the Model Cooperative Network (MCN).

City Cooperative and Development Office (CCDO) Officer-In-Charge Luzminda Eblamo said that the social enterprise will sell coffee and other local products of the coops. 

Eblamo said the CCDO endorsed MAGSIGE-MPC initially to run the café, but they added MCN, a secondary cooperative composed of various large cooperatives, not only in Davao City but also in other parts of Region 11.

“These cooperatives are in the consortium and will be supporting the MAGSIGE-MPC to run our Library Café,” Eblamo said.

The cafe is expected to open in the middle of September after the lease contract is signed between the MAGSIGE-MPC and the City Government of Davao.  

Agripino L. Torres, Davao City Cooperative Council Chairperson during the I-Speak Media forum on Thursday (August 25) said that by taking the opportunity of managing a coffee shop, people will see that cooperatives are capable of managing business with the help of stakeholders in Davao City. 

“Pag sinabi mo kasing cooperative, social enterprise, parang ito yung pinaka hina pa in terms of business appreciation. But here, what we want to show is that if the cooperative sector is given the proper recognition, coops can manage a business and one of the showcases we are trying to develop is through this coffee shop,” Torres said.

He said he hopes that the coffee shop will grow and will be promoted, and hopefully, the city government will patronize it, especially since this is a social enterprise owned not by an individual or a few people but by many people. 

The MAGSIGE MPC’s own brand of coffee “Gre’ Coffee”, which is actually 4 in 1 will also be sold in the coffee shop. MAGSIGE-MPC is also now planting coffee. They have a nursery in Baganihan and they are planting Arabica and Robusta varieties in different areas in District 3.  

The coffee shop is also planning to serve All-Day Breakfast.