Francisco's family has long been in food and beverages business. Starting out in the coffee business though was something he had to work from the ground up. "I love cooking but coffee per se wala akong alam. So from the late 80s to early 90s I did my research. I did my blending research. I reverse operated an espresso machine-studied how it looked like and how it performed. [All] self-taught," he shares. "parang self-engineering. Then I got the whole system working, in-apply ko to my first coffee shop. Then I started researching more about coffee by my travels around the Philippines looking for coffee, that's why I was able to compile my journal and then my book."
Apart from the book, Fransisco also shares his coffee expertise by conducting monthly Coffeeology® seminars - first the basic seminar about coffee knowledge from farm to cup, and then the barista seminar. Here he turns a very active mood. Being in the business for years, Fransisco shares a nugget that plenty can rejoice about. "Good news, consumption is increasing, production is decreasing and it's not improving. Nagkakaroon at lumalaki ang gap. By my theory and analysis, nasa mga 70-80 percent," he says. What he's giddy about is the opportunity to profit. "I've helped a lot of people set up their own bars and cafes with their different reasons - as a hobby or as a career or another source of income, sideline, kahit ano. I helped clients develop concepts for cafes, and there are many concepts out there," Fransisco adds. "From a roaster's point of view, I'm producing 20 percent yearly increase. I don't know how to interpret that but if I were to, the market is not yet saturated. People are consuming more."
Now before you jump to setting up your own café, Fransisco shares these guidelines:
Know your brew
By that, he means research. "You really have to appreciate coffee. Coffeeology® is basically a seminar on what you need to learn in putting up your own café. It's an investment but more than that is the foundational knowledge. If you're gonna be retailing coffee and a customer asks, 'I want this bag of coffee at home.' What do you do now? You should know what's the next question to ask," Fransisco says. "Nagiging authority ka rather than just a retailer. By doing that, the consumer becomes an authority, and their standards become higher. Those who want to become coffee players have to elevate the standard because the consumer now has higher standards."
Put premium on quality
Quality in output in every business is essential. The quality Fransisco preaches covers more than the product itself. "When you make your own cup of coffee, you should put your own passion to it kasi it's your coffee. If you want to serve coffee for somebody, that's the way you should make it - like assuming you'd drink it," he says. "And I don't [sell in] groceries. With that, I lose profit because other brands are there. But with my choice, I make my clients feel special and in turn they are very loyal to me."
Boots on the ground
Fransisco recommends the hands-on approach when it comes to setting up your café. "You must have the patience to attend to the coffee shop itself. The seminar's just 2-3 hours but after that bahala ka na. I'll teach how to really make a good cup of coffee and know about coffee. But beyond that dapat may patience ka to run the business," he says. Following the formula of fresh materials, proper preparation, good maintenance, and fair pricing, dividends will come. "Kung meron kang naipon na kahit na P400,000, you can put up a café. Kahit push-cart. It can help you generate income and pay you back in six months. That's if you follow a certain temple - 100 cups sold a day with minimum transaction of P80, meaning. Of course, if you tweak that a bit, hahaba yan ng mga 9-12 months. But you're doing business for one year. Dapat five years yan or longer."
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