Philippines trip recap: sitting down with cafés on the ground

From 3 to 7 October 2026 we travelled to the Philippines. Over those five days we held 43 meetings, 25 with new customers and 18 with customers we already work with, tailoring what we put in front of each of them.

Matcha is more popular there than we expected

Matcha is popular in the Philippines, and the café owners themselves whisk it remarkably well. Water temperature, strength, the texture of the foam: each of them had tuned it into the taste of their own shop.

We go there as matcha specialists, but there was plenty for us to learn in how it is drunk and what it is paired with locally. Rather than importing Japanese practice wholesale, we sat down with them and worked out which leaf suits the matcha culture growing there.

Hojicha got attention too

Alongside matcha, the strong reaction was to hojicha roasted on the darker side. That kind of roast keeps its character even in milk, and it gave customers looking for their next move after matcha something concrete to consider.

Speaking in the other person's language

Two of our interns came along, one Vietnamese and one Chinese. On top of English they moved into whichever language suited the person in front of them. Going from small talk to the actual deal without an interpreter in between made a real difference over a short stay.

How you spend the time you get

Japan and the Philippines are not close enough to drop in on a whim. That is exactly why we think hard about how to spend each day once we are there.

One of our values is Lead with Love. Laying out products and settling terms can be done online. We go anyway because we want to think about the shop itself, and about the customers standing on the other side of its counter. We will keep showing up in person.