Daily grind & morning rituals

“We make a difference in the lives of those customers who are looking for a great cup of coffee at an affordable price,” says Rachel Fallarme, SVP-chief operating officer of Bo’s Coffee.

There are stories about coffee that transcend the mere act of drinking a cup to kickstart one’s day. (You’re not going to meet deadlines and engage in side quests at the same time while in that netherworld between wakefulness and sleepiness; you’re going to need a bigger boat, er, better brew.)

For Bo’s Coffee, founded by Steve Benitez in 1996, the story revolves around its championing of local coffee by supporting farmers in Sagada and Benguet in the North, as well as Mt. Apo, Mt. Kitanglad and Mt. Matutum in the South. Why the hell not? Atok and Ampucao boast coffee beans that are said to “smell like herbs but also taste like wine” — beans that should be as valued as grain in the Zack Snyder Netflix space-farm opera. Sagada also has awesome, world-class produce.

Recently, the company embarked on the latest chapter in its saga — spinning more stories, eliciting more sips, coming up with delectable bites to go with its signature brews — as it marked the fourth anniversary of Daily by Bo’s Coffee in its new flagship store on Matalino Street in Quezon City.

Let’s take a coffee break and rewind a bit.

Daily by Bo’s Coffee was born during the onset of the pandemic. Rachel Fallarme, SVP-chief operating officer, recalls, “We started with 10 cloud stores in 2020, all of which were operating at Bo’s Coffee locations to serve grab-and-go coffee. By 2021, we already had 40 cloud stores across Metro Manila and Cebu.” By 2022, upon the easing of pandemic restrictions, Daily opened kiosks and physical stores.

The brand offers handcrafted iced and blended coffee largely to the younger set who are always on the go, ever up and about, armed with delivery apps on their mobiles. Originally, it was just a grab-and-grab affair — grab a coffee and grab a ride to somewhere else. By putting up 12 physical stores and counting, with 10 in Manila and two in Cebu, Daily made a few course alterations. Coffee drinkers can sit down and hang out in one of these cafés… well… daily while soaking in the vibe of the place with its bold colors and even bolder concoctions. The interiors, highlighted by purple and cyan touches, were inspired by bounce houses for kids. Even the font used by the café has that bouncy, pouncy appeal. You feel rejuvenated before you even get a shot of caffeine.

All of this can be traced as far back as 2019 to the response by Bo’s Coffee to an evolving coffee market. “Before, coffee shops were aimed for a mature market — you had espressos, Americano, the usual,” explains Fallarme. “We saw that there was a need to focus on more youthful coffee drinkers — students, young professionals, call center agents in BPOs. With that in mind, we developed an iced coffee line.” Then the pitfall of a pandemic happened, thus Bo’s Coffee, along with other businesses, had to pivot. The path eventually led to Daily by Bo’s Coffee.

Why the name, “Daily,” by the way? According to Fallarme, because coffee is a type of fuel to be consumed on a daily basis.

The joint’s Spanish latte (a twist on the Vietnamese coffee) is definitely something to enjoy daily. Hmm… twice (thrice) a day would be even better. Who would’ve thought how the troika of coffee, milk and condensed milk could bring such a pleasurable jolt? It’s an ideal drink for a borderline purist such as me. Same with the coffee shop’s signature Kapesada (another ideal mixing of coffee and condensed milk), a cup or two to wash down mini pizzas, sandwiches, unique Bogels (go for the Spam or bacon variants) as well as lemon or coffee bars. The more adventurous bunch would have to try other hand-poured ice beverages and signature coffee brews creatively combined with cream cheese, salted caramel, orange juice, or matcha.

“Apart from the intricate hand-pour process, the coffee beans — with their bold taste that comes out from the coffee preparation — are what set us apart from the competition,” explains Jason Carl Vasquez, Daily’s coffee master. “Our coffee provides you with the energy boost you need to fuel up your daily hustle.”

The soul is in the coffee beans, agrees Rachel Fallarme. She concludes, “Everything that we do — the values that we espouse in our stores — is all about being Filipino. We work with farmers in Benguet, other places, as well as a new coffee community in Bukidnon. We want to be part of the community, to be part of our country’s economic growth. Our mission is to elevate our sense of being Filipino. We want to bring Philippine coffee to the international market. So, hopefully, with more customers getting to try our coffee, we will be able to achieve our goals together.”

And to have that mindset is to jumpstart the morning of our best day.

For information, follow @dailybyboscoffee and https://facebook.com/dailybyboscoffee.