For the longest time, the vegetable farmers of Benguet relied heavily on middlemen to get their produce to consumers in Mero Manila. The setup brought the prices of their commodities up several notches higher, thus they did not earn much while the consumers in Manila had to pay premium prices to buy them. It was not beneficial both to the farmers and to the end market, but there was no choice. That was the way things worked.

It was particularly difficult for the farmers during times of oversupply. They had to sell their produce at an almost giveaway price and throw away leftovers. Consumers in the metro agonized with them over such instances. Chefs and restaurant owners, in particular, wanted to help out, as they were the ones who needed big amounts of produce and had the capacity to buy them. To them, it did not seem right to let such beautiful produce go to waste. So, some chefs started organizing “rescue buys” among their fellow chefs.

“I started supporting Benguet farmers through rescue buys during the pandemic,” says Chef Waya Araos-Wijangco.

Back then, Chef Waya’s critically acclaimed Gourmet Gypsy Café was located in Quezon City.

When she finally decided to move her restaurant up to Baguio in 2021, her involvement with the farmers of Benguet became even more personal. She met with the farmers, who talked about their experiences with “rescue buying” efforts, and Chef Waya began to understand that rescue buying was not a sustainable way to help them.

And industry leaders began to work on the system. The World Food Expo (WOFEX) opened some booths for farmers in 2022, and it gave the farmers an opportunity to see the market and meet chefs and restaurant owners. The interaction proved to be fruitful, and a lot of chefs wanted to go and see the farms for themselves.