On 12 August 2016, Ambassador Evan Garcia visited Muni Coffee, and artisanal coffee shop located in the high-end neighborhood of Chelsea in London.

Located in 166 Fulham Road, Muni Coffee imports and promotes Philippine specialty coffee. It was co-founded by Filipino-German couple Jesica “Jena” and Julian Krause. The couple’s passion about coffee paired with Jena’s Filipino heritage led them to open their own coffee shop in the heart of London. This first of its kind of cafe in London serves a fusion of Filipino-European food in their menu. They also pride themselves with their finest coffee – imported at a premium price all the way from the Philippines and roasted right here in North London.

The relationship between Muni Coffee and the Philippine Embassy is rooted in the engagement between the venture’s owners and the Embassy's Philippine Trade and Investment Centre (PTIC) London. In 2014, PTIC London aided Jena in finding Philippine SME exporters they can potentially source coffee beans from as well as advising them about how to import the beans to the United Kingdom. Other assistance from PTIC London came in the form of a business-matching introduction between Muni and Philippine coffee exporters, when they visited London in October 2014 and an introduction between Philippine cocoa exporters and Muni coffee for potential chocolate drink sourcing from the Philippines. PTIC also promoted Muni’s kickstarter campaign last year.

“Our main unique selling proposition niche is promoting Philippine specialty coffee,” said Jenna. She finds it as a great privilege to be pioneering something unique within the vibrant independent coffee scene in the capital. According to her, its an opportunity not only sell Filipino coffee but also to talk about its origins.

“Our vision is to be recognised as a credible and excellent coffee shop, be among the best. And the next thing for us is to scale up, so that we can connect the consumer and the producer. We really want to continue on our collaborative projects, where we even bring our coffee roasters and baristas to the farms so that they can learn more about Philippine coffee and meet the farmers. We want it to be an educational experience for our team and also our customers – that’s one of the main things that we want to offer,” Jenna added.

The Coffee

Filipino arabica is one of the finest coffees in the world. And yet, no specialty coffee shop in London serves it. Muni source their coffee all the way from the mountain farms of Benguet, Philippines and pride themselves of knowing their farmers by name. They import the green beans and roast them in the United Kingdom.

The Menu

Muni Coffee has a fusion of Filipino-European cuisine available on their menu. Aside from the usual cafe trinkets of cakes and muffins, the coffee shop also serves a range of unique specialties from leche flan tarts, adobo sandwich, tocino to savoury aubergine and tomato tart glazed with soy palm vinegar. Filipino delicacies such as polvoron and turon are also available. Jena and Julian also disclosed that the favorite filipino breakfast bread, pandesal, will be available at the cafe soon.

The Ambassador's visit to Muni Coffee was arranged by Commercial Attaché Kristine Umali of PTIC London, and was also joined by Philippine Department of Tourism (PDOT) London representatives. 

You can find and follow Muni Coffee Co. on:

Website: www.municoffee.com
Instagram: @municoffee
Twitter: @municoffee
Facebook: Muni Coffee Company