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Expertise
Rudy Trillanes: The coffee man
August 2008
TASTE, aroma, how it feels in your mouth, and a host of other qualities and standards are used by experts to judge a cup of coffee.
But ultimately, good coffee becomes a subjective thing because different people have different preferences. And it is one of the things that makes coffee a wonderful beverage, full of rich and varying experiences for each drinker.
And no one knows how varied the experiences can be in enjoying coffee than Rudy Trillanes, NESCAFÉ’s resident “coffee man.”
It's hard to find someone who knows his way through coffee more than Trillanes. For nearly three decades, he has involved himself in almost all facets of the industry. Today, he sits in the Board of Directors of the Philippine Coffee Board, a private sector-led group that helps develop and promote the Philippine coffee industry. His position is a testament to Trillanes' wealth of knowledge and experience in all things coffee.
His ties to the coffee industry began in 1973 as a mechanical engineer in the country's first NESCAFÉ factory in then rural Alabang. Here, Trillanes says, learned to “operate the factory’s equipment: from the roaster, extractor, dryer, and down to the filling line.” Early on he showed great promise. Through good collaboration with the staff and with process optimization, the factory's coffee production increased by 33% without a major additional investment.
Fast forward to 1989. Trillanes is now in Nestle’s sprawling Switzerland office where he was Technical Advisor for NESCAFÉ factories in Asia except the Philippines. This has given him the opportunity to know more about coffee technology and to expand his technical expertise through frequent interactions with the other coffee experts in the Nestlé world. There, he helped standardize the reporting system of all coffee factories in Asia.
The following year Trillanes' coffee expertise was again needed, this time in China. He was brought to the Dongguan province to oversee the establishment of the first NESCAFÉ and Coffeemate factory in the People’s Republic of China. At that time, Chinese barely knew any English. So Trillanes relied on a Chinese translator all the time, as he hired people ranging from factory workers to managers, and dealt with development of suppliers for raw and packaging materials. He was deputy General Manager for Nestle Dongguan from 1991 to 1994.
After his successful stint in China, it was time for NESCAFÉ's coffee ambassador to go home to Philippine coffee. In 1994 he became Nestle's Factory Manager in Alabang. He later relocated to Cagayan De Oro in 1998 to spearhead NESCAFÉ’s new factory there.
Trillanes, together with his team in Cagayan de Oro, optimized production such that the Cagayan De Oro factory became the biggest output for soluble coffee in the Nestlé world. During that time, he also helped improve the factory’s outlying area through four pilot projects: the Tablon Water Shed Park Reforestation, Tablon Treepository Park, and Artificial Reef Project and Giant Clam Seeding in Agutayan Marine Sanctuary. He worked there until his retirement in 2007.
“I am very proud to be part of the NESCAFÉ family,” says Trillanes. “If it weren’t for Nestle, I wouldn’t have gained the experience and expertise that I have now.”
After drinking and breathing coffee for much of his life, Trillanes serves as a great guide for today's generation of coffee drinkers.
This becomes more evident when you see how he conducts Coffee 101, a coffee appreciation seminar given by NESCAFÉ to its employees and communication partners with the objective of spreading the knowledge and passion for coffee.
Participants truly enjoy the session. "Looking forward to Coffee 102," says one of the participants to Trillanes as the course ends.
"Now that is coffee appreciation," the coffee man declares. |
