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U.S. 2020 Micro Roaster of the Year, Mostra Coffee, a FilAm-owned company, visits TFC

January 15, 2020 AT 11:42 AM

U.S. 2020 Micro Roaster of the Year, Mostra Coffee, a FilAm-owned company, visits TFC

Executive Advisor to the President & CEO of ABS-CBN Corporation and TFC Co-Founder Raffy Lopez (center) welcomes the co-founders of 2020 Micro Roaster of the Year Mostra Coffee to the TFC headquarters in Daly City (L-R) Jelynn Malone, Sam Magtanong, Beverly Magtanong, and Mike Arquines. (Photo courtesy of PLCarrion)

It was a serendipitous meeting that led to the successful community screening of Filipino-American owned Mostra Coffee at the TFC Studios last December. Mostra Coffee is an artisan micro-roasting company that sources, roasts, brews, and serves only the highest-grade specialty coffee. It was founded in 2013 by San Diego natives Jelynn Malone, Beverly Magtanong, Sam Magtanong, and Mike Arquines.
 
Philippine Consul General to San Francisco Henry Bensurto, Jr. introduced Tony Olaes, founder of The Filipino School in San Diego, to ABS-CBN Global Corporate Affairs & Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility Head Nerissa Fernandez, and between Olaes and Fernandez, a new digital series is already in the works, to launch first quarter of 2020. It was through these valuable connections that 2020 Micro Roaster of the Year, Mostra Coffee, came to partner with TFC. Learning about sustainability in their coffee business, Fernandez invited the Mostra team to bring their coffee, do a demo, and show their short film “Mostra Coffee Origins: Our Philippine Journey Back Home Vol.01” to the SF Bay Area community.
 
(L-R) Mostra Coffee Co-Founder Jelynn Malone, Consul Vanessa Bago-Llona, ABS-CBN Managing Director for North and Latin America Jun Del Rosario, and Philippine Consul General to San Francisco Henry Bensurto, Jr. enjoy a light moment before the community screening at the TFC Studio in Daly City. (Photo courtesy of Pia Lopezbanos-Carrion)
 
The TFC-led Epic Youth Leadership Awards (EYLA) under ABS-CBN International’s Corporate Affairs and Strategic CSR -- that recognizes leadership determined to make a difference in the world through efforts that address specific areas of service like entrepreneurship, environmentalism, mentorship, compassion, and culture –- also created an EYLA shortie, produced by the Emmy Award winning tandem of Pia Lopezbanos-Carrion and Jeremiah Ysip, on the Mostra team highlighting their values and their culture of giving back to the community, specifically to the coffee growers in Sitio Belis, Benguet in the northern part of the Philippines.
 
(L-R) Mostra Coffee Co-Founders Sam Magtanong, Jelynn Malone, and Mike Arquines are shown here on an origin trip to Benguet in the Mountain Province north of the Philippines. (Photo courtesy of Mostra Coffee)
 
It was a full day for the Mostra Coffee team, that included a tour of TFC headquarters, meeting ABS-CBN International officers and staff, interviews with weekly magazine program Adobo Nation and daily news show BA. The community screening was followed by a Q and A in-studio where co-founders Malone, Arquines, and the Magtanong couple got to share their journey.
 
 
(L-R) Mostra Coffee Co-Founders Sam Magtanong, Mike Arquines, Beverly Magtanong, and Jelynn Malone get to demonstrate the siphon brewing method for their Mostra holiday roast during an interview with Adobo Nation’s Ginger Conejero (right). (Photo courtesy of Pia Lopezbanos-Carrion)

BA Correspondent and Host of The Last Piece Podcast Rommel Conclara (2nd from left) with Mostra Coffee Co-Founders (L-R) Jelynn Malone, Beverly Magtanong, Mike Arquines, and Sam Magtanong. (Photo courtesy of Pia Lopezbanos-Carrion)
 
Mostra means performance. Beverly Magtanong explains why they picked the name. “I'm a trained opera singer, Jelynn is an actress. Mike is a fine dining chef. So, we know what it feels like to perform at your highest level. For Mostra, a lot of it is performing at our highest level as human beings, and coffee ends up being the vehicle for us to be able to do good.”
 
Malone adds that “We’re so passionate about this movement and representing Filipinos. Even as an actor that was my goal – to represent Filipino Americans and Filipinos globally in a positive light, and this has just been a platform that has a lot more of an impact because it helps connect with the people.”
 
Sam Magtanong shares one line from Mostra’s mission statement that stands out for him: “‘Mostra strives to be the reason why people see the goodness in humanity.’ And if I was to give one piece of advice to everybody in general: Be good. There is power in love and gratitude and kindness, and we need more of that in this world.”
 
For the Mostra founders, their journey continues to surprise and humble them. Arquines  affirms that “the journey has been very soul satisfying, in a sense that we get to not only give back to our roots, but also are able to work and collaborate with other creatives that are not in coffee, such as spirits and distilleries, such as chefs and restaurants. We are lucky to be able to have that opportunity to do that every day as our profession.”
 
As Filipino Americans, the Mostra team wants to be able to give back to the Philippines and make it full circle because their families are from there. Beverly says that “For us to be able to elevate the people in the Philippines by providing sustainable jobs means we are performing at our highest level by trying to connect ourselves back home and back to the people and really giving back and really realizing at the end of the day, we are the same.”
 
Mostra Coffee celebrates their sixth anniversary on Saturday, January 18th with a sold-out event at the Port Pavilion at Broadway Pier in downtown San Diego.
 
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MEDIA CONTACT

Pia Lopezbanos-Carrion
ABS-CBN International – TFC
2001 Junipero Serra Blvd, Ste. 200
Daly City, CA 94014
pia_lopezbanos@abs-cbn.com