02 Sep Jamaican Food & Beverage – Training, Consulting, and Teaching a New Generation of Baristas, Bartenders, and Food Service Specialists
For those willing to go to school to become a barista or bartender, Jamaican Food and Beverage Training Center, Inc. in Cagayan de Oro is now a recognized international training center located at the ground floor of the Caballero-Briñas Building along J.V. Seriña Street in Carmen (beside the COA building near the Carmen bridge).
It is owned by Mr. Rey Sumania as TVET school administrator and Ms. Pamela Sumania as registrar. Kagay-anons no longer have to travel as far as Cebu or Manila just to receive schooling on how to be a barista or bartender.
It All Started with a Dream to Bring Coffee and Bartending Skills to CDO
Jamaican Food and Beverage Training Center, Inc. was opened by Mr. Sumania back in May 15, 2007. Mr. Sumania himself was a former barista and bartender for 10 years in Cagayan de Oro City and Manila and worked for several coffee shops and mentored by several internationally renowned baristas before deciding to open a school to accommodate Kagay-anons and other Mindanaoans who want to become baristas or bartenders.
Mr. Rey Sumania – Jamaican F&B Proprietor
One of his experiential grounds was the Timbuktu Café in Malate, owned by the late Rico Yan, Diether Ocampo, and Senator Migz Zubiri. Some of Mr. Sumania’s mentors included Philip Boe (Australian-American coffee expert, Hiroyuki Hojo (Japanese coffee expert), and Carlo Lamperte (Italian espresso expert from the Roncillo Company in Italy).
The training center actually started only as a consultancy firm, and Rey’s first act was to invite proprietors of coffee shops and bars in Cagayan de Oro for a barista and bartending seminar. Expecting only a few to attend, Rey was overwhelmed when more than 30 persons attended the seminar, all the attendees being either proprietors or managers.
Jamaican F&B is accredited by both TESDA and the Department of Tourism. All technical training has been registered with TESDA on April, 2006 with four training courses: Bartending NC II, Barista NC II, Food and Beverage Services NC II, and Food and Beverage Services NC III.
In the light of incoming implementation of Republic Act No. 10533, “The Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013” or the K to 12, the school endeavors to pursue development, innovations and Technical update to ensure that we are align with the goals of Basic Education Reform and in the implementation of K to 12. Almost half of the school’s students are scholars from TESDA or DOT while the majority are walk-in enrollees.
Why is the training school called “Jamaican?” According to Rey, this question has been asked of him 1,100 times. Back in the late 1980’s the most popular specialty coffee in the world was the Blue Mountain Coffee from Jamaica, mostly known as Jamaican Coffee, while the most famous rhum at this time was the Jamaican Rhum.
Since the training center focuses mostly on barista and bartending training, he decided to name it “Jamaican” in honor of the famous coffee and rhum. Although Jamaican coffee has been overridden in popularity today by other specialty coffee like Panamanian, Ethiopian, and Civet coffee, the name for the school remains in molding the new generation of baristas and bartenders.
Latte Art Demonstrations
Do you want to see how the Latte Art Champion students of Jamaican F&B do their craft? Check out some demos below! We really had fun watching them do the Ballerina and Swan patterns!
Meet the Training Director and Proprietor
Mr. Rey Sumania is a certified barista and bartender by profession. He is also certified to train food and beverage services up to the NC III level and bartending up to the NC II level for TESDA. He hails from Surigao del Norte but was able to go to Manila for his college education.
Mr. Rey Sumania
He graduated at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) with the course of Hotel and Restaurant Management. To also further his knowledge of coffee, Rey attended as many barista seminars and training sessions as he could. Before going into bartending and being a barista, he worked as a kitchen and dining staff of a restaurant.
Team Acadeo posing with Mr. Rey Sumania.
Mr. Rey Sumania was the president of the Northern Mindanao chapter of the Philippine Bartender’s League from 2004-2006, founding member of the Philippine Bartending Academic Society, a member of the Barista Guild of the Philippines, and International Bartending Association. He is also the founder of Filipino Bartending and Barista Innovators.
Rey Sumania also serves as a freelance barista and bartending consultant for various coffee shops and bars in Cagayan de Oro, Davao City, and Valencia City in Bukidnon. He is also presently the branch head for Equilibrium Intertrade Corporation whose food service products include the Torani line of coffee and liquor syrups.
At present Rey is often invited by other schools and universities in Cagayan de Oro offering HRM courses to conduct training or seminars for its students.
Regular Courses Offered
Food and Beverage Services NC II and NC III – 15 sessions
Bartending NC II – 25 sessions
Barista NC II – 10 sessions
Coffee Shop Consultancy with Hands-on – 5 sessions
Restobar Consultancy without Hands-on – 2 sessions
Cocktail Recipe Formulation with Hands-on – 2 sessions
Inventory and Costing – 2 sessions
Wine Service and Familiarization – 1 session
Jamaican F&B is the only training school in Cagayan de Oro that offers Food and Beverages Services NC III level because of the coffee and barista training.
World Class Products
Jamaican Food and Beverage Training Center, Inc. has already received fame and renown for fielding its students and graduates as winners in national and international barista, coffee, bartending, and flair tending competitions. One of its biggest winners is Mr. Lyndon A. Recera, hailing from Dipolog City, and one of its Barista Training graduates in 2011.
He won first place in the 2011 National Barista Cup in Manila, and became the first barista from Mindanao to win the championship in the 2015 World Barista Cup held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He is currently employed at Espresso Lab 3rd Wave Coffee Shop in Dubai, UAE as head barista. He is also presently the administrator for the Latte Art Philippines.
Team Acadeo posing with Mr. Rey Sumania and his students.
Other graduates from Jamaican F&B who have brought fame and honor in international competitions include Bryan Silvano, Klint Dominic Cabahug, Jeffery Sumania, Arnel Banauag, Elton John Gono, and Czarina Mane Lauron. The training center itself has already won several trophies and medals from several national barista and bartending competitions, including at Cagayan de Oro’s very own Kumbira Festival.
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