"SONGYUE coffee manor” is located at the foothills of "Jianan Yunfeng," which is called one of the 100 Hills of Taiwan. Guo Jhih-Hao, who calls himself an "old farmer," was raised in the mountains. As a plant lover, his hobby is to try various grafting. When Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule, Gukeng of Yunlin was a coffee producing area. After the ROC government relocated to Taiwan, lots of Gukeng coffee was exported overseas. The owner Guo heard a lot of such stories since childhood. After the 921 Great Earthquake in 1999, the local government made all efforts to promote Taiwanese coffee, but Guo had already started to grow coffee from around 1980. He is a veteran coffee grower in local area.
From coffee cultivation, adaption to weather and natural dagame, suitable variety selection for certain area, adjustment of processing, to acquisition of the ability of coffee quality evaluation, Guo has gone a long way full of trials and discoveries. Therefore, he developed his own strategy. The environment of the farm has been completely improved so that coffee trees can grow well in the high mountains. For example, fertilization is not a simple subject. Coffee has shallow roots. Without special care, its roots will only spread on the surface of the land. Therefore, it is necessary to grow the roots of coffee downward with supportive tools. It is also essential to inject organic fertilizer into the deep planting holes. He proudly said: "In that year when coffee harvests were bad all over Taiwan, our coffee trees were fruitful." Focusing on the details is the key for Guo’s success in pursuing outstanding coffee quality. It is also his secret to creating excellent results at each Taiwan coffee competition and winning the highest score of the CQI coffee evaluation.
For Guo Jhih-Hao, the meaning of PCA is to build a foundation for coffee growers in Taiwan and to assist them to take the challenges from the international market. If Taiwan coffee growers only cultivate coffee and sell coffee within Taiwan, we can never move forward and discover our own features because we just shut ourselves home and disconnect from the world. Facing the stimulus and competition from the international market and dedicating all efforts to specialty coffee create the winning formula for Guo.
