PurposeThis paper aims to reconceptualise entrenched supply chains associated with coffee production and consumption to digital supply chains for sustainable development.Design/methodology/approachA case study of seven small businesses involved with Philippine coffee is employed to examine how coffee value chains should be envisioned following COVID-19.FindingsThe COVID-19 pandemic reveals truncated barriers concerned with the lack of infrastructure, poverty cycles, sporadic workforce development policies and financial pressures that need to be redefined for coffee production and consumption to be more sustainable in the future.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is restricted to a single country and a small pool of respondents that may not reflect similar practices in other regions or contexts.Originality/valueThis paper illuminates the plight of coffee farmers in an emerging production landscape of the Philippines, and develops new propositions to envision a digital value chain post-COVID-19.