Coffee samples for the 2018 National Coffee Cupping Competition are starting to reach CIC’s warehouse in Goroka. This is in preparation for the regional competition which is anticipated to be held in a week’s time in Eastern Highlands Province.
Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) General Manager Steven Tumae confirmed that so far they have received 108 samples at the warehouse and it reaffirms the reason for holding a competition this year.
“From this lot, we will be having a regional competition whereby coffee samples will be assessed with only the top 60 samples passed for the national event in Port Moresby next month,” said Tumae.
He said the demand for Specialty coffee was gaining momentum and for PNG, farmers are slowly beginning to tap into this market to fetch a little higher than the conventional market price.
Specialty coffees are grown in an ideal environment, and are special because of their full cup taste and less defects. Globally the specialty market segment continues to grow annually thus providing an opportunity for a small producing country to explore.
In Papua New Guinea, the exports of certified coffees have grown significantly indicating that more farmers are involved in coffee certification programs with interventions from some of the exporters, CIC and other industry stakeholders.
From recent statistical reports by CIC, exports to specialty/certified markets continue to increase on an average of 17% per year.
The reduction of Y grade coffee from a high of more than 70% exported in 2013 to about 58% total exports is reflected in the increased speciality coffee exports.
Earnings from exports to specialty markets averaged K41.87 million per year representing 10% of total export earnings.
“Avenues such as the National Coffee Cupping Competition has set the platform to facilitate grower and buyer linkages,” he said.
Mr Tumae said the competition was open to the industry players who participated in certification programs, CIC trained grower groups and Productive Partnership in Agriculture Project (PPAP) trained groups.
He said the organisation was grateful for the support it received from the Pacific Horticultural and Agricultural Market Access Program (PHAMA), Bolaven Farms Hong Kong and GrainPro Phillippines towards staging the event.
Visitors and residents in Port Moresby can expect to learn more from our collaboration with POM City markets on 8th September at the Sir John Guise Stadium and our Industry Awareness on September 11th -12th at the Holiday Inn Hotel.