Photo credit: Duffy Coffee
Port Moresby based premium coffee shop Duffy PNG a subsidiary and business arm of Pacific Industries Ltd is currently embracing a potential shift into China's consumer market. China is the world's biggest consumer market and a surge in coffee consumers in China has made way and provided an avenue for Duffy PNG to make an entry to market premium high specialty grade PNG coffee to meet the coffee market in China.
With an increasing population of over 1 billion, a small 1 per cent increase in the Chinese population of regular coffee drinkers directly equates to 10 million new regular coffee drinkers and consumers in China alone.
Travers Chue owner of Duffy PNG is preparing to expand overseas, marketing Papua New Guinea specialty coffee and has been collaborating with small holder groups for the past 5 years mainly in Jiwaka province to produce premium coffee to meet global consumer standards.
"PNG, of course, has some of the best coffee in the world but there was no barista culture to make the most of it". When we first started Duffy’s, our goal was to create the first specialty coffee house in PNG, but now we want to manufacture premium specialty coffee in PNG and export them to China and across the globe,’says Duffy’s owner, Travers Chue.
Duffy PNG has been running an incentivised initiative program in which it provides financial literacy, assistance of asset acquisition for local farmers, building the capacity of small holder farms and rewarding farmers for compliance. This initiative within the company's program has seen many of the small holder farms improve their quality in production and consistency in supplying quantity.
Chue’s approach to expanding to China is based around being a coffee shop and coffee brand that originates ‘from this exotic and mysterious land called PNG.’The secret, he says, is producing consistently high-quality beans.
To establish a presence into the Chinese consumer market will mean greater demand for production on the farms and on the company itself, but Chue is confident that their quality systems to produce premium home grown PNG coffee will not be disrupted in their efforts to meet the demand.
One of the challenges that they admittedly have faced over time is the lack of financial literacy amongst the small holder farmers, especially with many opting for roadside selling as a way of making fast income, this option has made many farmers pay less attention in following coffee processes to produce high specialty grade coffee which sells at a higher price and is what PNG coffee is renowned for.
He also praises the Coffee Industry Corporation for its annual PNG Cupping Competition.
‘We are trying to teach the farmers that, if their coffee is getting higher cupping scores due to implementing and following strict procedures and practice, then we the roasters are willing to pay higher prices for their hard work.
‘Growers need to see that there is more profit to be made in producing higher grade coffee, from which they can earn more’
He says it is the only way coffee farmers can overcome poor infrastructure, erratic weather conditions, deteriorating tools and minimal training.
‘Most people who know PNG most probably know the country for its great coffee—and we intend serving them the best premium grade specialty coffee that PNG has to offer. This is going to be key to success in China.
However, Chue believes that over time and with more training programs and interventions such as Duffy PNG's initiative program, PNG coffee will earn back its specialty grade status on the global coffee map.
