"Welcome to Five Senses Coffee"

Every time I visit somewhere new, I am humbly reminded that the complex journey from seed to cup has its own set of unique challenges and opportunities which are particular to each country. My first visit is always an exercise in listening, observing and trusting my instinct. Whilst I never know what to expect, against all odds, the results are often new relationships, lasting friendships and precious life experiences. My first visit to PNG was all that and more.

PNG would be perfectly described as so close, yet so far away. At its nearest point we are a mere 150km apart, yet flights are expensive and sporadic, and so it becomes a destination further out of our reach than it should be. Culturally, it’s also a million leagues away, named as one of the most diverse countries in the world, with over 850 indigenous languages and as many traditional societies. When it comes to coffee, we couldn’t be any further apart; to us coffee is an accessible luxury which almost everyone can afford, while just across the Torres Straight, that very same coffee is a life-line as well as a very small, sole source of income for a large percentage of the population. Thus the reality of “our passion” can be very confronting.

The real challenge in PNG is in the numbers. The number of farmers working as individuals rather than forming co-operatives doesn’t work in their favour. Essentially, most farmers are tending to their own small coffee gardens, processing cherry in their backyard and then converting those beans into cash. That can mean a couple different things; it might mean selling to the first person they run into, like roadside buyers … not the best deal, but convenient and quick. It can also mean travelling to exporters and selling at fluctuating factory door market prices; sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

As most of the coffee is being sold in parchment, the processing steps are relatively unknown to the buyer (most exporters bulk small lots together), not to mention things like altitude and varietal … all of which have a big impact on taste. Exporters can only assume the coffees they are buying are of low / mixed quality so it is purchased below market value as Y grades, and then bulked together to create large enough volumes to export. The nature of this cycle is that farmers who have little access to information or education on post-harvest processing naturally use bad techniques to save time, water and coffee, as they have little understanding of the value of quality coffee, or of the impact that processing has on taste.

If farmers have no opportunity to be rewarded for quality, why would they bother picking only the ripest cherries? This also means they have no reason to waste time using clean water, floating coffees, separating defects or even drying properly … in fact, more defects and more moisture content equals more coffee, which ultimately translates to more money. Instead of following best practice procedures, shortcuts are taken that give them little chance of creating an end product of high value, and even if they did, they would have very few options to sell it.

It also means that rewarding individual farmers for quality is a near impossible task for large exporters because the amount of time that would be required to QC every bag that arrived on their doorstep would make it an impossible task. Creating co-ops which can centrally process and create larger uniform and quality volumes of coffee really is the logical solution and would provide the best possible chance of maximising the value of their coffee. However, the culturally diverse nature of PNG makes this solution much more difficult than it seems, for mixed up in the business of coffee exports, is a potent blend of politics, violence, lack of education and illiteracy, theft, mistrust etc … all real threats that make building co-ops a huge challenge.

Now, if we set aside all the obstacles preventing PNG from making any big steps in the specialty market, the few advantages they have are significant. Unlike many countries who have replaced old coffee varietals with hardier hybrids that produce more fruit yet often compromise flavour, PNG has seen little change since coffee was first introduced. The natural high altitude conditions of the highlands combined with the Typica, Bourbon and Blue Mountain varietals make it a country with a vast amount of untapped potential.

My time in PNG was certainly interesting and I really hope to have sowed the seeds of change amongst the small groups of farmers we spent the week with cupping, training and motivating. We have some ideas on some new projects we would like to start with the aim of working to their strengths and slowly helping them overcome some of their obstacles. There is a real part of me that would love to see us in PNG on a much more regular basis, working with our neighbours and helping them showcase the inherent quality that already exists in their backyard. For now, the baton has been passed to handful of farmers who have their first opportunity to make some small changes in this coming fly crop. This will give them and us a good indication of what is possible for the future.

The ultimate message is that to create sustainable opportunities, we need to reward famers financially in line with their results. If they can deliver great coffee, we will pay more. Then our customers, who expect quality, are happy and ultimately the cycle continues and grows. It’s a big game of trust, understanding and hard work … but there is genuine excitement at potential new projects like Elimbari in the future.