October 26, 2016
(MMTimes) – Though coffee has been grown in this country for 100 years, production volumes were low and the quality was hidden under a bushel. But now international aficionados are starting to take Myanmar seriously as a producer of first-class joe.
#Myanmar specialty #coffee making waves, thanks to @USAIDBurma and @WinrockBurma! Today at Myanmar Plaza. pic.twitter.com/uRialvJbxJ
— Matt Wallace (@mattisawallace) October 22, 2016
Marcelo A Pereira Magnere, a smallholder expert from USAID, will be helping to bring about this transformation through a rural development concern, Winrock International.
“I started working more than a year ago in Ywarngan township, Shan State. The idea was to promote incentives for the coffee industry in Myanmar,” he said. “The industry has a lot of potential but it’s never been achieved. So when the coffee is exported, it can’t compete with larger-volume producers like Brazil and Colombia.”
Fantastic time last night tasting the first ever specialty coffee from Myanmar to hit Aotearoa with the Raw Material and @FlightCoffee crew! pic.twitter.com/I50AEfH2hv
— The Lucy Foundation (@FoundationLucy) October 20, 2016
Other producers offer larger volume at a lower price. “But Myanmar coffee is excellent, one of the best I’ve ever tried anywhere in the world,” he said, adding that so far, nobody has sufficiently appreciated the country’s potential. Last July, for the first time in decades, 40 metric tonnes of Myanmar coffee was exported to the United States.
“Everyone loved its amazing quality. And this year, we’re working with five times as many farmers and will be able to export five times as much,” he said.
Until the 1980s, coffee was valued mainly as a source of pick-me-up caffeine. But now, quality, aroma and flavour matter. Standards have risen as drinkers recognise the real thing.
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