Poppy Myanmar Farmer & Coffee Intro

Specialty Coffee instead of illegal opium cultivation: That is the alternative we offer the farmers of the Hopong Cooperative in Myanmar. The first bags of this coffee with its special banana note were only delivered to Europe in 2017. Since then, the farmers' production and economic independence has been growing exponentially.

ORIGIN

The coffee plantations for our Poppy Myanmar coffee are located in the fertile Indigo Mountains in Myanmar in the Taunggy District, at an altitude of 1,100 to 1,600 meters above sea level. The Hopong Cooperative, delivered the first coffee beans in 2017, which at that time were all harvested in the small village of Long Hay. Due to the great success, six other neighboring villages joined the production of the specialty coffee over the next three years: Bant Sauk, Ho Hwayt, Nwang Sam Phu, Mong Nwet, Hti Kham and Htam Pha Yar.

THE FARMER

People in and around Hopong have been growing coffee and cheroot leaves (for cigar production) for decades. However, due to low world market prices, this is a losing business. Driven by need, more and more families switched to growing the Poppy Flower, whose juice is used to make opium. This was well paid but illegal, so farmers were in constant danger of losing their production due to government controls. They often had to hide the crop far from their homes. At the same time, illegal cultivation left them completely dependent on the powerful drug dealers in the region - a real vicious circle from which there seemed to be hardly any escape.

The turning point came through social media: The leaders of the Hopong cooperative discovered that some neighboring communities were growing sun-dried specialty coffee, which made for a profitable living. At the same time, they learned that there was technical assistance and training available from aid organizations for the transition. They decided to approach Winrock International, a non-profit organization that provided Hopong leaders with a two-week crash course in the village of Mya Ze Di, which was already successfully growing specialty coffee.

With their brand new knowledge, these leaders returned to their communities and showing everything they had learned, proudly selling their first small quantities of high-quality "specialty coffee" in 2017.

The will to learn new things and not to take their fate for granted drove the people from Hopong to change their almost hopeless situation. With courage and patience, they acquired new knowledge and tenaciously took new paths step by step ... until it paid off.
For their long-term development, the farmers from Hopong attach particular importance to the visibility of their brand, and so today they sell their specialty coffee under the name "Indigo Mountain Coffee".

They are supported by partners who organize all further steps in the course of marketing and distribution with foresight and fairness, so that everyone in the chain can make a living from their work. We deliberately chose the name "Poppy Myanmar" in memory of the impressive achievement of the people in Hopong.

ALL THE WAY TO YOU

  1. FARM: six villages (a growing trend) belonging to Hopong Cooperative / Indigo Mountain Coffee
  2. Drying & Sorting: Hopong Cooperative
  3. Preparation & Export: Mandalay Coffee Group
  4. Transport: Rhenus Air & Ocean
  5. Import: TSU trade
  6. Roasting: farmersvaluefirst in cooperation with selected craft roasters in Holland & Germany (craft roast)
  7. Distribution farmersvaluefirst

COFFEE OVERVIEW

  • Taste: A hint of sweet banana makes this specialty coffee unique. The clear taste is juicy-fruity and convinces with its full sweetness and round body.
  • Origin: Hopong, Myanmar
  • Altitude: 1.100 bis 1.600 Meter
  • Varieties: 100% Arabica (S-795, Catimor, Caturra, Catuai, Bourbon)
  • Production: "naturals" The coffee cherries are hand-picked in the early morning in the clear air of the Indigo Mountains and carefully hand-selected in Hopong before drying. Only the best fruits are processed for Specialty Coffee. With regular moving, the selection of coffee beans is dried by the sun. This process takes 13 to 17 days. Incidentally, the coffee beans are not washed, but are dried in their husks exclusively by the sun and sorted by hand. This particular process is called "naturals" (as opposed to, for example, "fully washed"). It uses less water and provides a more intense flavor, but also demands a lot from the farmers, because the beans can not get wet during the drying process ...
  • Roasting: Our Poppy Myanmar is a "craft roast", because here the art work of the roasters plays an elementary role. The goal of our roasting is the complete and balanced development of the coffee bean. Finely ground it can be used for an espresso and slightly coarser it is the perfect filter coffee with full sweetness round body and mild acidity.
  • SCA Rating: Our Poppy Myanmar coffee received an impressive 88 points out of a possible 100 in the SCA rating last harvest.
  • The SCA (Specialty Coffee Association) evaluates green coffee sensory and physically according to defined criteria. This is done in so-called "cuppings." If a coffee is rated with 80 points or more, it is considered a "specialty coffee" - and that is an achievement of which the producer can be extremely proud!

These are the different evaluation levels of the SCA:

    • 80 - 84.99 points: very good
    • 85 - 89.99 points: excellent »Poppy«
    • 90 - 100 points: outstanding (less than 1% of the world's harvested coffees receive this rank!) More info on SCA: SCA Coffee Standards
  • Price that the cooperative receives from us: 200% above the market price. That is, the farmers premium from us for this Arabica coffee. 200% more than they could normally obtain through the world market price.

Poppy specialty coffee from Myanmar. Order here & enjoy freshly roasted!

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