Page 85 - #58 English

Before coming to Myanmar I knew little about this 1930 Roman Catholic missionaries brought Arabica coffee
country situation after political climate shifted to more that was planted along the Southern/Northern Shan state
milder and approachable way of discovering the nation that and Pyin Oo Lwin district. According to the 1940 report
rapidly went from poverty into modernization on the from the Department of Agriculture of Burma, 95 tons of
global scale. Yangon as former capital of Myanmar is very coffee were exported from Burma between 1932-1936.
hot and humid and makes it very unpleasant to wander Previously, before USAID initiated project Myanmar coffee
around not to feel sweaty and tired, nevertheless, lovely and were mostly exported to China and Thailand for very cheap
welcoming to be mesmerized by gorgeous pagodas surround- price where buyers won’t pay more than $2 per kg what I
ing the former capital. was told.
Specialty coffee market of myanmar Farm vsit

My main goal was to understand and learn from the My first visit was to Sithar Coffee farm, Myanmar’s crop
first hand about the specialty coffee market of Myanmar, its to cup coffee expert located on the elevation about 3,500 feet
present and future, and efforts implemented by Winrok above sea level. The main varietals grown at Sithar are SL34,
International along with USAID to change the practice of Catimore and S795 with Coffee Quality Institute’s cup Q-
better agricultural development, and the initiative to help score above 83. Sithar is the largest investor of Mandalay
local coffee farmers to earn more and produce the best out Coffee Group (processing plant and USAID sponsored cup-
from the industry Myanmar could offer. After spending 2 ping lab that serves as exporter of Myanmar coffee as well.
days in Yangon, I booked myself an express bus to Mandalay, It was built with an efforts from local coffee farm commu-
former royal capital located in the north of Myanmar with nity. Amy Van Nocker of the US is current General Manager
about 9 hours comfortable bus ride. From Mandalay I had for the next two years of contract deal) and closely collabo-
to take a two hour taxi ride further north to Pyin Oo Lwin, rating with Winrock, USAID, CQI, exporting green coffees
a scenic hill town in Mandalay division, located in the Shan to Japan, Europe, and recently to the US. Sithar promotes
highland where most of great Myanmar coffees come from. women’s group in coffee industry of Myanmar and employs
The place is absolutely picturesque, lovely, with cooler cli- industry’s top notch roasting technology from Dietrich.
mate then Yangon, peaceful with charm of former British Besides producing coffee on its own plantation (40 acres with
rule. I got in touch with major coffee producer in that area, 40,000 coffee trees planted), Sithar buys coffees from other
Sithar Coffee that were kind enough to embark with me on smallholders and resell it in domestic market for coffee shops
the journey of discovering the best of Myanmar coffee. I across Myanmar. The proper picking is paramount for Sithar
met with Sithar Managing Director, Min Hlaing who was where only ripe cherries handpicked in order to preserve the
with me throughout of my stay in Pyin Oo Lwin area to aroma and taste of the terroir. Sithar uses fully washed process
allow me to observe as much as information I could to with natural and honey process initiated as well to highlight flavors
have a better picture of work involved around coffee es- of the origin. Fermentation process is carefully monitored to avoid
tates of the region. any undesirable off flavors where after the fact they are natu-
What exactly happening in Myanmar coffee indus- rally sun dried to moisture level of 11-12%. The most interest-
try? According to Winrock International the USAID- ing fact I found in Pyin Oo Lwin area is most coffee farms have
funded Value Chain for Rural Development project inte- shade grown coffee which is the most important factor for
grates smallholders and poor rural household into proper cherry maturation and preservation of ecosystem
competitive commercial value chains to increase produc- and biodiversity. Sithar’s farm natural forest serves as shade
tivity and achieve agricultural growth. It is a five year
project that started in 2014 and ends in 2019. The main
goal is to improve the way coffee picked, processed and
eventually marketed in order to attract broader interna-
tional audience with purchasing ability for coffee to
be exported around the globe. Improving qual-
ity from production and processing through
cupping, with the goal of producing high
value specialty coffees for global market is
one of the main goal of organizations like
Winrock and USAID to be part of the revo-
lutionized industry that previously left
unattended due to political instability.
Coffee was introduced to Myanmar by
missionaries in 1885, mostly Robusta but in