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Liberica Cherries (Photo Credits : Jean Se) Defects Sorting (Photo Credit Jean Se)

In Malaysia, most of the crops grown locally are sup- With the introduction of the second wave of coffee
plied back to large roasters that roast their coffees traditionally. into the Malaysia, the coffee industry here boomed with the
In general, coffees are roasted together with sugar or margerine, introduction of bigger brands like Starbucks, Coffee Bean & Tea
to give a sweeter finish when the coffee is brewed. The coffees Leaf, Gloria Jeans and also local brands such as San Francisco
are also often wok fried instead of using a roaster. Some even Coffee.
roast sesame together with their coffees to give it a unique The consumption of coffee increased tremendously
flavour profile. throughout the last ten years, also increasing the numbers of
These coffees are also roasted really dark to a specific younger adults consuming coffee and eventually led to the rise
roast degree that different brands find suitable for their coffees. of specialty coffee here in Malaysia. The coffee industry has
It is usually roasted to a degree where some may find entirely seen a significant increase in number of café’s, roasters and even
burnt. However, these coffees are still very much enjoyed and suppliers and distributors.
savoured amongst locals. With a booming industry, the nation’s potential has yet
With the rise of local coffee, many local roasters to hit the tip of the iceberg, as many professionals still claim
began marketing their coffees in ready made 3-1 sachets to be that the industry has a long way to go and there is still much to
consumed and purchased by locals. There is also movement in improve. Hence the introduction of bigger brands slowly break-
terms of local traditional roasters beginning to move into lighter ing into the Malaysian market.
roasting as well. Compared to our neighbours in Singapore, the satura-
Today, there are many brands that have withstood the tion of café’s are still considered acceptable to many. As Malaysia
test of time, originating from up to 50 to 100 years ago, and still is a lot bigger in space, there has been a decent increase in spe-
proudly serving the locals their original recipes from the hay- cialty café’s across the nation. This however, is still challenged
days. Malaysians will still argue till today that coffee is served by the average puchasing power of the local consumers and well
best black traditionally, and served up with tons of sugar and as the constant challenge of competing with local coffee shops,
condensed milk. Nothing beats traditional coffee. with such low prices.
Sustainability still plays a very important role in the
Growing Coffee Market Trends industry, as many are still very idealistic about the their vision,
forgetting the importances of coming up with a formula that
works, and adapts with the current demand.

Coffee Education
With the increase of café’s, there was definitely a big
demand for coffee education as well. Most distributors only
provide basic training together with the sales of espresso ma-
chines and equipments. With this, many saw the requirements of
getting themselves educated with the right skills to ensure that
they would be able to stay in the business and be competitive.
The first few academies that set foot in Malaysia was
the Illy Universita del Caffe. Formed and developed by the dis-
tributors of Illy Coffee in Malaysia, the coffee academy takes
credit for being one of the first few coffee academies here in
Local Coffee Shops in Malaysia Malaysia.
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