Blue Mountain Coffee is one of many Papua New Guinean owned companies that have set up booths to display their products at the 14th World Indigenous Business Forum (WIBF) today, at the APEC Haus in Port Moresby.
Speaking to PNG HAUSBUNG was Blue Mountain Coffee’s consultant and ambassador of sorts, Mr. Michael Lachlam.
He explained that Blue Mountain Coffee and its sister, Off the Beaten Track Coffee, are based out of Goroka in the Eastern Highlands Province.
“We buy coffee from small farmers in the rural areas and transport it to Goroka for processing.”
Michael said they go as far as Wau and Menyamya in the Morobe Province to buy coffee.
“The logistics to bring coffee from Morobe to Goroka is very expensive, but we still try to reach out to these rural farmers,” Michael said, highlighting the hurdle that many rural farmers face in finding a market for their produce.
Expensive logistics is not the only hurdle that Blue Mountain Coffee faces, they too struggle to find a suitable and profitable market for their finished products.
“We have a gift shop in Goroka and also at the Stanley Hotel in Port Moresby and we hope to find more places outside of PNG, to sell our coffee too.”