Coffee chief: Be quality conscious

 COFFEE Industry Corporation official has urged coffee farmers to be conscious of the quality of their beans, especially during this time when the price is trading downwards.

Chief executive officer Charles Dambui said the quality of the coffee beans would continue to draw the market.

“I am challenging our farmers to be market conscious. The market is now shifting and they (market) want more quality product so we must respond to those changes,” he said during award presentation night in Port Moresby last Friday following a two-week cupping competition. 

“This is one of the reasons why we are staging this national cupping competition so you produce the best coffee so that we can able to share.

“In the past few years, our coffee has been trading downwards. But with the support of our Government, we begin to shift our focus, we begin to create market opportunities, we want to add value to our farmers. 

“Since the announcement of some major policies, CIC has shifted its focus as well. From our normal research and extension, we are now focused on market driven, research and extension,” he said. 

Dambui said CIC was looking for market opportunities to get coffee farmers in.

“This is called value-adding.”