Company welcomes coffee bulking facility

 THE coffee Industry Corporation Limited acting chief executive officer Charles Dambuai has welcomed the creation of the coffee bulking facility by Swire Shipping in Lae.

Dambui said when coffee beans were collected at the farm and delivered on time, the same quality, same specimen required by the buyers overseas were maintained.

“The opening of the facilities like this gives an advantage and compliments our efforts to promote direct marketing,” Dambui said. 

“When the farmer’s coffee beans leave the farm, the qualities are maintained. 

“And in arriving at the bulking facility, there is no delaying as it gets onto the ship for direct exporting – an advantage of opening a facility like this.”

Dambui said Swire Shipping not only dealt with freight forwarding but also had shipping lines which allowed growers to know the shipping schedules. 

He said those exporting knew when the ship was leaving and the buyers on the other side would be expecting to receive the coffee with the quality guaranteed. 

“We are glad that Swire Shipping has taken a bold step to open this facility and we are encouraging more shipping agents to open freight forwarding companies especially for coffee.”

Coffee continues to be an important export commodity for Papua New Guinea, as almost 85 per cent of coffee produced in the country is grown, harvested and partly processed by smallholder  coffee growers. 

It is therefore the leading source of cash income for a large proportion of the population compared with other agricultural export commodities, including minerals.