Thirteen cuppers to judge coffee contest

By LARRY ANDREW
THIRTEEN cuppers will be judging the 2016 national cupping competition in Lae.
Four are locals and nine are from overseas. They are Gabriel Tan (Australia), Samantha Belt (Australia),  Chris Jackson (Australia), Harry Ko (Australia), Steven Tsang, Sam Say (Hong Kong), Fraser Lovell (New Zealand), Adi Taroepratjeka (Indonesia) and Jose Pablo from Costa Rica. Coffee Industry Corporation quality control officer Rose Romalus said they began the competition in 2014 with 93 groups for the regionals.
After eliminating the “low coffees”, they ended up with 69 groups for the national event.
“In 2015, the number in the regional increased to 140 but only 96 made it to the national competition,” Romalus said.
“This year it has doubled with 161 entering the regional category and 128 (in the national event) which is big number.”
She said 114 out of the 128 were Arabica coffee and 14 Robusta coffee.
In terms of provincial representation, Eastern Highlands has 34 groups, Morobe 38, Jiwaka 9, Western Highlands 15, Chimbu 7, Southern Highlands 3, Madang 5, while Enga, East New Britain, Milne Bay and Gulf have one each. East Sepik’s 13 groups are all Robusta coffee farmers.
“After the competition last year, all the coffees (valued at) K450,000 were shipped in three containers to Korea. And that is positive for farmers who have been participating in the competition,” Romalus said.
She said CIC was creating market opportunities for the rural farmers.