Papua New Guinea's Coffee Industry Corporation Ltd says having a team of newly qualified graders should lead to much higher returns for smallholder farmers.
It has trained its first four Q graders, whose job it is to assess the quality of the coffee for acidity, body, flavour, aftertaste and so on.
A woman sun drying coffee beans in Sakanuga village, Unggai Bena district of Eastern Highlands Province, PNG. Photo: Courtesy of PNG Coffee Industry Corporation
The Corporation's general manager for its Industry Operations Division, Steven Tumai, said now that they had a total of five Q graders the company could focus on assessing the beans coming in from the smallholders, who up to now had got low prices for their coffee.
He said the new emphasis on quality meant they should be able to get up to four times their current payments.
A family at the Anego plantation, outside Goroka town, Eastern Highlands Province preparing coffee cherries for fermentation. Photo: Courtesy of PNG Coffee Industry Corporation