PNG Purosa Fairtrade Organic
Region: Purosa, Eastern Highlands Province
Grade: AX Grade - Washed
Screen Size: 14 / 17
Process Method: Fully Washed
Packaging: Coffee bags with valve
PROFILE
Appearance: Yellow/Green
Tasting Notes: Creamy cup with blackcurrant flavour and acidity. Toffee, hazelnuts and cocoa to finish.
Optimal Roast: Suits all roast profiles. Great to add currant notes to a blend.
Cupping Score: Internal Score: 80.25
In March 2005 the 2,600 growers were accepted into the global Fair Trade organisation; their co-operative is managed by Coffee Connections. With PNG rural areas suffering under the absence of infrastructure maintenance and development due to a shortage of government funds, life in the village had become difficult due to the lack of infrastructure which meant that villagers had a huge problem in getting cash crops to market.
These growers are innovative people and the idea of forming a co-operative society was inspired by the village elders who, seeing that their people were struggling, arranged an initial collection of funds in the form of a small head tax to build up cash to carry out essential road maintenance. The idea grew into a registered co-operative group supported by Coffee Connections Limited to take charge over their destiny, even if only in a small way.
The Eastern Highlands Province was first developed as an important coffee region in the early 1980’s when seedlings of the Arabica coffee species Typica, bourbon and arusha were planted extensively in villages and in the two main plantations making up the Purosa group. The Purosa area has been certified organic for coffee since 1991. The rich volcanic soil and plentiful rainfall and sunlight provide excellent growing conditions for this coffee.
More about the HOAC
The Highland Organic Agriculture Cooperative (HOAC) is amongst the oldest Fairtrade Certified organisations in Oceania. Currently consisting of 2,600 members, the cooperative is estimated to directly benefit over 50,000 people in the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea.
One of the major concerns for the Fairtrade growers and the local communities in the area around HOAC is poor road access. To address this problem a proportion of HOAC's Fairtrade Premium was allocated to the improvement of the local roads and to cover the cost of the petrol to run the grading machines. The improvement in the road network has bettered access to market and hence improved business for small coffee farmers, while also allowing better access to education and health services for locals. The maintenance of the roads is done by local residents that live along and near to the roads, providing them with much needed paid work.
The cooperative has also purchased over 100 individual pulping machines for farmers. These pulpers greatly increase quantity and quality of the farmer's output. HOAC have also recently purchased a disused mill in a neighbouring district and have started milling their coffee ready for export. This is providing greater returns for farmers as they move up the supply chain capturing more of the value for processing their coffee.
Education for the next generation is a key concern for the farmers. This is not surprising when you consider that only 50% of Papuans have had three or more years of education. The Okapa region has often been overlooked by government for basic health and education services due to its remote location. Over the past few years HOAC have been working to rectify this by investing Fairtrade Premiums into purchasing textbooks and desks for community schools as well as building new schools for different communities. To date, HOAC have built 4 permanent elementary schools and teacher accommodation.
