bant Sawk

hectares: 7
trees: 20,000
farmers: 6
bags bought: 50

hti kham

hectares: 3
trees: 10,000
farmers: 4
bags bought: 17

Ho Hwayt

hectares: 14
trees: 12,500
farmers: 4
bags bought: 25

long hay

hectares: 4
trees: 1,200
farmers: 16
bags bought: 40

Hta Pha Yar

hectares: 3
trees: 10,000
farmers: 4
bags bought: 17

mong nwet

hectares: 10
trees: 10,000
farmers: 5
bags bought: 17

naung sam phu

hectares: 12
trees: 2,700
farmers: 9
bags bought: 17

Three Khuns

hectares: 32
trees: 500 (each)
farmers: 147
bags bought: 105

Phar Moon

hectares: 10
trees: 30,000
farmers: 55
bags bought: 33

This Side Up Value Chain

The price you pay : € 10,94

CULTIVARS:

Arabica S – 795, Catimor, Caturra, Catuai, Bourbon

ALTITUDE:

1,100 - 1,600 metres above sea level.

NOTABLE:

Determined farmers in the Hopong use specialty coffee as a means to counter illicit opium production. In their first year, they  managed to create specialty naturals. TSU has been with Indigo Mountain from the start, supporting their development and buying the entire harvest of the eleven of Hopong’s villages.

Key Achievements:

2017: built a sun dried natural coffee station and sold their very first specialty lot in the international market.

2018: met the coop leaders in Amsterdam for the Producer Crossover. Upped our import from 3 to 50 bags, the entire harvest of Long Hay and surrounding villages. We gave a premium of € 3,24 for every kilo bought. Long Hay village joins the project, with a great response in the European market. Indigo Mountain is born as a company.

2019: three more villages started producing specialty naturals. We imported all of their coffee (201 bags) in five separate village lots and have sparked new hope for the wider former opium producing communities of the region. We switched exporter to Amayar, a company focused on empowering women in the coffee sector.

2020: devised a “corona model” in which a part of the coffee is paid at the moment and the rest is sent to us on consignment, imported as much coffee as we did last year to keep the relationship alive. Two new villages, Hti Kham and Hta Pha Yar joined the Hopong initiative.

2021: although facing unprecedented circumstances, Indigo Mountain continues attracting villages and villagers in Hopong. The positive response from the European market allows them to consolidate and bring on new projects with farmers.

2022: despite political turmoil, our shipment from Indigo Mountain safely arrives in Rotterdam. Our relationship becomes stronger with our partners as more villages join the project. Three Khuns, the most experimental village in Indigo Mountain, is born.

PROCESSING:

Sun dried natural process: cherries are hand picked by Hopong community members in the early hours of the day. Once collection is finished, members deliver cherries to Hopong drying stations. On delivery, cherries are screened and handpicked to about 95% cherry ripeness level. Fully ripe cherries are then placed on raised beds. Slow drying is a priority and drying times range between 13-17 days depending on weather conditions. All lots are separated by day and all members’ deliveries are fully traceable.

Fully washed: cherries are hand picked by Hopong community members in the early hours of the day, pre cleaned and floated to further selection. Cherries are then pulped in Penagos machine, which uses less water. Soon after, cherries are placed on fermentation tanks.  When the fermentation finishes, cherries are washed in the washing channel, separated by grade, and dried on raised beds until the ideal moisture level is reached.

Honey washed:  cherries are hand picked by Hopong community members in the early hours of the day, pre cleaned and floated to further selection. Cherries are then pulped in Penagos machine, which uses less water. Freshly pulped coffee is piled on the raised beds until reaching the ideal pH.

CONTACT INDIGO MOUNTAIN:

Get in touch with Khun Kyaw Min Htike if you want to learn more about their specialty coffee production or visit the villages in Hopong. He only has occasional access to his accounts because of local political circumstances, so please be patient.

SALES DIRECTOR: Khun Kyaw Min Htike

EMAIL: indigomountaincoffee@gmail.com / kkmh1985@gmail.com

FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM

Ban Sawk and Htant Hpa Yar, Hopong - Myanmar

between two mountains

 When Khun Saw Tun Aung tried to convince farmers to make coffee, they resisted, "we will harvest coffee, all right, but who will buy it?" they wondered. Only 31 families from Bant Swak initially joined. However, as Myanmars' coffee reputation spread worldwide and the project became stronger, neighbours, witnessing the positive results, gradually shifted. Today, for instance, of the 160 households in Bant Swak, 150 grow coffee, not all of these sell their coffee to Indigo Mountain, but it demonstrates the incredible and fast results coffee's had in the region.

It is said that Bant Swak village was founded by two shan ethnic families in a valley located between two mountains: Lwel Mai and Mel Nel. They named the place Want Sawk, "Want" meaning valley; "Sawk" the corner of the mountain. Taking advantage of the natural conditions of the area, and because they didn't have other alternatives, the families used to mainly grow poppy. Twenty years later, ten Pa O families arrived in the village. Together they built the monastery that brought them together as a village. The monk that ran the monastery changed the name to Bant Sawk.

CULTIVARS:

Catuai, Caturra, Catimore, S 795, Bourbon

ALTITUDE:

1598 metres above sea level.

NOTABLE:

Bant Swak is the village where Indigo Mountain started. More and more, and because of the results and opportunities coffee has brought to some, farmers in Bant Swak shift to coffee, leaving poppy behind. Community members also grow avocado, corn, ginger, rice, silver oak, and cheroot trees. This village is very close to Hit Kam.

PROCESSING:

Sun dried natural process: cherries are hand picked by Hopong community members in the early hours of the day. Once the collection is finished, members deliver cherries to Hopong drying stations. On delivery, cherries are screened and handpicked to about 95% cherry ripeness level. Fully ripe cherries are then placed on raised beds. Slow drying is a priority and drying times range between 13-17 days depending on weather conditions. All lots are separated by day and all members’ deliveries are fully traceable.

where cold water flows

As the poppy eradication program executed by the late government took place, some farmers were devastated. Their only income came from poppy and their entire plantations were burnt. Upon facing other forms of violence, many young people decided to leave the community and try better luck in Thailand.

However, when the UNODC began its crop substitution efforts in 2014, some became interested in coffee, and tried their luck with it, for the first time. Hit Kham, located in the same valley as most Indigo Mountain partners, was part of these initial efforts and in 2020 joined Indigo Mountain, with great results. Hti Kham means cold and clear water that flows, and it's down from the Mel Nel (indigo) Mountain to the side of the village. Today, besides growing coffee, some still harvest cheroot leaves, which is not so profitable. 

CULTIVARS:

Catuai, Caturra, Catimore, S 795, Bourbon

ALTITUDE:

1598 metres above sea level.

NOTABLE:

Hit Kham farmers also harvest cheroot leave, which is not so profitable. In 2020, their coffee was rated 89 points.

PROCESSING:

Sun dried natural process: Cherries are hand picked by Hopong community members in the early hours of the day. Once the collection is finished, members deliver cherries to Hopong drying stations. On delivery, cherries are screened and handpicked to about 95% cherry ripeness level. Fully ripe cherries are then placed on raised beds. Slow drying is a priority and drying times range between 13-17 days depending on weather conditions. All lots are separated by day and all members’ deliveries are fully traceable.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

2020: their coffee was rated 89 in the Coffee Cupping Competition.

2021: first international export with This Side Up.

TASTIFY™ CUPPING NOTES:

the heart of the valley

Ho Hwayt was founded by shan indigenous people around 200 years ago and has since proven great resistance towards many pressing issues. In 2012, many farmers in this village had their entire poppy plantations burnt by the Myanmar police. Migration to Thailand is a recurrent choice amongst villagers. This year in Ho Hwayt, for instance, one farmer fled to Thailand, in search of better opportunities. Located at the heart of the valley that surrounds the mountain, and near the water, they also grow cheroot trees, avocado, turmeric, and corn. 

CULTIVARS:

Catuai, Caturra, Catimore, S 795, Bourbon.

ALTITUDE:

1140 metres above sea level.

NOTABLE:

Farmers in this village replant every year and, as they do so, they also expand their coffee farm, and add more trees. Generally, women pick cherries and man do the processing  in the drying facilities.

PROCESSING:

Sun dried natural process: Cherries are hand picked by Hopong community members in the early hours of the day. Once collection is finished, members delivers cherries to Hopong drying stations. On delivery, cherries are screened and handpicked to about 95% cherry ripeness level. Fully ripe cherries are then placed on raised beds. Slow drying is a priority and drying times range between 13-17 days depending on weather conditions. All lots are separated by day and all members’ deliveries are fully traceable.

the quest for a truce

Around 100 hundred year ago, during the civil war, the village was banded. It is said a family found a big boat to hide in. They decided to name their village Big Boat, Long Hay, to honor this hiding spot. Long Hay has been part of the Hopong project almost from the start, while facing violence in their village, migration, and other issues, they’ve managed to create a superb coffee that has been greatly received around Europe.

CULTIVARS:

Catuai, Caturra, Catimore, S 795, Bourbon

ALTITUDE:

1194 metres above sea level.

NOTABLE:

Long Hay is one of the most productive villages in Indigo Mountain. The land is rich and there is plenty of water, dense forests surround the village.

PROCESSING:

Sun dried natural process: cherries are hand picked by Hopong community members in the early hours of the day. Once the collection is finished, members deliver cherries to Hopong drying stations. On delivery, cherries are screened and handpicked to about 95% cherry ripeness level. Fully ripe cherries are then placed on raised beds. Slow drying is a priority and drying times range between 13-17 days depending on weather conditions. All lots are separated by day and all members’ deliveries are fully traceable.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

2017: farmers of Long Hay village were able to create a first pilot batch of only three bags for us, which we spread out as thinly as we could throughout Europe. 

2018: Long Hay and other smaller settlements make almost the entire production for Myanmar, with a great response from the market.

2019-2022: coffee has improved the farmers' livelihoods, bringing down poppy production and increasing the demand for Myanmars’ coffee worldwide. 

TASTIFY™ CUPPING NOTES:

Close to the river

How to communicate the benefits of coffee in areas that have never worked with it? How to slowly attract new farmers and inspire them to stay with their families, work their land and abandon the risks involved in poppy? Khun, together with his partners in Indigo Mountain, has to constantly prove that coffee can indeed become an option for a better future.

While offering close assistance and marketing their coffee, he must also be prepared for the possibility of recently trained farmers abandoning the project and migrating to Thailand. This village, located a bit lower than Bat Sawk, was one of the first villages to join Indigo Mountain. All farmers from this village are from the Pa O ethnic minority, and besides growing coffee, and because it’s slightly lower than Bant Sawk, they also produce other crops such as avocado, ginger, turmeric, and Cheroot Leaf.

CULTIVARS:

Catuai, Caturra, Catimore, S 795, Bourbon

ALTITUDE:

1222 meters above sea level.

Notable:

Besides growing coffee, farmers in this area also grow turmeric, avocado, corn, cheroot and ginger. As in other villages from Indigo Mountain, women usually do the harvesting of the cherry, while men do the processing.

PROCESSING:

Sun dried natural process: Cherries are hand picked by Hopong community members in the early hours of the day. Once the collection is finished, members deliver cherries to Hopong drying stations. On delivery, cherries are screened and handpicked to about 95% cherry ripeness level. Fully ripe cherries are then placed on raised beds. Slow drying is a priority and drying times range between 13-17 days depending on weather conditions. All lots are separated by day and all members’ deliveries are fully traceable.

the three Misters

Khun Kyaw Min Htike—Indigo Mountain commercial director— Khun Tun Lin—seasonal expert and agronomist with experience in UNODC, Winrock International and others— and Khun Kyaw Thein— a mechanical engineer who after living outside of Myanmar joined the 2020 harvest and decided to stay in his country— started planing this group in November 2020. Together they are responsible for gathering the harvest from around 147 farmers in the village. During the off-season, Khun Kyaw Min Htike visits the farmers once or twice a week, to assist in the process and offer the technical assistance that is making Indigos’ Mountain coffee such a delicacy. During harvesting season, he picks up the coffee from the villages; “it is a lot of work” says Khun Kyaw, “but I see that it's working”. Khun Tun and Khun Kyaw, on the other hand, manages the groups' farmers and processing.

CULTIVARS:

Catuai, Caturra, Catimore, S 795, Bourbon

ALTITUDE:

1,180-1,630 metres above sea level.

NOTABLE:

Three Khuns is the newest production group joining Indigo Mountain. It is managed by three coffee experts that gather and buy the produce from 147 farmers in the village.

PROCESSING:

Sun dried natural process: Cherries are hand picked by Hopong community members in the early hours of the day. Once the collection is finished, members deliver cherries to Hopong drying stations. On delivery, cherries are screened and handpicked to about 95% cherry ripeness level. Fully ripe cherries are then placed on raised beds. Slow drying is a priority and drying times range between 13-17 days depending on weather conditions. All lots are separated by day and all members’ deliveries are fully traceable.

Fully washed: Cherries are hand picked by Hopong community members in the early hours of the day, pre cleaned and floated to further selection. Cherries are then pulped in Penagos machine, which uses less water. Soon after, cherries are placed on fermentation tanks.  When the fermentation finishes, cherries are washed in the washing channel, separated by grade, and dried on raised beds until the ideal moisture level is reached.

Honey:  Cherries are hand picked by Hopong community members in the early hours of the day, precleaned and floated to further selection. Cherries are then pulped in Penagos machine, which uses less water. Freshly pulped coffee is piled on the raised beds until reaching  the ideal pH.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

2022: Three Khuns joins Indigo Mountain and manages its first international export.

TASTIFY™ CUPPING NOTES:

Rising

Naung Sam Phuu, located in Loilem Township, southwest of Myanmar, is the most remote village working with Indigo Mountain. Here, farmers are becoming more and more committed to coffee, less interested in poppy and the dangers involved. They also have one of the largest coffee estates in Indigo Mountain, but the less productive. We don’t know exactly why but, most likely, it could be because of the soil quality. Besides growing coffee, farmers also grow tea, that they export to China, and avocado.

CULTIVARS:

Catuai, Caturra, Catimore, S 795, Bourbon.

ALTITUDE:

1495 metres above sea level .

NOTABLE:

Besides growing coffee, farmers in this village also grow tea and avocado. Many farmers in this village had their plantations entirely burnt in 2019, as part of the eradication program installed by the governments’ police.

PROCESSING:

Sun dried natural process: Cherries are hand picked by Hopong community members in the early hours of the day. Once collection is finished, members delivers cherries to Hopong drying stations. On delivery, cherries are screened and handpicked to about 95% cherry ripeness level. Fully ripe cherries are then placed on raised beds. Slow drying is a priority and drying times range between 13-17 days depending on weather conditions. All lots are separated by day and all members’ deliveries are fully traceable.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

2019: together with Ho Hwayt and Mong Nwet, Nwang Sam Phu farmers join Indigo Mountain.

2020-2022: farmers find in coffee a reliable source of income and choose not to go back to poppy.

TASTIFY™ CUPPING NOTES:

C for change

Around 100 years ago, a few families abandoned their village searching for a better land to grow their crops. This is how they arrived at Htam Pha Yar and decided to settle. With time, however, the only source of income came from poppy. Poppy growers, particularly the Pa O, have been subject to severe discrimination from the Burmese, often labelled “hill people” or “rebels”. However, thanks to the efforts Indigo Mountain and other coffee producers have put in Shan State, some are learning more about their options. Besides the long-term plan coffee can offer, the possibility of re-telling their stories becomes a reality. Rich in culture, community work, and traditional festivities, the Pa O mostly subsist on agriculture. Htam Pha Yar is one of the most recent villages joining Indigo Mountain.

CULTIVARS:

Catuai, Caturra, Catimore, S 795, Bourbon

ALTITUDE:

1194 metres above sea level.

NOTABLE:

Htam Pha Yar joined Indigo Mountain since the start of the project. They used to deliver cherry to Long Hay, but farmers, in collaboration with Indigo Mountain, recently built their own drying station. The harvesting season starts in December and ends in March.

The Pa-O are the second ethnic minority in Shan State. The large majority of the Pa-O reside in the southwestern part of Shan State, near the Thai border. The geographical centre of the Pa-O is the mountains around the towns of Taunggyi and Kalaw.

PROCESSING:

Sun dried natural process: Cherries are hand picked by Hopong community members in the early hours of the day. Once the collection is finished, members deliver cherries to Hopong drying stations. On delivery, cherries are screened and handpicked to about 95% cherry ripeness level. Fully ripe cherries are then placed on raised beds. Slow drying is a priority and drying times range between 13-17 days depending on weather conditions. All lots are separated by day and all members’ deliveries are fully traceable.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

2022: Htam Pha Yar first international export.

TASTIFY™ CUPPING NOTES:

THE FAR MOON IN THE FIELD

Around 300 years ago, a family that lived in The Hton, Mon State, was forced to quickly abandon their homes after their leader was arrested. This one family established in what is now Phar Moon. It is said that after a year of living in this village, they found a place where many cotton plants grew. These plants are called Phar Moon in Pa O language.

CULTIVARS:

Catuai, Caturra, Catimore, S 795, Bourbon

ALTITUDE:

1,400 metres above sea level.

NOTABLE:

Many Pa O villagers were founded by villagers running away from the Burmese Kingdom that took them from their homeland.

PROCESSING:

Sun dried natural process: Cherries are hand picked by Hopong community members in the early hours of the day. Once collection is finished, members deliver cherries to Hopong drying stations. On delivery, cherries are screened and handpicked to about 95% cherry ripeness level. Fully ripe cherries are then placed on raised beds. Slow drying is a priority and drying times range between 13-17 days depending on weather conditions. All lots are separated by day and all members’ deliveries are fully traceable.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

2022: Phar Moon villagers join Indigo Mountain and export to the international market for the first time, through us.

TASTIFY™ CUPPING NOTES: