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Coffee with a conscience

5 June 2014
Coffee with a conscience

Coffee berries are sorted at the plantation in the remote highlands of Papua New Guinea (Credit: Photo supplied). 


Salvos Coffee, a world-class quality coffee, is now available in the Australia Eastern Territory.

Fresh from the rich soil of the remote Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea, both beans and ground coffee are now available through Salvos Stores and online through the program’s own website.

Under the Salvos Coffee Program, over 600 marginalised growers throughout the highlands grow, harvest and prepare the beans for sale. All profits made from the coffee, sold at $7.00 for 250 grams, will go directly back to the village and into the program itself.

For the past seven years, The Salvation Army in PNG and the Australia Eastern Territory, has been assisting the growers – and the 3,500 family members the program impacts – to ready the soil; plant, grow and harvest the coffee; and then prepare the beans for sale.

The Salvos Coffee team also provides health and financial education in the villages.

Before the program started, these remote and marginalised growers would carry 30kg sacks to the roadside to sell, and would get ripped off on the price,” said Luke Soper, Papua New Guinea Development Officer.

“Through the Army’s assistance with education, transport and equipment, people’s lives are being changed spiritually, financially and physically. In one village, even the town drunk has been transformed and sends his daughter to school with coffee money.”

“Satellite outposts of The Salvation Army are springing up throughout the highlands area and the growth is amazing!”

The funding for Salvos Coffee, some of which came from the 2007 Self-Denial appeal, ends in June. 

Luke and his team are focusing on establishing a retail market for the coffee to bring in external funds and make the program self-funding. The team are also working on improving logistical issues such as shipping, packaging and the best place to roast and grind the coffee.

“We are looking at a possible arrangement for having the green beans roasted here in Australia – for the freshest possible coffee,” said Luke.

“This coffee is some of the highest grade coffee anywhere in the world.”

The 600 growers, located throughout the eastern highlands, are just too spread out to be assessed as officially Fairtrade and, for now, the cost of assessment would be too great. However, the coffee is grown in rich, volcanic soil, without the use of artificial fertilisers. The coffee is handpicked, sundried, and hand sorted.

When the Salvos Coffee co-op was first established to assist marginalised coffee growers, the farmers had no way of getting the best price for their coffee, and no way of saving any money earned from sales.

“The Army has set up a passbook system for the growers and assists them with opening a bank account,” says Luke.

The growers make an income, the village benefits through a community development fund, and the program grows as profits are re-invested.

“It’s coffee with a conscience; keeping our growers going and working out a sustainable financial model,” says Luke.

“God is great and in his time, we will see this, and so many other programs for PNG, develop and grow.”

http://salvationarmycoffee.wordpress.com/

Comments

  1. Hi, I am a corps officer in Madison Indiana. I am also a coffee enthusiast. This Christmas we have partnered with a local coffee shop to provide a "red kettle roast." This will be roasted by myself at home and also in the shop itself. I am looking to see what the possibility would be to have 40 lbs of green coffee shipped to us. I get that this is way different than what you are presently doing, but I believe this would make the red kettle roast 100% true to the mission of The Salvation Army.

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