MYANMAR ကော်ဖီ with Ngwe Tun of Genius Shan Highlands Coffee
MYANMAR ကော်ဖီ
with Ngwe Tun of Genius Shan Highlands Coffee
It’s been just over two years now since I took my inaugural Nomad Barista trip to Asia, and clearly it’s been taking a while for me to go through all the content, but I recently came across my notes from my trip to Myanmar and decided it was finally time to recant my story in this less-uncovered coffee region of the world.
Pulling into Myanmar for the first time, I had no idea what to expect, for coffee, or anything else for that matter. Previously known as Burma, I knew the country had been quite closed to the outside for a while, but when my team and I arrived in Yangon, the nation’s capital, I could see the people and thriving culture were very open and inviting.
After a quick search online, I located one of the only specialty cafés in town, Genius Coffee, and while dodging a few torrential monsoon downpours, I finally found my way there.
The shop was located on a small but busy side street, the entrance tucked away in the shadows. I made my way to the counter at the back and asked for my go-to when visiting any new spot, a quick espresso to get a sense of what they had on offer. Looking back in my notes, I wrote that I could taste some interesting flavours, but that it had this unique astringent finish that I had never really experienced before. I couldn’t decide if it was the bean, roast, or extraction, but still, I was really excited just to be drinking Burmese coffee in the country of origin. A dream come true.
In talking with the baristas, I explained my project and pursuit to discover different coffee regions around the world, and I apparently my passion shone through because they got the owner on the phone right away and told him to come by the shop just to chat with me.
Ngwe Tun showed up, owner of the social enterprise Genius Shan Highlands Coffee, and we began to discuss the exciting things he and his team has been doing in the local coffee-growing scene. As it turns out, coffee beans first arrived to south Myanmar due to colonialism back in 1882, but the conditions weren’t quite right so they moved north where they now thrive. Fortunately, I had done a bit of my homework beforehand and had a few questions lined up.
SO, TELL ME ABOUT THE 3 E’S.
"Evaluation, Education, and Empowerment. What we’re trying to do is bring better education to the local people in terms of rural development such as knowledge sharing, agriculture, training, teaching English, and even how to use computers. In terms of tourism, make it more community-based, to actually collaborate with local farmers, and we have a guest house for people who are willing to immerse themselves in the culture to learn more. It’s not about profit, it’s about social capital and increasing awareness. The overall impact comes from better yields and appreciation for future partnerships; there is no competitor, everyone works together to grow."
We also spoke about some of the minority groups in the Shan state of Myanmar, specifically the Danu Hill Tribes. The Danu are currently growing various crops, but back in the 70’s and 80's, poppy seed farms used to be very prevalent in the region for the production of opium, and it wasn’t until 1982 when an opium replacement program was funded (primarily by the UN and Japanese Jaika organizations) to expand the growth of coffee plants as they were realized to be quite low-maintenance as well as profitable. Later in 1994, Costa Rican Catuaí plants were brought over by the government because it can be grown as high as 4000-7000 ft above sea level.
AS FOR THE CAFÉ AND ROASTERY ITSELF, WHAT KIND OF EVENTS ARE YOU HOSTING?
"We do barista trainings, cuppings, coffee meetings, and all of the events are free of charge. The coffee shop should be a place for the youth and young generation to be productive and have meetings."
This is what Genius currently provides, financed with the help of crowdfunding. They give 18% back to the crowdfund contributors, roast specialty grade coffee in Tamwe, and distribute coffee on a more mass scale in Shan State for retail, coffee shops, hotels, restaurants, and even the airport. They also supply graphic design for anyone who wants to sell Genius-roasted beans with their own personal labels.
I asked Ngwe if he had any specific stories to share about how he come in contact with coffee. He explained how back in 2012, he was in Shan State, in a coffee growing area, he ordered a coffee there, but they only had instant coffee. His realization that he was in such a ripe coffee growing region, but was only able to access instant coffee from who-knows-where drove him to go further in the local industry. His original intention was to serve green beans, but he later changed his mind and started to help distribute roasted coffee to local restaurants.
Ngwe started Genius in 2012 as a business for processing green beans but then got into specialty as an added value, and now distributes green beans to roasters in HK, Taiwan, and Japan. [At the time of the interview] they were the only cafe in Yangon with certified baristas on bar (brew/espresso).
In the past, farmers were getting around 400 Kyat/kg, but now are starting to receive 600 kyat/kg and upwards for the raw materials (the whole cherries). Genius gives back 10% of their revenue straight into the Shan community contributing to local education, healthcare and forestry efforts while employing 30 full-time staff, and work with over 100 farms from South Shan State.
"We need to make success stories for the opium replacement domino effect among farmers and leading by example. We know specialty coffee is new, but we trust it will change in the near future, it’s still in the early stages."
Ngwe also pointed me to another interesting article on Huffington Post about what’s happening here that’s definitely worth a read as well!
That chat with Mr. Ngwe Tun over two years ago really inspired me to realize that coffee can be such a facilitator to not only give back to the communities who are growing it, but work towards shifting unhealthy revenue streams such as producing poppy seeds for opium to one that can be equally if not more profitable to create an more positive impact
