STiR coffee and tea magazine

50 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 2, 2019 (April / May) By Thomas Schmid Laos Cambodia Andaman Sea Chiang Mai Lampang Tak Chumphon Phang Nga Pattani Ranong Chiang Rai Malaysia Myanmar THAILAND 78000 81000 82500 75000 9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 45720 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 32280 31560 28500 Volume (Tons) Crop Year Consumption Production CHANG MAI, Thailand Thailand has made great progress honing its coffee-growing industry in recent years. Growers are producing excellent specialty coffee as judged by professional tasters, but apart from a couple of internationally known brands such as Doi Chaang Coffee, a visitor from abroad would've been hard pressed to recognize any brands among the exhibitors at the 1st ASEAN Coffee Industry Development Conference (ACID). The issue with Thailand's burgeoning coffee industry is that it is very insular. Why is that? And more importantly, can anything be done to put Thailand-grown coffees on the world map? According to Varri Sodprasert, president of the Thai Coffee Association and the keynote speaker at the conference, global recognition is impeded by several mutually compounding factors. Topping the list is the fact that – just like most of its neighbors - Thailand has trans- formed into a coffee-drinking society. "We consume more [coffee] than we actually pro- duce. Previously a coffee exporting nation, Thailand has turned into a coffee-importing country," Varri said. Indeed, consumption has steadily increased over the past years as domestic production of both arabica and robusta decreased. In 2017-18, the Southeast Asian nation of 70 million people consumed 82,500 metric tons of coffee, while producing only 28,500 tons. "As these figures show, Thailand needs to import raw coffee from neighboring countries because our own production is insuf- ficient to even supply the local market," Varri reiterated. The slump has been particularly steep with robusta, which is primarily grown in Thai- land's southern provinces of Chumpon, Ranong, Suratthani, and Nakorn Srithammarat. "At present, our robusta production has contracted to only 25% of its former maximum volume," Varri said. Arabica hasn't fared much better. The country currently produces 9,800 tons of the crop annually, almost exclusively grown in the mountainous northern regions. This yield is of course a far cry from the gigantic amounts shipped by Vietnam and Indonesia. The former, estimated to produce 30 million 60-kilo bags in 2018-19 is now the second-largest producer globally after Brazil; and Indonesia is at fourth place. The reasons for the overall contraction are manifold, but perhaps the most impor- tant is a severe labor shortage. Farming and harvesting coffee is labor-intensive, relying Thailand's Specialty Coffee Strategy Dozens of desirable specialty coffees that proliferate in Thailand are unavailable elsewhere. What will it take for these brands to "go international" and how can the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) assist? Growing regions Thai Coffee Consumption and Production (2014-15 - 2017-18) Source: International Coffee Organization Coffee Consumption in Thailand continues to increase In 2017-18 = 82,500 metric tons Coffee Production in Thailand is steadily decreasing In 2017-18 = 28,500 metric tons Robusta is the principal coffee variety grown in Thailand, largely in the south, while arabica dominates in the north.

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