Dak Lak Debuts New Coffee Processing Facility

5:19:23 PM | 26/5/2011

The first smallholder - owned and operated coffee washing station in Vietnam was opened on May 24 in Dak Lak province. The station is funded by UK Ministry of State, Department for International Development and implemented by Dak Man Vietnam which is the first foreign-invested joint venture licensed by the Vietnamese government to process and export Robusta coffee in collaboration with a coffee-growing cooperative in the Ea Kiet district.
 
UK Vice Minister of State, Department for International Development, Mr Alan Duncan said farmers are adding value to the beans they grow through sorting, washing and drying, by doing that improving the livelihoods of their families. I hoped the project would be a typical model for other growers across Vietnam to follow, Duncan said.
The facility is scheduled to produce 350 tonnes of Fairtrade semi-washed coffee by the end of 2011. Jonathan Clark, executive director of Dak Man, said the facility is considered a significant step of the Vietnamese coffee industry. If successful, the project could play a leading role in the development of a significant new market segment for value added Vietnamese coffee in the international market, based on which both traders and farmers get benefits.
 
Kim Bao