Farm Information

Producer: Siane Organic Agriculture Cooperative (SOAC)

Region: Chimbu Province

Altitude: 1,350m above sea level

Varietals: Bourbon, Typica

Siane Chimbu coffee is sourced from farms organized around the Siane Organic Agriculture Cooperative (SOAC), located in the Chuave District of Chimbu Province, Papua New Guinea. SOAC helps farmers access international coffee markets, increasing their income through direct trade relationships. SOAC also supports producers with financing, coffee quality improvement, organic certification, and community projects that promote gender equality and education.

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea holds a completely singular place in the modern global coffee industry, both in its harvesting methods and export channels. While there are some larger estates and plantations, the vast majority of the country's production comes from smallholder farmers. Each grows a plot of approximately 1-2 hectares—often called a "garden"—where they tend small amounts of coffee alongside other crops for family or community consumption, or for sale.

Sourcing coffee in Papua New Guinea has unique logistical, cultural, and linguistic challenges. The country's many indigenous groups are often sharply differentiated from one another by customs and language; some communities are only a few hundred people, making communication and the cultural sensitivity needed for business more challenging than in other coffee-growing regions. Less than 10 percent of the population has access to or uses the internet for communication, and there are roughly 55 telephones (both landline and mobile) per 100 people.