N 114     How I became a coffee (powder ) producer

As I had worked as a government appointed personnel all my life I have not been in the production and merchandising businesses . I retired in 1997 and stayed without doing anything , but living on what my husband provided for the family.

It was in 2015  when I suddenly realized that I wanted to produce coffee powder. after meeting my daughter’s friend who came to deliver coffee at our house in Yangon. He and his partner also produce locally made coffee roasting machines. The price of their coffee roasting machine and other expenditures was within what I can afford, and I don’t have to worry for the place and building as there surely would be one in MNT compound , which belongs to my husband.. So I decided to give it a try , to produce coffee powder with its own brand.

After ordering a roaster which will take some months I had to think about the brand name. I received some suggestions from my daughter and granddaughters , but they were not of my liking. Then the word delight which I have seen used in some Western foods came to my mind and I decided to use it along with Highland which I already liked. Highland Delight….Of course  because coffee is really the beverage  that makes people delighted, happy, content  and it is produced only in highlands   especially the highlands of Shan State..

After that looking for a designer for my coffee bag , to order the bags and to buy accessories like weighing machines and plastic bags took me to the city centre many times. As for the coffee beans to be used I ordered  one ton from Pyin Oo Lwin through some communications.

While I was busy with these processes I went to visit  Gawranji Island with some household members and friends staying only one night there.  After I returned I got Bell’s Palsy( My blog no;N  92 )and had to get treatment for a month or two. Not completely healed I returned to Taunggyi and got  more treatment.

But the disease did not affect me much. I can go around doing things and get ready to start roasting.I had bought one ton of coffee beans from Pyin Oo Lwin and later went to Ywa Ngan to buy more beans.

On one April day KKM and KAMS who produced the roaster arrived from Yangon to show us how to operate the roaster.  Because that day was an auspicious day we designated it as the opening day , but without any ceremony.

I hired only one young man as the roaster and two part timers to do packaging. The young man was not a trained roaster but he started roasting as was taught by KKM who made the roaster. Later I sent him to a short coffee roasting training. Experience also taught him to be more efficient, and now he is doing well in the work.

I produce two kinds of coffee. Highland Delight is produced using coffee beans made by wet method. By this method the red, ripe coffee beans are soaked in water and left to be fermented for some time. After that they are taken out and dried after discarding the outer coverings .By dry method coffee beans are simply dried in the sun. After they are dried they are put into a  huller  machine and crushed to separate the beans and the outer covering.

 Though they are produced by different methods both are pure Arabica coffee from Ywa Ngan district. But as the buying price of the wet method coffee is more expensive  , coffees made using this method have to be more costly than the ones using dry method.

 I have been a coffee producer for six years now and so I have experienced many mistakes and ups and downs. It is not an easy thing to start a business which is new to us. Sometimes the coffee beans would be over roasted that they cannot be used, but have to throw away. There were times when I bought more than enough (not knowing how much coffee beans will be needed)that with time the beans lost their properties and become spoiled.

Bussiness was better before the covid period, when there were hotels and teashops who would use my coffee. During covid crisis sales had gone down but it is picking up again recently, though not on a grand scale. Anyway it doesn’t affect me much as I don’t live on its income. But  the business can be said that it’s not a failure , but  a steadily growing one.

I am getting old and cannot take care of the business efficiently  now.  So I decided to hand over the business to my youngest daughter, who is young,  energetic, and inspirational. I hope the business will grow more and markets expand under her guidance,  so that  Highland Delight coffee and My Coffee reached every place and persons to fulfil their cravings for a cup of coffee every mornings , days and evenings…..

 

14^th April 2022