Why Papua New Guineans need to buy their own PNG coffee blends

Two years ago, while passing through Western Highlands, we made a stop at Jerry Kapka’s coffee factory along the Chuave section of the highway. Jerry Kapka is the owner of Kongo Coffee, one of the largest coffee brands in Papua New Guinea. What was supposed to be a quick coffee stop turned into a three-hour conversation about his life and work.

Jerry Kapka has come a long way. Two decades ago, the Kongo brand was relatively unknown. Though his people grew coffee, they had very little say over the prices, which were dictated by foreign-owned companies. In order to remain competitive, Jerry offered a higher price—sometimes doubling what the village farmers were used to hearing. “I went to the growers and asked them how much they wanted. They named their price and I said you got it.”

As his reputation increased, more and more coffee growers flocked to Kongo Coffee. He expanded his reach into the Eastern Highlands and eventually wrestled a sizable portion of the market from foreign competitors. While his primary business is coffee exports, his packaged coffee blends have become much sought-after items on the global market.

Inside his factory, he showed us his fully automated processing line, an investment he has added to over the last decade. The centerpiece of this facility is a machine that identifies and removes low-quality beans. Jerry has always prided himself on producing quality. He scooped up a handful of beans of various sizes rejected in processing and said, “This is what they buy from us to make instant coffee. Don’t buy instant coffee. It’s low-quality stuff.”

The discussion about low-quality beans and instant coffee stuck in my mind. Jerry Kapka was the second person to tell me about how instant coffee was made. The first was Michael Toliman, a good friend and patriot who kept a copy of Papua New Guinea’s National Goals and Directive Principles beside him always. Michael, a former CIC extension officer, spent about a decade working with coffee growers in Boana in rural Morobe. They developed the Neknasi Coffee Cooperative and began exporting to Australia. He said once that Papua New Guineans don’t really appreciate their own world-class coffee. Instead, they choose to buy cheap instant coffee powder imported from Malaysia and Indonesia.

Every blend has a story. A story about people, their struggles, and their successes. Kongo Coffee is the story about how a small PNG company took on the big guns in the industry and gave a better price to the people who deserved a price increase. There are many names today—Neknasi, Menyamya, Awute, Kainantu, Sigri, Elimbari. Each has a story. The stories told by Michael Toliman and Jerry Kapka gave me a better appreciation of who I was actually supporting whenever I buy a K50 Goroka Coffee pack or a K14 Elimbari blend.

Buying a cappuccino, latte, or espresso from a café that serves PNG coffee is the best thing you can do for PNG coffee growers. That money trickles back into the growers in Mt. Elimbari in Simbu or Asaroka in Eastern Highlands or Hagen Central. To Papua New Guineans who have money to spare, go buy good PNG coffee. You’re supporting your people in rural Papua New Guinea.