Marawaka coffee

By PETER KORUGL in SEOUL.

Marawaka in Eastern Highlands is a long, long way away from South Korea but its coffee is taking this Asia country by storm. The remote district is home to some of the finest organic coffee grown in Papua New Guinea and if everything goes well, South Korea, home to some 50 million people and in fact Asia will be brewing Blue Mountain, the coffee brand that is being promoted and sold in South Korea at present.
“The future looks really bright for Marawaka coffee. We are pleased with the way it being accepted by the markets in Asia and South Korea,” said Mr Bosil Park, President of Gepo Coffee Exports Limited.
The little known Goroka based coffee company is exporting the Marawaka coffee to South Korea where its office in Seoul roast and package it for the Asian market.
“We got the license from the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) two years ago and since then we are working together with CIC to promote and market our coffee products in South Korea and Asia,” Mr Park said.
Mr Park who lives in Goroka but his company’s operation in Seoul has managed to produce a coffee canned drink as well as ground coffee products labeled which it sells around South Korea and Asia.
“We import about 200 tonnes of bean coffee per year and this will go up as we find more markets. Marawaka coffee is special. It was certified by the Korean Organic Institute,” Mr Ryan Park, the Chief Executive Officer of Gepo Coffee Exports Ltd said.
Coffee drinking was never part of Korean culture until about 10 years ago when this changed. Over this period over 50,000 coffee shops opened up in the country and among the markets Gepo Coffee Exports has secured, 10 of these coffee shops have signed Memorandum of Agreements to sell only PNG coffee.
“Last year, world renowned sprinter and Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt took part in the international meet in Deagu city. He went into one of the shops that sell Marawaka coffee and drank the coffee. He said it was the best coffee he had drank and he went there every day during his stay here,” Mr Park said.
Gepo Coffee Exports Ltd works hard to make sure that Marawaka coffee is drank by the 10 million people in South Korea including the 10 million people in Seoul, the nation’s capital.
“It’s is in the quality of the coffee. We have strict quality control measures. Koreans do not know much about Papua New Guinea and least of all is its coffee.
“We believe that we have a quality product that can sell and its showing,” Mr Park explained.
The company is developing a 30 hectare coffee plantation is Marawaka and employing up to 3000 people to work on its estate. It anticipates that coffee from this estate will meet the growing demand from Asia including South Korea.
“We look after our workers well and this can be proven by CIC. And because we do that, we believe that the workers will help us produce the best quality coffee we need for our Asian markets,” President Park said.
Mr Park said Gepo Coffee Exports has already entered into an MOU with a conglomerate in South Korea to sell its products and when this gets off; the farmers in this remote part of PNG will see more money.
“We are the only company in South Korea that is promoting and selling organic coffee. the other coffee companies here are selling non organic coffee. This is our strength,” Mr Park said.