Laos
The CPC cooperative of coffee growers was founded in 2007 to assist its members with growing and selling top-quality coffee and can currently boast 1 855 families spread over 55 villages as its members. The history between Malongo and small growers on the Boloven plateau is one of our most splendid success stories in terms of commitments in producing countries.
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1855GROWERS
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874 tonnesPURCHASED BY MALONGO
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2008LAUNCH DATE FOR THE PARTNERSHIP
BOLOVEN PLATEAU
The Boloven plateau is located in the Southern part of Laos, near to Pakse, and not far from the Cambodian and Vietnam borders. Growers on the plateau have been harvesting Arabica and Robusta coffee for almost a century at altitudes of between 600 and 1400 m (15°N). The growing conditions for Robusta coffee are unique in the world thanks to their altitude and latitude.
The Boloven Plateau coffee-growers cooperative (CPC) was created on 7 August 2007 to assist its members with growing and selling top-quality coffee.
FROM GROWTH TO EXPORTS
Malongo started working alongside this young cooperative as early as 2008, and has supported the entire development process. In 2009, the AFD (Agence Française de Développement – French Development Agency), under the encouragement of the Nice-based firm, accepted to fund the construction a final treatment centre, which growers can use to oversee the full coffee production chain, from growing to exports, boosting added value.
Fair Trade and organic certification was obtained in 2009, boosting the perceived value of the cooperative’s coffees. In order to obtain fair trade certification, CPC must adopt a democratic structure and contribute to the social and economic development of its members. In order to obtain organic certification, CPC must grow the coffee according to strict rules which aim to maintain a natural equilibrium with no need to use chemical additives.
Thanks to repeated visits by Jean-Pierre Blanc, Managing Director of Malongo cafés, this partnership has acted as a driving force for the development of this Lao cooperative. In addition to organising training sessions on tasting, quality and even cloning, Malongo teams travelled to the site for the first Lao coffee Festival, the CPC grower Coffee contest and the opening of a real-life (i.e. not on-line) school with partial funding from Malongo. To conclude, plots consisting entirely of grafted Typica plants are now up and running thanks to a large-scale nursery funded by the Malongo foundation.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTS
Malongo decided to fund the construction of a quality control laboratory and also encouraged local roasting in order to sell and advertise these coffees within the country, to improve quality yet again and to allow the growers to work more independently.
Malongo regularly organises training programmes in Laos to confirm these partnerships and maintain close cooperation. The teams of the Nice-based firm, experts in coffee tasting and roasting, share their experience with the small growers on the Boloven plateau.
