Cambodia has a surprisingly suitable land condition for coffee growing, especially on the northeast region. We will look closely at the coffee farm business in a mountainous province Mondulkiri where Pida Coffee Farm is busy growing the world’s most popular coffee: Arabica. Arabica was introduced to the Indochina region over a century ago, and the tropical climate in Cambodia has provided a home for this coffee shrub.  

In the interview with Baksey Asia, Mr. Duk Piseth the Founder of Pida Coffee Farm explains that in 2018 a new type of Arabica was imported from Laos to Cambodia for the first time.  

There are four types of coffee in the world: Arabica, Robusta, Liberica, and Excelsa, according to him. Cambodia had been known to be able to grow Robusta, but never the Arabica. Today Pida Coffee Farm has proven this general perception wrong as it has successfully grown and harvested Arabica, and for two important reasons. Number one, Arabica is the most popular coffee for global market. Number two, Cambodia market also demands it.

In Vietnam, for example, coffee export revenue is approximately $5.9 billion annually, according to him. The good news is, Vietnamese farmers grow coffee shrubs along one Cambodia-Vietnam border spot, which is the opposite side of Mondulkiri province. There is only one problem for Mondulkiri soil; it is so fertile that the coffee shrub naturally grows and produces too many coffee beans until the branches start falling apart, without any artificial support. In other words, it is much easier for Cambodians to grow coffee, given its natural advantages.

The process of harvesting involves either the hand picking of coffee cherries that are ripe, or strip picking which removes all coffee cherries, including the unripe and overripe ones, from the branches. In Brazil, however, mechanical harvesting is more common because the coffee farms are operated at a larger scale. Not to mention the flat terrain which is practical for large scale harvesting. Hand-picking method will provide the best quality and taste, especially for Arabica, while strip picking is being used for cost-efficiency and mass production. 

In Cambodia, coffee growing business is a new opportunity for farmers, given that it can be operated at a much smaller scale. An agricultural startup, if you will. From his experiences, a startup capital can be somewhat smaller compared with other business startups.

His business strategy is even more interesting yet profitable. In Pida Coffee Farm, he doesn’t just grow coffee plants, but he opens his farm for tourists, not only from the local but also from countries like Vietnam, China, Australia, and so on. Farm Tour is concept from Pida Coffee Farm, and tourists are enthusiastic enough to see what Pida Coffee Farm is doing with its coffee growing operation. Not to mention the enjoyment of nature that surrounds the farm. One never has to turn on the air conditioner while staying in the farm, according to him. 

Having started in 2018, he found it challenging to grow Arabica, and for serious reasons. Prior to 2018, very few, if any, farmers were growing coffee. The least of all, Arabica. He had to visit a neighboring country Laos to learn from their coffee growing practices. He wasted no time bringing back a new breed of Arabica from Laos to grow on a similar soil and climate condition: Mondulkiri. If that initiative idea was daring enough, the lesson learned would not have been simple either. Among 10,000 coffee plants grown that year, only 2,000 survived. Faced with a devastating result, Pida Coffee Farm had to make its choice: To go forward or simply go out of business!

Mr. Piseth had stuck with the former option: He continued growing more Arabica coffee shrubs.

Today Cambodia has its Arabica brand, thanks to Pida Coffee Farm for sticking around.

He encourages other farmers to look into coffee growing business opportunity. It is not necessarily in Mondulkiri, he adds. As long as the farm condition allows it, the farmers can and should start growing coffee because the markets are craving for it, especially Arabica brand. He also hopes that many coffee farms in Mondulkiri will work together to make this province the powerhouse of coffee harvesting and exporting. He believes that Cambodian farmers are able to do that while the global market demand is on the rise.