26 Oct 2021
Our Relationship with Myanmar
In February, Myanmar was faced with a military takeover of the government which resulted in widespread protest and civil unrest. This has pushed coffee producers in Myanmar into isolation and fear as the military coup and situation wears on including fears of what the future holds, concerns for physical safety in addition to the uncertainty for Myanmar's future as a whole.
For coffee producers, they were caught mid harvest (December to the end of March) with the pressing concern becoming whether or not they would be able to generate income through their coffee. In addition to economic uncertainty, producers have been also experiencing feelings of deep sadness and fear, with many not leaving the house at night or avoiding public transportation. Blackouts and media crackdowns have further caused emotional, political, and technical isolation.
Coffee cherries kept ripening and through all this, producers kept processing coffee, not knowing whether their efforts will pay dividends. There were wide-spread internet and communication black-outs in some regions of Myanmar and producers had to reply on using their phones to communicate with each other throughout this difficult time. There have been a few countries who have imposed sanctions against Myanmar due to the political coup, but this has mainly affected the hard workers and producers.
Our strong relationship with Myanmar is a testimate to the lengths coffee producer Melanie from Behind the Leaf was willing to go to. There were numerous logistical issues facing us to get Melanie to sell us coffee this year. Getting coffee samples was just the tip of the iceberg. Melanie had to drive three hours to Taunggyi to then bus the samples 12 hours to Yangon and rely on someone else to take them to DHL headquarters, only to be told there were no international airshipments allowed at the time.
The following day the samples were sent back and then continued a two-day journey to the border of Thailand where her friend managed to get them across the closed border and miraculously mail them to us. After cupping and selecting about five tonnes of different microlots, she managed to book us the earliest shipment to Sydney, but the government had frozen all her bank accounts, so we couldn’t even pay for those unbelievable coffees. She still sent them to us and had to create a new account with a different bank where we were able to transfer her the money. Due to the current Covid crisis, she still has not been able to travel the 10 hour journey to the bank.
This is what we mean when we say “relationships” with coffee producers.
“I have been lucky to know Melanie for a bit more than 4 years. And she is one of the most talented coffee producers I know, but she still doesn’t know that. She still is the humblest coffee professional out there. She seems to be unaware of the talent and knowledge she has in coffee processing, and what an incredible team she has built. Every time I tried coffee with her, she is always so critical about her work, and sometimes doesn’t want to believe how ridiculously delicious her coffees are. I had the privilege to travel to many different producing regions of the world and met some of the most recognised and awarded producers, visited their incredibly innovative farms and mils, which gave me a different perspective on her work. I can confidently say that her work is up there with what is considered the highest standards in our specialty coffee industry today.”
- Charlotte, Toby's Estate Green Bean Buyer