Nepalese coffee production
Coffee is one of the most prestigious non-alcoholic drinks in the world, its world trade turnover follows that of petroleum. Since its discovery in Ethiopia in the 850s, its popularity has been increasing, and today it is consumed regularly by billions of people. It is grown in more than a hundred countries, and its traditional growing area is between 26 o - 27 o north latitude. Nepal is located outside the traditional coffee-growing areas, but its special geographical features make it suitable for producing high-quality coffee, despite the fact that coffee is not native to Nepal.
Coffee arrived in Nepal's Gulmi province from Burma in 1938, but it was cultivated as a simple ornamental plant until the late 1970s, and only in 1976 was it classified as a potential agricultural plant.
The first coffee plantation was established in Palpa Madan Pokhara province in 1979, which reached commercial size within a few years. The first few years proved that the dry and cool climate of relatively high altitude areas (800-1600 meters) is excellent for the coffee bush.
The first coffee plantation presented an agro-forestry model that widely attracted both domestic and international visitors. Slowly, this model spread to the surrounding settlements, and then the more distant provinces also adopted this method of coffee production and, with the support of the government, more and more coffee plantations were planted throughout the country.
The first plantation pioneered the start of organic coffee production in 1989 and played a significant role in the founding of the Nepali Coffee Growers Association in 1991. Since 1998, the association has been organizing training on the theoretical and practical background of organic coffee production with the involvement of international experts. Thanks to this, only organic coffee has been produced in Nepal since 1998. The varieties of Arabica produced here reach the high quality level of the world-famous coffees from Mexico and Salvador.
Nepalese coffee farmers believe in good quality and sustainability. In order to keep this at the same level, they have developed a management practice that is linked to a strict quality control system at all levels. The central body is the Nepali Coffee Growers' Association (NCPA), at the provincial level the District Coffee Growers' Organization performs quality control tasks, while at the settlement level the Coffee Growers' Group supervises the production and processing processes.
Qualified employees of the above organizations contribute to organic production and processing. They also provide a helping hand in their own way in the efficient planting of plantations, in the improvement of quality and in the market promotion of products.
Nepal Organic Coffee Products (NOCP) is the largest and most successful coffee company in Nepal. Not only the coffee production, but also the processing is carried out in compliance with the highest quality standards: after the coffee beans have been peeled, manual sorting and classification follows to ensure that defective beans do not end up in the processed product. Afterwards, the coffee is roasted, ground and packaged according to the customer's wishes. In order to achieve high quality, the company has been employing professionals trained in organic farms in South Asia and America since 1998. The company is proud to have been producing coffee of internationally recognized quality for 25 years, which has been awarded numerous prizes by international coffee certification institutes.
NOCP's main product is Himalayan Arabica coffee, which is not only one of the best coffees in Nepal, but probably one of the most popular coffees in the world, thanks to its mountainous growing area, low acidity, naturally low caffeine content and good taste. Two months ago, Mt.Everest was put on the market, which is also characterized by a low caffeine content, but a fuller coffee than Himalayan Arabica. Both coffees are suitable for use in any coffee machine.
