The nation’s first coffee trade center was yesterday founded in the Aboriginal Ulaljuc community in Pingtung County’s Taiwu Township (泰武).
The county government first helped local farmers establish the Alliance of Coffee in Pingtung’s Aboriginal Townships, which became the foundation for the trade center.
More than 350 hectares in the county are used for coffee cultivation by 360 coffee farmers, Pingtung County Commissioner Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said yesterday, adding that both figures were higher than in any other municipality.
The center can serve as a platform for trading classified coffee beans, through which farmers can secure stable incomes, he said.
With the production area as an umbrella brand, local farmers can develop their own distinctive products while working together to break into the international market, he added.
US Web site coffeereview.com has listed the county’s coffee among the top three in the Asia-Pacific region, while the county was identified as a representative production area in Taiwan, Pan said.
The county on Thursday signed a purchase memorandum with US-based Isla Custom Coffees, in which promised to buy 7 tonnes of coffee beans from the county over 10 years, he said.
During his fourth visit to Taiwan, company founder R. Miguel Meza was quoted by Pingtung Indigenous Peoples Department Director-General Wu Li-hua (伍麗華) as saying that he was surprised to see how much progress the county has made in coffee production.
Meza added that he believed the county’s coffee would one day claim a prominent position in the world, Wu said.
Trade at the center proceeds like auctions of coffee beans in other countries, but the center offers a special service — quick tests for insecticide residue, alliance secretary-general Tang Sheng (唐笙) said.
Coffee beans grown in Pingtung are Typica, a cultivar of arabica, Tang said.
Because Typica beans are not easy to cultivate, global production of the cultivar has dropped, Tang said.
The Typica beans have acquired a special flavor after about 100 years of cultivation in Taiwan, he added.
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