BAAC moves forward to upgrade Chumphon coffee to become Thailand’s No. 1 processed Robusta coffee product, eliminating sour tastes and adding aroma, aiming to create a tourism community base in 97 communities, develop tourism networks in more than 290 communities, and generate income for tourism communities totaling more than 50 million baht.
Mr. Chatchai Sirilai, Manager of the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), revealed that Chumphon Province is considered the largest source of Robusta coffee cultivation in Thailand due to its geographical conditions and suitable climate. BAAC is ready to upgrade over 21 coffee entrepreneurs in Chumphon Province by promoting Robusta coffee, a specialty of Chumphon Province, to set standards in every step, whether it be collection, packaging, processing, and development of new products with high value, by linking with research and technology networks to provide knowledge to entrepreneurs in adjusting production to meet standards, including managing
marketing channels, such as selling products on online platforms or taking customers on study tours through various projects, which increases marketing opportunities and distribution channels. BAAC also creates a database to analyze market demand and target groups, to be used in planning, researching, and developing agricultural products, including managing production that meets the needs of consumer groups, in order to further develop products to meet international standards, in order to expand the base to markets with high purchasing power, including providing funds to farmers at concessional interest rates through various loans, such as the Community Business Loan for Thai Development, Than Khun Loan, and BCG Loan, etc.
For the Ban Tham Singh Coffee Community Enterprise, it is one of the leaders in Robusta coffee production in Chumphon Province with a meticulous production process in every step, from selecting coffee species, harvesting, drying, milling, and roasting. It takes more than 1 year to ferment,
making Tham Singh coffee beans have a strong taste, aroma, and no sour taste. It has applied technology and innovation in the coffee production process, such as using solar energy to dry coffee, using machines to roast coffee beans, and processing them into various forms of coffee, making Tham Singh coffee a product with quality according to international standards, such as drip coffee, instant coffee, ready-to-eat canned coffee, or coffee candy, etc.
The community enterprise has distributed coffee beans to the coffee community network in Chumphon Province and other provinces nationwide via offline and online channels. It has also opened more than 6 branches of Tham Singh coffee shops in Chumphon Province and is preparing to expand branches to neighboring provinces soon. BAAC has supported the Ban Tham Singh coffee community enterprise in terms of capital for business expansion and circulation, as well as supporting marketing channels by providing an area in front of the BAAC Chumphon Agricultural Cooperativ
e for Marketing Customers (Chumphon Agricultural Cooperative) for product distribution. A-Product certification has been given to Tham Singh coffee products to build consumer confidence.
In addition to coffee production, in the coffee growing process, the community enterprise has also created an underground water bank to store rainfall during the rainy season by drilling pipes into the ground throughout the garden area and digging artesian wells so that the rainwater that falls is absorbed through the pipes and the ground down to the underground level and flows together in the artesian wells. This allows the community enterprise group to have water to use all year round and can use the stored artesian water during the dry season all the time, which is considered a worthwhile use of resources and creates environmental sustainability.
Mr. Chatchai added that Chumphon is a province with beautiful scenery, including the sea, mountains, forests, and a variety of fruits. BAAC has a policy to support this through
the BAAC Agro-Tourism project by using the community’s strengths to develop, expand, and establish a management guideline for tourist attractions that are in line with the needs of tourists, as well as linking tourism networks to be strong in order to create opportunities, create jobs, and generate income for people in the community sustainably. The Ban Tham Singh Coffee Community Enterprise has agricultural tourism sites, such as Pha Ta Uud and Tham Singh, which allow tourists to experience nature and community lifestyles, such as camping and watching the sea of ??mist at the Khao Tham Sila Ngu viewpoint. Tourists can also visit coffee plantations, observe the production process, and fully taste the best Robusta coffee. BAAC aims to create a tourism community base nationwide, accumulating 97 communities, developing 12 agricultural tourism routes, and developing a tourism network of more than 290 communities, expecting to attract more than 200,000 tourists and generate income for tourism communities of more t
han 50 million baht.
Source: Thai News Agency