By: Vientiane Times, October 30, 2017
Photo Credit: Vientiane Times, October 30, 2017
VIENTIANE - The Lao Coffee Association (LCA) is hosting the second Lao Coffee Festival in Vientiane from December 10-12, aiming to expand domestic and export sales.
LCA President Ms Bounheuang Lithdang told a press conference on Thursday the festival would play an important role in promoting the special attributes of Lao coffee to drinkers around the world.
She explained the festival was part of the LCA’s strategy to help coffee traders by enhancing both quantity and quality to meet market demand and boost export growth.
The festival will feature a coffee making competition divided into the three categories of Barista, Latte Art, and Brewer.
The Asean Coffee Federation will arrange coffee tasting with Lao and regional coffee makers invited to participate.
The festival will include a forum for dialogue on the world coffee market between Lao and foreign professional coffee stakeholders.
Coffee experts will discuss their experiences with coffee traders about different development policies in Laos and other countries.
According to figures compiled by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Laos is riding high as the largest coffee exporter in Asean followed by Vietnam in second place and Thailand third.
Coffee is among Laos’ top export income earners in terms of agricultural commodities, earning producers about US$60 million from processed beans in 2012 with a total of 18,300 tonnes of coffee exported.
In 2013, Laos exported 30,000 tonnes of coffee products valued at US$72 million. In 2014, the total value of coffee exports dropped to 26,000 tonnes priced at US$60 million.
Meanwhile, the value of coffee exports from Laos to Vietnam grew from US$17.9 million in 2013 to more than US$32.8 million last year.
Thailand saw its exports of processed coffee beans grow from US$681,172 to about US$12.2 million during the same period.
Most of the caffeinated Lao crop is exported to Chinese Taiwan, Italy, Japan, Spain, Poland, Germany, the US, France, Belgium, and Sweden.
Firms from several countries are currently investing in coffee plantations and processors in Laos, including from Vietnam, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Chinese Taiwan, Singapore and India.
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