The Director writes about Indochine Estates Coffee
Recently, Mr. Phat Pham, Director of Indochine Estates Coffee, wrote a letter to us answering a number of our questions regarding Indochine and its company policies. This was his response:
On the bean blends:
Ban Me Thuot is a region that produces very chocolaty and nutty robusta beans. These characteristics are very definite especially when the beans are sorted and culled properly. Even though our preference is to use delicious Bourbon arabica beans of Dalat, we thought it would also be fitting and colorful to incorporate the quality beans of this region into some of our blends.
We pretty much pioneered the use of Ban Me Thuot Peaberries (small, unsplit beans) and would like to see the industry recognize the characteristics of these beans and carry on the name usage. We have seen the method apply successfully to the beans of other regions around the world - Tanzania Peaberries (Arabica), Indian Monsooned Malabar (Robusta).
Each blend is different from one another. What makes them different is the degree of roast, type of beans used, percentage composition of each type of beans; some blends such as An Nam and Sun Blend are roasted with some butter oil - a roasting method practiced by the French in the past have been adopted by the Indochinese in particular. The butter lends the caramelly and nutty flavor.
On Vietnam's coffee heritage:
The French Jesuits brought the cultivation of coffee to Vietnam towards the end of the 19th century. Dalat's Bourbon Arabica traces its origin to the French island of Ile Bourbon, which is now La Reunion, located in the Indian Ocean. The Jesuits chose Dalat as an ideal location to plant the Bourbon because of its 1600-meter elevation, rich volcanic soil, and climate. Although the vast stretch of lower highlands in central Vietnam are the most productive for the cultivation of Robusta, (which in recent years has made a name for the country as a major producer of coffee), the heritage of Vietnamese coffee began with the Bourbon in Dalat.
On Indochine's history:
My grandfather's family moved to the Dalat region from Da Nang in the 1950's and took on coffee and tea farming. For decades, the coffee harvest had been sold solely to coffee traders, who then sold to roasters in the cities. It was only recently that we started to roast these beans, through the birth of Third Republic, Café An Nam and Indochine Estates Coffee.
Some of my fondest memories are spending the summers frolicking on the farms,
chasing after my cousins, picking avocadoes, persimmons and watching the adults
pick coffee beans and tea buds. I also witnessed occasions where the family
had to leave coffee farms fallow because of low coffee prices, or dump its
produce, spoiled because of weak demand or slow distribution.
On Indochine's growing methods:
The coffee is harvested every year from mid-November through February, usually shortly before Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. The family farms can yield about 40-50 tons annually. We also source from neighboring farms when we need to. Bourbon trees do well on sides of hills where the soil is well drained, and with partial shading, which is usually provided by persimmon and avocado trees on our farms. Bourbon trees are also very particular with elevation. If planted in locales of lower than 1200 m above sea level, they are susceptible to fungal infection and therefore do not thrive.
The
growing and processing practices are still very cottage-oriented. Each farm
is usually no more than 2 hectares large, and spread throughout several hills.
Hilly terrain dictates that harvesting cannot be done by machine, but by hand.
This is more labor intensive, but it is also a convenient way to assure that
only ripened beans are selected, since red and ripened coffee fruit will fall
off the branches easily. The pulping of the cherry fruit and fermentation
is done at various hut stations on the farms. The rind of the fruit and water
are then re-used to fertilize the soil. After the beans are washed, they are
transported out of the farms on motorbikes or small trucks and onto family
patios for even sun-drying. The beans are then stored with their husks intact,
as to not compromise the integrity and characteristics of the beans during
the resting period. The husks are only removed shortly before roasting.
Indochine does have a vested interest in paying fairly for its coffee. First of all, it is the fruit of hard work over the decades by members in the family. Secondly, we would like to preserve the heritage, and the cultivation of quality Bourbon beans, since the sustainability of our company also depends on them. We pledge to pay at least 10% above market price for our beans, and never lower than $2.50 per kg of green beans.
We pre-pay for our coffee, often before the coffee is harvested. The money is used for fertilizer, seedlings, and for maintaining the farms. In several instances, we have also advanced the money, so that houses can be built or remodeled. Some of the growers' children are also employed or interned at Indochine, where aside from regular wage, their lodging is provided, and education courses are subsidized by Indochine.
Indochine is also a proud major sponsor of the Vietnam Scholarship Foundation, based in Seattle, WA, USA. The Foundation provides several hundred grants and scholarships to underprivileged children in Vietnam. Our goals are also to work together to build new or upgrade schools in Cau Dat (outside of Dalat), where most of our coffee is grown.
Aside from the sales, marketing and business strategies of running a business, overall, I think one can see that (for good or bad), Indochine Estates is reflection of my personal life. It coalesces aspects of my childhood, my formative years of living in Seattle, my years studying in Europe, my love for travel and respect for the humanity and ethics of Buddhism.
The future for Indochine
Indochine still has a lot of work ahead. As we grow and can devote more to the development budget, we will invest in a more centralized processing center for the farms. The coffee is not certified organic nor has received any certification from any organizations. However, for the most part, the cultivation is quite natural. Some chemical fertilizer is used when the plants are young. However, as the plants become mature, organic fertilizer is used, since they respond better to the latter. Our goals are also to set aside a few farms in the next few years for organic coffee farming.
Despite many farms (especially those on lower elevations) have switched to hybrid coffee crops for higher yield, our family still prides itself on being one of the small number that still hangs on to the lower yield, but delicious Bourbon.
My parents are now living in Saigon and no longer personally involved in the running of the farms. All cultivation of coffee is now supervised by my uncles and cousins. We still have some ownership in some of the land in the region.
There is still much for Indochine to do and to develop. This is because the company owes much to the many people who have supported it over the years and have believed in its potential to do good.
- Mr. Phat Pham, Director of Indochine Estates Coffee
Note from Director of Clockwork Commerce, Len Brault: Indochine is a model coffee company that gives much back to the growers and communities. In addition, they have responded generously to our fundraising initiatives such as the event A Night of Awareness in New York, to benefit the Thao Dan and Redlight Children foundations.