Kongo Coffee Ltd. is a locally owned coffee export company based primarily in Simbu province. Simbu is Papua New Guinea’s third largest coffee producing province. Kongo have been in operation since before the turn of the millennium and provides services to the smallholder coffee producers. The company is involved in coffee buying, processing, roasting and exporting, and has diversified into transport services, coffee shops and even equipment sales.
PNG is a relative newcomer to the specialty coffee scene. The remote locations of the nation’s small holders — who produce 85% of total coffee in the country—combined with historically-poor infrastructure has made the transition to specialty difficult. Nonetheless, the country is working towards innovative solutions that will hopefully lead to better quality coffee and improved livelihoods for the nation’s smallholder coffee producers.