KOFI Co Ltd managing director Hei Dara at Sunday’s launch ceremony for new coffee products Veayo and Veha. Heng Chivoan
Local coffee company KOFI Co Ltd has launched two products aimed at meeting increased Cambodian market demand, as it also announced plans to export to Japan and South Korea in the near future.
At the official launch of KOFI Co Ltd’s new coffee products Veayo and Veha, meaning “wind” and “air” in Khmer, managing director Hei Dara said that a number of companies from Japan and South Korea have contacted several players in the Cambodian roasting coffee industry, including KOFI, to assess the taste and quality of coffee products from the country for export to both countries.
“Some companies from Japan and Korea have contacted us to test the taste of our coffee products, to make sure we produce good coffee that can be supplied to their market,” he said.
Dara noted Cambodia has imported significant amounts of coffee from abroad, and that the expansion of KOFI – from a company that sells small handicrafts to becoming the largest coffee roasting enterprise in the country – has been the result of high demand from the domestic market.
The KOFI head said the company’s products are blended with coffee beans grown in Mondulkiri province, and mixed with imported coffee to increase their quality and taste in order to become an internationally recognised and export-worthy brand.
The growing number of coffee consumers in the country also led to the company expanding its scope to encompass coffee roasting, he said, with the aim of helping coffee growers in Mondulkiri find more export markets for their products. Dara added that the company has been working with farmers to further improve the quality of their coffee.
Cambodian Hotel Association president Din Somethearith told The Post that it was “a source of pride” for Cambodia to have its own coffee in the form of KOFI’s offerings, adding that they had a taste and quality “not unlike that which is imported”.
He noted the company has distributed its coffee to a number of Cambodian restaurants and hotels, and noted its products continue to be in high demand.
“I think this coffee enterprise can compete with importers … I believe that the coffee products from KOFI will be important in meeting market demand, not unlike the imported products,” Somethearith said.
Figures from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries show that Cambodia produced a total of 675 tonnes of coffee beans in 2021, a 28 per cent decrease from 940 tonnes in 2020.
