The story of Saffron Coffee begins with a group of tribes living high in the mountains of northern Laos. Unable to plant and harvest rice in the lowland paddies like the majority Lao, these tribes cultivated opium poppy on the mountain plateaus.

When opium cultivation was outlawed by the Lao government and measures were taken to curb its production, tribes like the Hmong, Yao (Mien) and Khmu had little choice but to engage in slash-and-burn agriculture in order to survive. In this practice, entire mountainsides are cleared of natural growth and burned off. These upland fields are planted for one season and then abandoned the following year as a new mountainside is cleared, cut and burned. A new field is cut each year for up to 15 years before the orginial field is replanted. Planting upland rice and corn, the harvest is often barely enough to sustain the life of a mountain family. Without a replacement cash crop for opium, the mountain tribes have succumbed to extreme poverty.

Nursery

Saffron Coffee's coffee nursery is where the coffee producing process begins. High-quality Arabica coffee seed is imported and brought to our nursery, prepared for planting and then is carefully sown into our seed beds. While the seeds are in the process of germinating (up to two months) farmers with whom we work are preparing their own coffee nurseries. Plastic bags are filled with a mixture of topsoil, manure and rice hulls and are arranged in shaded gardens and watered. As the coffee seeds germinate and unfold their first pair of leaves, Saffron Coffee picks and delivers these sprouts to all the coffee farmers in the villages. The farmers then care for these seedlings as they grow until the rainy season when they are ready to be planted in the fields (Click Images Below to Enlarge).

Agricultural Promotion

Saffron Coffee is committed to working closely with all of our current and potential coffee growers. We send our workers out to the field to promote coffee growing, to consult with current coffee growers regarding their plantations and to provide training in planting, pruning and harvesting. It means a lot to the farmers to see the faces of our workers on a regular basis—to have a good relationship and to be able to trust that we will indeed be there for them. We want them to be successful in their work and lives.

Harvesting

In December and January Saffron Coffee coffee farmers gather all of their family members to hand pick only the red-ripe cherries. It will take several passes over these two months to harvest all of them. In many villages, the coffee cherries are dropped into hand-woven baskets which are then placed on indigenous horses to be brought down to the village (Click Images Below to Enlarge).

Begun as an initiative to help former growers of opium, Saffron Coffee is beginning to help hundreds of disadvantaged mountain families to sustain a viable livelihood while, in the process, creating a preeminent highland Arabica coffee for you to enjoy.

Growing Arabica coffee with Saffron Coffee helps the Lao mountain farmers reap some very good benefits. On average, our growers will receive more than 3-4 times as much income from coffee than they would by planting the more prevalent upland rice, corn or soybeans, which require the slash-and-burn style of agriculture. These highland coffee growers have not had as good a cash crop since they stopped growing opium. The increased income will give the mountain hilltribes choices. If their old are sick, they will be able to send them to the hospital for care and to buy needed medicines. They will also be able to afford to send their children to school, without needing to keep them out in the fields because of high-maintenance slash-and-burn agriculture.

The Mission of Saffron Coffee is three-fold: We are passionate about making a positive impact on the lives of the coffee growers; we are passionate about taking care of the environment of Laos; and we are passionate about giving you a rare and high-quality Arabica coffee to enjoy.

1. Saffron Coffee’s mission is to help the poorest of Lao mountain farmers, not by giving them hand-outs, but by giving them something of international value they can produce and market (teaching them to fish rather than just giving them a fish). These are the farmers who live high in the mountains and often far removed from the conveniences of roads, electricity and telephones. These are also those who were once producers of opium, but who have been impoverished by lack of a replacement crop in the wake of opium’s prohibition by the Lao government. Many of these farmers have had to abandon their upland fields altogether, while others have yielded to the common practice of slash-and-burn subsistence farming. Saffron Coffee’s goal in helping these farmers grow coffee is to give them a viable and sustainable cash crop, developing their economy, and thus giving them the ability to buy medicines for their sick and send their children to school.
   
   

Luang Prabang is the enchanted World Heritage city of northern Laos set at the base of these coffee-growing mountains and on the banks of the Mekong River. Dotted with golden temples, red-brick lanes and candlelit café’s, Luang Prabang is considered the most romantic city in Southeast Asia. Saffron Coffee Roasters capture all of the allure and flavor of this ancient city in Luang Prabang’s only indigenous coffee.