Sin Net Chaung

By: Susan Heller Evenson

Mar 6, 2019

The community of Sin Net Chaung is has been producing coffee for over one hundred years.  In addition to the warmth and openness of the people in this village, what stands out right away about Sin Net Chaung is its exceptional tidiness. Don’t get me wrong, everywhere you go in Myanmar, people take a lot of pride in their home and their town, but - thanks in part to a trash pick-up program staffed by volunteers, and neat ranks of trash bins out at the edge of the road - Sin Net Chaung was awarded Cleanest Village in Shan State by the regional government last year. The community pride of this village extends to their coffee as well.

The drying beds here are neatly built and well maintained, the coffee trees are healthy and well-pruned. The natural process coffees produced in Sin Net Chaung offer a great example of the brisk, clean red berry and citrus profile for which Myanmar is quickly becoming famous.

The coffee growers of Sin Net Chaung tell me the increased revenue from specialty coffee sales has primarily gone toward household supplies and their children’s education. Their hope is that the specialty coffee business will continue to grow, and they will bring in more revenue by increasing their productivity, which is currently 2.3 kg of cherry per tree.

Coffee Stats:

  • GPS:                                         21.23401, 96.43408
  • Elevation (masl):                   1353
  • Ethnic Group:                        Danu
  • Number of households:        74
  • Coffee variety(s):                   80% Catuai, 20% Catimor
  • Coffee area (acres):               120
  • Average coffee yield:            1000 (kg fresh cherries/acre)