ABOUT
THE LADY SPECIALITY COFFEE STORY
The Lady Specialty Coffee was established in 2017 by two young coffee producers who wanted to improve Ywa Ngan farmers’ livelihoods through quality coffee.
Ms. Su Nandar Lin – Q Processing Level 2 (Professional) and Q Arabica Grader.
Mr. Thiha Gyawalie – CQI Assistant Instructor, Q Arabica Grader and Q Processing Level 3.
Both founders grew up with coffee. Today, both are driven, experimental, and award-winning producers.
Thiha’s family had a coffee hobby farm in Mogok, Mandalay. Mogok is famous for gemstones, and coffee here is often referred to as “the ruby among the lush agricultural fields”. In 2015, after university, Thiha took over the farm.
Drawing on his coffee knowledge from his CQI training, the Winrock Value Chains for Rural Development (VCRD), and trade shows, Thiha increased coffee quality and production to 10–15 tons green bean a year. Farming allowed him to put his ideas and knowledge into practice from cup to growing and processing for international markets.
In 1980, Ms. Su’s father established a coffee, macadamia, fruit and vegetable company called Shwe Ywa Ngan. Ms. Su worked with her father learning about coffee and working with small scale farmers.
In 2015, Shwe Ywa Ngan built a CWS and now, also roasts coffee.
By 2017, Mr. Thiha and Ms. Su Nandar Lin were both working with Ywa Ngan coffee farmers with separate companies. They met at the VCRD project and decided to combine their knowledge and skills.
In 2017, the Lady Specialty Coffee was established in Ywa Ngan.
In our first year, we had 51 certified organic women farmers and exported one container (18 tons in
bags) of certified organic coffee to the USA. We now work with 400 women coffee growers.
APPROACH–WORKING WITH LADIES
Our farmers are women. In the past, they were doing all the work on their coffee farms, while often held back by barriers and restrictions related to their gender. They struggled with limited finances, inputs, and knowledge.
Now we are equalising the gap, ensuring they are present and collaborating at all parts of the supply chain. The Lady Specialty Coffee is about investing and supporting the women to be the brilliant farmers we know they can be.
We like to say “ladies” as they need all the dignity and respect they deserve. They are incredible as they work hard to fight hunger, poverty and care for their families and children. The ladies play a central role in coffee and with just a bit of help, they are blossoming.
It is not about working harder, it is removing the barriers holding our lady farmers back, providing them vital support for GAP farming, and climate smart techniques.
The results speak for themselves. Quality is up. Production is up. And hunger is down, as our lady farmers are employed throughout the year, ensuring their children go to school and have food.
Cupping scores are 85+ with incredible flavours. From an original 50 lady farmers, we now have 400.
COFFEE FROM YWA NGAN
Ywa Ngan is a city in the Shan mountains, the Danu ethnic people’s ancestral land. Here lies a mysterious blue lake called “Mya Tha Beik Blue Pond” (မြသပိတ်ရေပြာအိုင်). The name comes from the water’s spectacular sapphire colour surrounded by trees with the peaceful sound of birds’ chorus.
Every year, our region welcomes thousands of pilgrims to the natural limestone caves laden with Buddhas, some dating back to the late 17th century.
Smallholder farmers began growing coffee here in the early 1980s, as a substitute crop for poppies.
We source coffee from seven villages in Ywa Ngan: Nwar Ban Gyi Village, Taung Khaung Pwar Village, Pway Na Phar Village, Myaing Village, Myin Dwin Village, Myin Gya Doe Village, and Ga Zat Village.