Unlike many PNG specialty coffee stories, this coffee initiative does not have a long and rich history. In fact, the Riverside coffee is the result of a very new initiative. In November 2019, A local entrepreneur in Kabiufa, Moses Venapoe decided to try his luck and his skills and fill the void of an absent dedicated coffee buyer by setting up a buying station for his community in Kabiufa. He did so by vigorously implementing best post-harvesting and processing practices and demanding the same from his suppliers from day one! Unlike most coffee buyers in the area who trade parchment, Moses set up a cherry buying operation and built a small wet mill in his own back yard to ensure full control of the wet milling, fermentation and drying of the coffee.
 
With high-quality in mind, Moses organised the buying process in a (for PNG) unique way: significant premiums of 30% above market price are paid immediately to the supplier for a “red cherry only” delivery. This means cherry is hand-sorted at the wet mill, prior to weighing it and buying it. The carefully selected ripe cherry gets processed while the unripe cherry is discarded. This serves both as a deterrent to the delivery of unripe cherries and to encourage better harvesting at the farm.
Behind the wet mill area, Riverside Coffee has set up raised drying beds on which the parchment is carefully sun-dried over a period of 7 to 9 days. Any obvious remaining impurities are removed from the drying beds by hand. 
 
Although Moses has only been operating on a small scale (50 smallholder cherry suppliers) and is only new to the world of coffee, his ability to effectively implement best practices are remarkable. Of course, the high premiums being paid pique the interest of more coffee growers in the area.
 
Based on our cupping assess, this coffee stood out as excellent with razor clean bright flavours. This underlines that this immaculately processed Kabiufa coffee deserves a place in the spotlight.