DILI, Timor-Leste – Festival Kafe Timor will return for a second year to the coffee-producing island nation of Timor-Leste this October 21-28th.
Activities at the festival will include a national cup quality competition, field visit to rural coffee producing communities for international coffee professionals, cup quality, roasting and retail training sessions, and a lecture program concluding in an award ceremony for competition winners.
The event is organized by the Timor-Leste Coffee Association (Assosiasaun Café Timor-Leste – ACTL – in Tetun), a nonprofit volunteer trade association representing the country’s coffee stakeholders.
“The first Festival Kafe Timor brought together people from across Timor-Leste to celebrate coffee,” commented association spokesperson Evangelino Soares.
“It was a positive experience for those who participated, motivating and educating farmers, roasters and baristas alike, and fostering a spirit of cooperation that can be built on to improve our industry.”
In last year’s cup quality competition, smallholder farmers cultivating Timor-Leste’s signature heirloom Hibrido de Timor coffee variety led the field in the country’s inaugural national cup quality contest, with Tunufahi village in the Letefoho district of Ermera achieving the top score of 84.45 points from a panel of international cupping judges using SCA protocols.
Second and third place farmers were less than a half point behind, hinting to what will again be an exciting competition in the 2017 harvest season.
Further details, including an agenda for origin tour field visits and other activities, speaker schedule, sponsorship opportunities and call for international cupping judges will follow in coming weeks.
For more information about Festival Kafe Timor, visit the Festival Kafe Timor Facebook page at https://facebook.com/kafetimor or website at http://www.festivalkafetimor.com, and see the video produced showing last year’s event at: https://youtu.be/AkGL0btJxxk.
About the Timor-Leste Coffee Association (Assosiasaun Café Timor-Leste – ACTL)
Founded in 2016, ACTL is a private sector association of volunteers working together based on mutual respect, honesty, transparency and equal representation.
The association’s membership supports a common goal of revitalizing the Timor-Leste coffee farm sector by serving as the unified source for industry standards, industry advocacy, media representation, and international brand development for Timorese coffee, while offering capacity development and best practices training for farmers and other members of the industry.
