Chu Mui coffee crystallizes nutrients from good soil

Indigenous man Lieng Jrang Ha Hoang, born in 1981, has built and developed Chu Mui brand coffee products, processed and prepared from the source of nutrients crystallized from the good soil of Da Nghit village, Lat commune, Lac Duong district. The goal in 2025 is for Chu Mui coffee to continue to add many criteria to upgrade the 3-star OCOP rating to 4 stars.

Owner of Lieng Jrang Ha Hoang with processed coffee products under the brand name Chu Mui

Welcoming the Lunar New Year 2025, the coffee roasting and grinding of the owner of Lieng Jrang Ha Hoang is almost continuous because domestic customers' orders have increased along with the number of customers coming to the shop to enjoy directly in Da Nghit village, Lat commune, Lac Duong district. There are 2 main spaces for customers to experience and enjoy Chu Mui coffee, including an area of ​​50 m2 for roasting, packaging and 50 m2 for direct brewing. The surrounding landscape of Arabica coffee hills is lush all year round, crystallizing the nutrients of the cool weather and fertile soil. As early as early morning in February 2025, Lieng Jrang Ha Hoang turned on the roasting machine to produce 2 batches of Arabica and Robusta coffee, each batch weighing 6.5 kg of powder, exuding a fragrant aroma to both spaces of customers experiencing this place.

Lieng Jrang Ha Hoang explains to customers that to roast and grind each batch into 6.5 cups of ground coffee, 8 kg of raw dry coffee beans must be put into the machine. And to select 8 kg of dry beans, 15 kg of fresh, ripe red beans must be hand-picked. The process of processing Chu Mui ground coffee continues through 10 main stages over a period of about 30 days. Specifically, the first stage involves soaking the selected ripe coffee beans in water during the day to remove about 2% of the small beans that float on top. Next are the stages of grinding the fresh beans; fermenting; spreading them on a rack to receive natural sunlight. The final stage involves separating the silk bean shells with an automatic machine; screening and hand-sorting the green beans to sell to customers who order and roasting and grinding coffee powder on the spot. “The process of harvesting, preliminary processing, and processing into Chu Mui coffee products began to be implemented on a small-scale manual scale in 2019. By 2023, the machinery chain was put into operation through the preliminary processing and processing stages to date,” said Lieng Jrang Ha Hoang.

Accordingly, since 2019, the Sustainable Coffee Production Project, without causing deforestation, has chosen Lieng Jrang Ha Hoang to pioneer in building a model of linking production, processing and consumption of Arabica coffee with 7 households in Da Nghit village, Lat commune, Lac Duong district. The average production area of ​​each household is 0.5 ha, with a stable annual yield of 2 - 2.5 tons of beans/ha. Taking the initiative in the source of Arabica coffee materials on the spot, one year later - in 2020, Lieng Jrang Ha Hoang started processing ground coffee using semi-manual methods. By 2023, with increasing customer consumption in many areas, Lieng Jrang Ha Hoang invested in a closed system of preliminary processing, processing and packaging of finished products under the Chu Mui brand. The cost of building a production facility, preliminary processing and processing of Chu Mui coffee comes from capital from programs, projects and Lieng Jrang Ha Hoang's own capital.

Up to now, in addition to the Arabica coffee source from associated farmers, Lieng Jrang Ha Hoang has expanded its cooperation with many non-associated farmers in and around Lat commune, Lac Duong district to purchase more Robusta coffee materials to blend and process according to customers' needs. Particularly, Lieng Jrang Ha Hoang's household producing 1 hectare of Arabica coffee in Da Nghit village, Lat commune, Lac Duong district also brings in preliminary processing and processing of powdered coffee products with the Chu Mui brand name. Accounting for the area of ​​1 hectare of Arabica coffee of Lieng Jrang Ha Hoang in the 2024 - 2025 crop year, about 2.5 tons of beans are harvested and processed, with a revenue of about 320 million VND. After deducting expenses, the profit is more than 200 million VND. In comparison, the profit per hectare of Arabica coffee is doubled when it is used to process ground coffee - instead of preliminary processing of coffee beans as mentioned above.

Specifically, after harvesting and processing 2.5 tons of Arabica coffee beans, Lieng Jrang Ha Hoang continued to process 2 tons of Chu Mui coffee powder, earning a revenue of 600 million VND. After deducting depreciation of machinery and labor, net profit reached more than 400 million VND. Therefore, in the coming years, Lieng Jrang Ha Hoang will focus on developing the market, increasing processing capacity to diversify Chu Mui coffee products with raw materials mostly grown naturally in Da Nghit village, Lat commune, Lac Duong district, where most of the indigenous ethnic minorities of the Central Highlands reside.

Source: http://baolamdong.vn/kinh-te/202502/ca-phe-chu-mui-ket-tinh-duong-chat-tu-dat-lanh-074785d/