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Yangon · Myanmar

Genius Shan Highlands Coffee

Since 2012 · Ngwe Tun

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Overview

Genius Shan Highlands Coffee was founded in late 2012 by Ngwe Tun under the family company Aung Nay Lin Htun Co., Ltd as an income-replacement project for Danu Hill Tribe farmers in Southern Shan State who had been growing opium poppies. The operation is fully vertically integrated — nursery, plantation, processing and dry mill in Ywar Ngan Township in the Shan Highlands; roastery, distribution and Cafe Genius in Yangon — with EU and US organic certifications and 10% of profits returned to grower communities.

Known for

  • Founded late 2012 by Ngwe Tun (Aung Nay Lin Htun Co., Ltd) — Myanmar's first specialty coffee operation
  • Vertically integrated: nursery + plantation in Ywar Ngan, Southern Shan State; roastery + cafe in Yangon
  • Originally framed as a poppy-replacement income project for the Danu Hill Tribe
  • EU and US organic certified — PGS methods, 100+ farmer cooperative
  • Member of SCAA, SCAE, World Coffee Research, ACE and the Myanmar Coffee Association

Why it matters

Myanmar barely registered on the global specialty coffee map before Genius — the country's farmers were caught between commodity prices and historic opium dependence, and there was no domestic infrastructure for processing and roasting Arabica to specialty standard. Ngwe Tun's decision to build the entire chain at once — from seed nursery through to Yangon cafe — created the export channels that allowed Myanmar to ship its first specialty beans to the United States in June 2015, and made the Shan Highlands a credible specialty origin for international buyers.

Production

destoning
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roastery location
South Okkalapa Township, Yangon, Myanmar
espresso equipment
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annual volume tonnes
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Café

No. 220, 31st Street, Kyauktada Township, Yangon

Recognitions

  • EU organic certification
  • USDA organic certification
  • Founding member of Myanmar Coffee Association

Sources

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