Rounton Coffee Roasters: Myanmar (Burma), Ywangan, Washed

This coffee comes from the Mandalay Coffee Group (MCG), which was formed in 2014 and works with over a thousand smallholder farmers from nearly 30 villages in Ywangan. MCG is based in the temperate mountain town of Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay Division. MCG is owned entirely by citizens of Myanmar, with one foreigner currently serving as general manager. Twelve permanent staff supervise up to 100 daily wage workers during high season, involved in receiving and pulping cherry, rotating drying pods and parchment, bagging and organising inventory, dry milling, handsorting cherry and green bean, and stuffing containers for export. All daily wage workers at the MCG factory earn between 100% and 400% of the national minimum wage, and MCG pays social security for all permanent staff. MCG donates 1% of its annual profit to the Myanmar Coffee Association, a non-profit group dedicated to advancing the national coffee industry.

Ywangan is situated in Southern Shan State - an area infamous for opium production, with (until recently) around 90% of the country's opium grown there. Huge efforts have been made to push farmers towards coffee production, and in the areas such as Ywangan where speciality grade coffee is being grown, the results are incredibly impressive