16 - SOFT Coffee Farm - Thailand 2025

Soft Coffee Farm began with a decision to leave a career in the big city and return to my hometown in Omkoi. Upon returning, I realized that while Omkoi has the potential to produce excellent coffee, many local villagers were unaware of its value. Despite nearly every household having coffee trees growing in their backyards or gardens, much of the coffee was left unharvested due to a lack of market access and processing knowledge.

As a result, coffee trees were slowly being cut down and replaced with short-term cash crops like tomatoes and cabbage—practices that also led to deforestation in the region.

Motivated by the desire to create a livelihood at home while supporting sustainable agriculture, I began by purchasing coffee cherries and learning how to process them, initially using only basic, manual methods without machinery. In the second year, our processed coffee was submitted to a national competition, where it earned 4th place in the Natural Process category. This achievement gave us the confidence that Omkoi coffee has strong natural potential—thanks to the region’s soil, altitude, and climate—which translates into exceptional flavor.

Encouraged by this success, we made a serious commitment to improve and develop Omkoi coffee year by year. Our first focus was on studying and applying better post-harvest processing techniques to enhance the unique flavor profile of local coffee. This was followed by efforts to improve farm management and experiment with high-quality coffee varieties suited to the local environment.

Throughout this journey, one principle has remained central to our work: coffee is like food—something we, our families, our customers, and our friends consume every day. Therefore, every step in our process must meet the highest standards of cleanliness, safety, and flavor.