Meet the Team Sourcing Great PNG Coffees

Sucafina has been operating in PNG since 2020 as a representative office. Delma’s tenures and Alex’s arrival begin at an exciting moment for coffee sourcing in PNG as we further support our exporting partners in sustainability, quality, finance and general risk management.

How did you get into coffee?

Delma Farokave: My background is as a coffee farmer in a rural village in PNG. I’ve helped my parents on their farm with maintenance work, harvesting, processing, drying and selling their coffee. Coffee is my life support, and through coffee, I got employed by another coffee company in 2011 and started gaining more in-depth knowledge about coffee.

Alex Casserly: I worked front of house in a café in Christchurch, New Zealand and spent the following 9 years learning as much as I could about coffee as a barista, coffee competitor and roaster. When I joined Sucafina in 2019, I jumped headfirst into learning even more. After 3 years of improving and learning at Sucafina, I’m excited to take on the role of PNG Director.

What do you do with Sucafina?

Alex: As the director of our ever-growing operations, I am in charge of overseeing day-to-day operations, trading and working directly with our export partners and farmers to showcase their coffees to the world.

Delma: I manage our sustainability programs including project planning, managing human resources, monitoring projects and providing feedback and reporting on projects. This includes performing audits, helping farmers get certified, implementing new sustainability strategies and working with external stakeholders - such as NGOs and governments – to work on projects that support farmer livelihoods and mitigate climate change.

What do you most enjoy about your job?

Delma: I like sharing knowledge with others and helping them become knowledgeable about sustainable coffee production. This job is all about doing things a bit differently than  in the past and looking back on how far we’ve come. Then, taking what we’ve learned and making a better future.

Alex: The best thing for me is thinking outside the box about how we can support farming partners when we’re developing long-lasting sustainable relationships with them.

What are you currently working on?

Delma: We are working to certify 5 times as many farmers in 2022 than in 2021. I’m also involved in organizing our new carbon footprint mapping. Other projects include starting a seedling nursery funded by a client, registering farmers for CropIn and connecting farmers to the Farmer Connect network.

Alex: We will be setting up a new office in Lae that will include a QC lab. We’re also working closely with partners to finalize certifications and provide any needed support as we head into the main harvest.

What is Sucafina PNG doing with supply chain partners right now?

Delma: This year, Sucafina is focused on registering supply chain farmers to sustainability certification programs. These certifications help support farmers with price incentives and a specialized market for their coffees.

Alex Certifications are our goal for this year. Once we’ve registered most of our farmers for certifications, we’ll focus on other programs that support farmers in other ways, especially those that address our sustainability pillars.

Who else is on the PNG team?

Alex: We currently have 22 staff including myself. Delma is our Sustainability Manager, leading and implementing our sustainability programs, certifications and HR locally. We have logistics employees on the ground, in-country. We have 4 Field Supervisors & 4 Data Entry/Trainers based in each of the regions supporting 14 Field Extension Officers working with a network of over 3,000 farmers.

Delma and Alex are hard at work developing a strong, sustainable supply chain that will supply high-quality Papua New Guinean coffees to our clients worldwide. Want to learn more? Interested in sourcing coffee from PNG? Contact your trader today to learn more, get samples and book your lots.