• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Espresso & Coffee Guide
  • Recipes
  • Countries
    • African Coffees
    • South American Coffees
    • Indonesian Coffees
  • Best Coffees
  • About
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Best Coffees
  • Guide
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Best Coffees
    • Guide
    • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Single Origin Coffee Beans » Indonesian Coffees

    Laos Coffee - Laotian Coffee Beans

    Laotian Coffee

    The main coffee growing region in Laos is the high elevation Bolaven Plateau which has volcanic red earth soils in which the coffee plants thrive. Coffee plant varietals include Arabica as well as Robusta and Liberica Coffee.

    Coffee plants were first introduced to this area in the 1920s by the French who recognized the high altitude plateau with its fertile soils as a prime coffee growing area.

    The Bolaven Plateau includes three southern provinces: Saravan, Champasak and Sekong and sits west of the border with the central Vietnam's highlands and north of the border with Cambodia.

    Coffee Production in Laos

    Laos shows great potential for future coffee production due to its large populace (nearly 7 million people) and abundant land for coffee cultivation. This landlocked nation has seen its share of war and strife, however, and more than one-fourth of the people live in poverty.

    While many have relied on opium as their only economic opportunity, coffee is increasingly becoming an alternative.

    In the 1990s a coffee-growing initiative in Laos was funded by the European Union but eventually failed due to the lack of a market for the product. However recent efforts to rejuvenate significant coffee production in Laos are coming to fruition.

    Hundreds of thousands of coffee trees have been planted and the crop is replacing opium in some areas. The Laos town of Paksong is considered the “coffee capital.”

    Laos Coffee Facts

    Historically most Laos coffee beans have been sold to middlemen who sell it to the Soviet Union and other communist allies.

    New markets are now being developed in the United States for Laotian coffee with a focus on the production of higher grade organic Arabica coffees that are marketed as specialty coffees rather than lower grade Robusta commodity coffees.

    This brings a much higher return for the farmers and is providing incentive to increase high quality coffee production in Laos.

    Though the volume of coffee production is still relatively low it is expected to increase in the coming years along with overall Laos coffee quality and due to improved cultivation, harvesting and processing.

    Laos Coffee Brands

    A company named Saffron Coffee in Laos offers coffee beans that are cultivated by hill tribes (e.g., Mien, Khmu, Hmong and Gasak) in the World Heritage city of Luang Prabang in the mountains of northern Laos along the Mekong River.

    Saffron Coffee is shade-grown, organic Arabica coffee grown more than 800 meters above sea level on the Luang Prabang plateaus and wet processed.

    In the early 1990s Laos produced about 83,000 bags of coffee (approximately 5,000 tons) and this has now more than quadrupled. Much of the coffee of Laos is exported to France.

    Laos Coffee Exporting

    While coffee production in Laos is expected to continue to increase quite rapidly, there are limits due to a shortage of labor.

    However there will also surely be improvements in yield per acre due to better growing methods, and improvements to coffee bean quality that may bring higher returns and bring Laos respect in the specialty coffee market.

    Currently the Laos coffee crop is predominantly the lower grade Robusta though the amount of higher grade Arabica being grown has been increasing. There is also a very small amount of Liberica Coffee being grown in Laos.

    Thank You for Visiting Espresso Coffee Guide and Reading About Laos Coffee - Laotian Coffee!  Savor Your Coffee and Espresso!

    Buy Indonesian Coffee Beans From Canada



    Why do you want to sponsor this page?
    Loading
    FacebookTweetPinShares3

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Ping

      January 31, 2018 at 12:59 am

      Hello,

      May I have a contact email address or website the producers of coffee in Laos ?

      Thank you.

      Reply
    2. viveka

      October 28, 2012 at 9:59 am

      when I was in Laos I startied really loving the coffee. Then I've tried to find it here in Paris where I live. No luck. I hope to see it in the market.....

      Reply
    3. Henri Zix

      January 04, 2012 at 11:32 pm

      Hello,

      Can you give us a contact eMail address with producers of coffee in Laos ?

      Thank you.

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Single Origin Coffee Beans

    • African Coffees
    • Indonesian Coffees
      • Australian Coffee Beans
      • Bali Coffee Beans
      • Cambodian Coffee
      • Borneo Coffee Beans
      • Coffee Beans from China
      • Kopi Luwak / Civet Coffee Beans
      • Hawaii Coffee Beans
      • Coffee Beans from India
      • Indonesian Coffee Beans
      • Kopi Luwak
      • Laos Coffee - Laotian Coffee Beans
      • Malaysian Coffee Beans
      • Mocha Java Coffee Beans
      • Myanmar Coffee - Burma Coffee Beans
      • Nepal Coffee - Nepalese Coffee Beans
      • New Caledonia Coffee
      • Papua New Guinea Coffee Beans (PNG)
      • Philippine Coffee Beans
      • Sri Lanka Coffee Beans
      • Thai Coffee - Thailand Coffee
      • Timor Coffee Beans
      • Vanuatu Coffee Beans
      • Vietnam Coffee Beans
    • South American Coffees

    Search

    Guide to the Top Coffees

    • Kenya Coffee Beans
    • Sulawesi Coffee Beans
    • Yirgacheffe Coffee Beans
    • Sumatra Coffee Beans
    • Harrar Coffee Beans
    • Costa Rican Coffee Beans
    • Brazilian Coffee Beans
    • Mocha Java Coffee Beans
    • Tanzania Coffee Beans
    • Guatemala Coffee Beans
    • Ethiopian Coffee Beans
    • Colombian Coffee Beans
    • Honduran Coffee Beans
    • Hawaiian Kona Coffee Beans
    • Geisha Coffee Beans
    • Espresso Beans
    • Best Coffee Beans

    Footer

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    ABOUT ESPRESSOCOFFEEGUIDE.COM

    Find out more About us and what we're doing.

    Information is pulled from a number of locations including official sources ICO, SCA, as well as proprietary third party databases. Beginning circa 2006, we've compiled data and written about coffee and continue to revise and add as new sources come to light. If you have any recommendations or suggested revisions please contact us!

    Information on single origins is updated over time and only reflects the data we have at the time of writing on current crops. All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. EspressoCoffeeGuide.com reserves the right to all its own content.

    COLLABORATE WITH US

    We're always looking to team up with individuals and companies doing awesome things in the coffee industry. If you'd like to contribute please reach out to us with a proposal!

    Contact us

    Privacy Policy

    Disclosure: We may earn commission at no cost to you from some links on this website. However, the content, opinions and analysis are 100% objective and editorial objectivity is our priority.

    Copyright © 2023 EspressoCoffeeGuide