Thai farmers North and Northeast part of Lao coffee

THAILAND - Farmers will get the best price for their products, while the government does not need to subsidise them.

This is the way to create a sustainable business for our group and our related partners, especially farmers," Boonheuang explained.

 Heuang Litdang, the group's president, said she started by clearing a forest area of 1,500 rai of the Bolaven plateau at Pakse in Laos for a coffee plantation.

Then the group set up a contract farming system and provided coffee plants, knowledge of how to care for them, and planting materials such as fertilizers and coffee beans.

The group's vice-president Boonheuang Litdang said the group had set up its first business in 1991, a retailer in a duty-free shop in Laos.

From 1998 until now, the group has had farmers joining in the contract farming - some 2,000 families of about 6,000 farmers.

The participants now generate income of over Bt1 million a year - compared to the earned average of Bt100,000 a year before the launch of the group's contract farming.

In addition to the coffee business, the group has expanded its investment to dried-fruit products for the export market.

It also supports local farmers in growing fruit. The dried-fruit plants help to maintain fruit prices across the seasons.