Meet Mokhlesur – the man aiming to make Bangladesh self-sufficient in coffee production

After succeeding in cultivating, producing, processing, and popularising coffee on his own initiative, young entrepreneur Md Mokhlesur Rahman now dreams of making Bangladesh self-sufficient in coffee production.

Being inspired by a Facebook video of successful coffee farming in the Chattogram Hill Tracts while working for a private company in Cumilla in 2015, Mokhlesur thought of trying the same on the plain lands of Taraganj upazila in northern Bangladesh.

And ultimately, Mokhlesur Rahman, now 38, began coffee farming in 2017. 

He has already made his efforts prosperous by earning a good profit from the venture and popularising its cultivation across the northern region.

All these success stories originate from the remote village of Goalbari in the Soyar union of Taraganj upazila in the Rangpur district. 

The village is located along the Taraganj-Laldighi-Badarganj road, about five kilometres south of Taraganj town.

Every day, many people visit the small coffee orchard along the roadside, which has 450 coffee trees covering only 20 decimals of the agricultural land, to enjoy the extraordinary beauty surrounding the plantation.

The visitors, including students and teachers, army officers and foreigners, enjoy the taste of the coffee Mokhlesur produces, processes, and prepares in various flavours at his 'Rangpur Coffee Club' located next to the plantation.

Despite earning a good reputation by farming coffee, marketing processed coffee and earning good profits, the only thought that is on Mokhlesur's mind is to reduce coffee imports and make Bangladesh self-sufficient in coffee production locally.

While talking to BSS at his coffee orchard in village Goalbari recently, Mokhlesur said he is the second among four sons of his parents. He has no sister.

His father Md Mahbubur Rahman, 66, retired as a teacher from nearby Bhimpur Darussunnat Dakhil Madrasa in Taraganj upazila in 2022. 

Mokhlesur's father looks after traditional crop cultivation in his seven acres of land. His mother Motahara Begum, 60, is a housewife. 

Born into a well-off family, Mokhlesur passed the Dakhil examination in 2001, Alim examination in 2003, Bachelor of Arts (BA) examination in 2010, and obtained a master's degree in political science from Carmichael College in 2014. 

Later, he joined RFL Company as a showroom executive. He was posted to the company's showrooms in Rangpur, Lalmonirhat and later Cumilla in 2015. 

Earlier, Mokhlesur enrolled in a law college in Bogura. However, due to the complications of working in a private company, he couldn't appear for the examinations to complete his law course. 

Inspired by coffee farming in 2015, Mokhlesur spent a year researching information about people who were cultivating coffee across the country. After gathering information, Mokhlesur decided to cultivate the Arabica variety of coffee. 

In late 2016, Mokhlesur collected coffee seedlings from a nursery in Cox's Bazar through his previously known nursery owner Md Abdul Quddus of Kishoreganj upazila in Nilphamari district. 

Mokhlesur made the saplings suitable for transplantation by nursing them for four months. 

"Later, in May 2017, after applying raw phosphate and potash fertilisers to the soil, seedlings were planted in 42 decimals of my previously prepared land. However, 350 seedlings died within a few days due to the applied raw fertilisers," he said.

The rest of 450 saplings grew superbly and blossomed for the first time in March 2019. 

"For the first time, I collected six kg of green coffee (coffee beans) in November 2019. But, I didn't know how to process it or how to roast and grind it to produce quality coffee," said Mokhlesur.

Then, he searched online to find the answers to all his questions. 

He also opened a Facebook page providing information about his coffee cultivation in 2019 and started getting very positive responses.

Then, he properly roasted and ground the coffee beans using available household equipment and his acquired knowledge to produce superior-quality powdered coffee.

"I approached buyers like Arabica Coffee Shop at Dhaka, Hotel Intercontinental, North End Coffee Roasters and store-based buying agencies to sell my first batch of coffee," he said.

However, he failed because he could not meet the buyers' terms and conditions and the quantity they needed.

During this period, a news story about Mokhlesur Rahman's successful coffee farming was published in a leading national newspaper in 2020 while he was working at the Dinajpur showroom of RFL Company. 

Following the news report, the RFL Company authorities did not allow him to carry out other activities while working there and asked Mokhlesur to resign, otherwise he would be fired. 

Mokhlesur then decided to continue coffee farming and resigned from his job.

Losing his job, Mokhlesur then decided to sell his processed coffee to customers and expand coffee cultivation in the area and the entire region by inspiring farmers and the public and providing coffee seedlings to them.

He continued researching online to gain knowledge about coffee production, quality improvement, the process of roasting coffee beans, coffee colour, fermentation, different flavours and coffee flavour development, and many more topics.

Meanwhile, coffee production continues to increase every year. As the demand for Mokhlesur's cultivated and processed coffee increases, so does the number of people visiting his coffee plantation. Sales of coffee seedlings also increase.

Mokhlesur's garden produced 65 kg of coffee beans in 2020, 100 kg in 2021, 90 kg in 2022 and 80 kg in 2023. 

After roasting and processing, he sold ground coffee at Tk3,800 per kg from 2022 to 2023. 

"Since 2024, I have been selling my processed coffee at Tk2,800 per kg directly to customers and also online," Mokhlesur said.

Meanwhile, inspired by Mokhlesur's success, many have already collected coffee seedlings from him and planted them in their own gardens in about 25 districts of all seven divisions across the country.

Many of the farmers of different districts sold their produced Arabica variety of raw coffee beans to Mokhlesur in 2024 at Tk8,000 per kg.

"I processed 300 kg of coffee beans in 2024, including my production and purchased from other farmers," Mokhlesur said.

"So far, I have spent Taka three lakh on my 20 decimals land coffee plantation with 450 trees and earned a net profit of Tk15 lakh," said Mokhlesur, adding that he started the venture from scratch in all respects. 

Mokhlesur will get a lower coffee production from his orchard this year as he pruned the coffee plants last year.

However, he hopes to harvest 55 kg of coffee beans from his garden this year and buy 750 kg of coffee beans from other farmers in the region who are growing the crop after receiving seedlings from him. 

He expects to earn a net profit of over Tk10 lakh from the coffee business this year. 

The profit will be doubled in 2026 when he expects to collect 1.50 tonnes of coffee beans from the farmers in the region.

"I have acquired the necessary knowledge for coffee seedling preparation, coffee plantation and cultivation, harvesting, roasting, processing, packaging and marketing, although there is no limit to learning anything," said Mokhlesur.

As a coffee farmer and entrepreneur, Mokhlesur launched the 'Rangpur Coffee Club' next to his garden in 2020, where people gather for coffee chats every day, especially in the afternoon. They also buy his processed coffee in packets there. 

He earns Tk10,000-12,000 per month by selling coffee in cups alone at his coffee club. 

He also earns good profits by selling his processed powdered coffee in packets directly from his 'Rangpur Coffee Club' and online marketing as its demand continues increasing speedily.

With coffee farming already becoming a profitable venture, Mokhlesur now wants to strengthen the agro-based economy of the Rangpur region by expanding farming coffee as a cash crop. 

If Mokhlesur gets support, he can jointly take the initiative to set up a modern coffee processing industry with the government, foreign companies and experts at Taraganj to produce high-quality coffee with different tastes and flavours. 

"If a coffee processing industry is established here, I am sure that locally produced coffee will make the country self-reliant and save huge foreign exchange and create employment to further strengthen the national economy," he added. 

Acting Additional Director of the Agricultural Extension Department of Rangpur region Md Afzal Hossain told BSS that popularising coffee and setting up modern factories with super grinding facilities will further increase its cultivation and improve the fortunes of farmers.