Rangpur Coffee Club: One man's attempt to brew a coffee ecosystem

We almost missed the spot. When we noticed a group of well-dressed, tourist-looking youths taking selfies by the side of a farm, we immediately stopped. We knew we had reached our destination.

It was mid-afternoon in Soyar union in Taraganj upazila in Rangpur, and the tourists already started pouring in. 

This particular group, a starter conversation revealed, were students from Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur. They came to visit a unique coffee shop that serves coffee produced on a farm located just beside it.

The shop was launched a few months back but quickly became popular thanks to its uniqueness, coupled with the passion of the owner, Mokhlesur Rahman.

In 2017, Mokhles started an 18-decimal coffee farm with 450 coffee plants. Now fully grown, the plants produce around 130 kg of green coffee beans per annum, which are processed and sold as a drink in the shop. The entrepreneur is also promoting coffee farming and selling seedlings from his farm to other farmers.

Mokhles became interested in coffee farming when he came across a report on the burgeoning local coffee industry, especially the success of coffee farming in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Further inquiry assured him that the northwest soil, which does not get flooded, is also suitable for coffee cultivation.

Mokhles collected seedlings of high-quality Arabica coffee through Zahanara Green Agro, a Cox's Bazar-based agricultural company, which sourced it from India. He collected 800 seedlings at first, but many of those died due to lack of his experience. 

Finally, 450 seedlings survived and are now bearing fruit.

Mokhles learnt how to take care of coffee plants by watching YouTube videos of mostly Indian farmers and reading a couple of books.

In 2019, the farmer first picked coffee beans from his garden. And, for the first three years, he sold coffee beans and grounds online.

In December 2022, he started his own coffee shop beside his coffee garden. Now he keeps the beans for his shop.  Mokhles himself processes the coffee, roasts it, makes the drink and serves it to his customers. 

Surprisingly, in a culture as well as a market dominated by instant coffee, Mokhles serves his customers - mostly with rural backgrounds - espresso and americano made with a moka pot, and the taste of a strong coffee is garnering popularity there.

The student group from the university also enjoyed the visit.

"We came to know about this place through YouTube and then decided to visit. Coffee farming is not very common in this area, so it's a unique experience," Mustafizur Rahman, a student of the Department of English, told The Business Standard. "Even the coffee here tastes different from what we buy from the market," he added. 

Another student from the group, Afrin Jannat, said, "We have heard the story of coffee farming from Mokhles bhai here - how coffee is grown, how it is picked and processed - everything. Having coffee right beside a coffee farm felt absolutely different." Afrin added that she never saw a coffee farm before.

Coffee plants flower at 18-24 months of age. Coffee beans can be collected once every year in November-December. A plant produces around 300 gm of coffee. 25 plants can be planted in each decimal land, according to the farmer.

With an increasing number of coffee consumers and a growing coffee industry in the country, Mokhles could have easily sold all the beans he produced. But he had something bigger in mind.

The bigger picture 

In the last two years, Mokhles has inspired many people to start coffee farming and has managed to sell 15-16,000 coffee seedlings grown on his farm. He sells each seedling for Tk50-100. He told the farmers that he himself will buy all the coffee beans they produce.

So far, Mokhles has built a network of 57 coffee farmers spread over dozens of districts. The biggest of the farmers have planted 1,500 plants on a 60 decimal land in Manikchhari in the Khagrachhari district. Mokhles says he will buy unroasted coffee beans from them at a rate of Tk600-800 per Kg.

"I want to promote coffee culture here. I don't sell anything else in the shop, no cigarettes or betel leaf, not even snacks. People come here only for coffee," the coffee farmer told TBS.

Regarding the economic benefit of coffee cultivation, Mokhles said, "Coffee is risk-free. A farmer cannot preserve mango or lichi, but he can keep coffee in stock for a long time, thus protecting himself from market volatility."

"Another bright side of coffee farming is, it does not need pesticides like most other crops and fruits. I also only use bio-fertilisers instead of chemical ones," he added.

Although we wouldn't normally be sure about his claims, some of our suspicions withered away in the evening when two men came to visit the shop. 

At first, we thought they were coffee lovers. They did order coffee but revealed that they were from a pesticide company. The guys came to sell fungicide. However, Mokhles said he didn't need it.

When the men left, Mokhles explained to us that coffee is said to be a shade-loving plant but his farm is doing great in bright sunlight. And thanks to the direct sunlight, his plants are free from fungal attack.

Despite his success in coffee farming, why hasn't he expanded his farm? We asked.

"Because these farmers in my network are growing coffee and they will need to market their produce. I will take their beans. I'm rather focusing on the processing of the beans and promoting coffee culture," the coffee entrepreneur said. And he is confident about the future of coffee here in Bangladesh.

"Some ask, will the coffee industry face the same fate as the palm, where planters became disappointed quickly and cut all the trees in the absence of a supply chain?" Mokhles posed a question, with a quick reply, "No. I have been processing the beans and selling coffee in my shop, and I have plans to launch more shops in the district. 

Therefore, the coffee beans produced will face no problem finding a market."

"People have questioned whether coffee would grow in Bangladesh, how the taste would be, etc. My coffee shop is a place where they will find their answers," he added.

Coffee cultivation in Bangladesh began in the early 1980s, and the last decade has seen exponential growth of it, especially in the Hill Tracts and Modhupur, thanks to increasing private and public interest in the industry.

Mokhles is aware of the big players already present in the fast-growing coffee market in the country. He is cautious about losing his production chain and did not want to reveal the identity of other coffee farmers who he motivated to grow the crop.

However, after some persuasion, Mokhles took us to a village four kilometres away, where a farmer planted coffee plants on a 12 decimal land. The plants are already flowering.

The farmer, Md Shariat, actually lives and works in Dhaka. He talked to us over the phone. 

"After some research, I found that coffee is a good cash crop and more profitable than what we usually farm. I noticed that Mokhles bhai has been yielding a good harvest from his garden. Then I collected 300 plants from him and planted them," Shariat explained what motivated him, adding, "Many other farmers have bought seedlings from him like me."

We returned to the coffee shop. The sun went down but the customers kept coming. 

Russel Khan, a primary school teacher and his friend Rakibul Hasan Rabby, a professional footballer and a teacher, came riding a motorbike from Taraganj. The duo said they come here often and love the coffee.

"I think others will also be motivated by this enterprise," said Russel Khan.

"I have planned to start a coffee farm on a 12-bigha land," Rakib echoed his friend.

A cup of coffee at Mokhles's shop costs from Tk30 to Tk350. The cappuccino for an average coffee drinker costs the lowest and the price rises with the strength of the drink.