A leading importer and distributor of green bean coffee in Japan is working to develop a canned brand of Papua New Guinea coffee for the Japanese market.
The Post Courier newspaper reports the Kanematsu Corporation Assistant Manager for Beverage Ingredients, Yajuro Takei, visited the Coffee Industry Corporation Limited's head office in Goroka recently.
Mr Takei said the Kanematsu Corporation has already registered the name, "Tropical Mountain" as the trademark for the canned PNG coffee.
According to trade statistics data by Japan's Ministry of Trade and Economy, PNG is ranked the eighth among other coffee suppliers to Japan but this move is expected to raise PNG's ranking to sixth.
