By Zaki Salleh
IPOH: More job opportunities can be explored within Perak’s coffee industry, particularly along the production chain, especially at the coffee bean processing stage.
This follows the initiative by the Perak Department of Agriculture to develop a new model, including providing incentives to several local entrepreneurs who act as mid-level processors within the production chain.
Perak State Agriculture Department Director, Ts. Norsiyenti Othman, said that currently, the coffee industry in Perak is still facing gaps due to a shortage of farm labour and high labour costs.
She said this situation has caused many local coffee producers to continue sourcing processed green coffee beans from abroad, which in turn affects the market for local coffee crops.
“This gap has resulted in many growers planting coffee but not harvesting their own crops.
Therefore, since last year, we have begun developing a new model to address this issue.
As the industry grows, it will indirectly create more employment opportunities while reducing dependency on imported green coffee beans from outside Perak,” she said in a statement.
She was speaking at the 2025 Perak State Department of Agriculture Coffee Seminar, held at a hotel here.
The seminar aimed to discuss the latest developments in the coffee industry and Perak’s potential to become a hub for local coffee production.
According to Norsiyenti, Perak has recorded a production of 235 tonnes of Liberica coffee this year, with a market value of RM1.76 million.
The five main coffee-growing districts are Hulu Perak, Larut, Matang and Selama, Kuala Kangsar, Batang Padang, and Bagan Datuk.
“The coffee industry development programme will continue to be intensified over the next five years to produce more local coffee growers and bean buyers,” she added.
