Other villagers knew no better than selling their coffee beans to middlemen who delivered the produce to factories, Mr Somsak said. Mr Somsak remembered that at one point the coffee beans changed hands for 13 baht a kilo at the factory. Mr Somsak said the villagers then set up a coffee bean processing factory of their own so they would not be enslaved to middlemen. What began as a rule of thumb gave Mr Somsak the precious lesson he needed to perfect coffee bean roasting using locally available resources. He has been producing his roasted coffee beans for several years, and his success is such that today brokers contact him to buy their supplies.

Source: Bangkok Post November 18, 2016 23:55 UTC