The coffee that Charlestrong Coffee Company Limited will buy in Timor-Leste will be processed in Macau, the chairman of Charlestrong Engineering Technology and Consulting (Macau) Ltd told Macauhub in Shanghai.

Charles Shi was speaking on the sidelines of a presentation on the MacauService Platform for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, on Wednesday in Shanghai, organised during the 2nd International China Imports Exhibition during which the Charlestrong Coffee Company Limited signed an agreement with Timor Global for the purchase of Timorese coffee.

The group’s chairman said production would initially be small and focused on the Macau market, with the roasting unit capable of processing 300 tonnes of coffee per year, after which the focus will turn to the mainland market.

The aim, he said, is to reach an annual processing capacity of 10,000 tonnes of entirely Timorese production.

Timor-Leste’s production has been around 6,000 to 7,000 tonnes of coffee in recent years because producers have not found a market, but Shi believes his project will expand local production.

“We want to see the possibility of becoming the only buyer of Timorese coffee, buying all the production (…) Timor-Leste’s coffee is organic and of very good quality, it just needs someone to promote it,” he told Macauhub.

Given the ambitious goal of production and sale in mainland China, the group said it may install a roasting unit in Chongqing City in the future.