The misty mountains of the North of Thailand host the country's main coffee-producing area. Buoyed by growing domestic consumption, Thai arabica coffee, with its strong aroma and low caffeine content, is also attracting foreign interest. Nestled in the lush province of Chiang Mai, Hillkoff is a family business whose history spans 50 years, from commodity trading to high-quality coffee production and a unique zero-waste up-cycling model.
Naruemon Taksaudom, Hillkoff's Managing Director, was not planning on becoming an entrepreneur. She graduated in agriculture economics and marketing and became a lecturer at Payap University.
Born in Chiang Mai, she helped her parents with their trading business as a child. Her mother, Pawinee, was an artisan producing clothes and homeware, and her father, Teera, sold consumer products. She remembers that during her vacation, "we would put everything in the pickup truck and go to the mountains to sell the products to farmers living in the highlands." This experience, she said, allowed her to know and understand highland farmers.
Back then, a lot of those farmers cultivated opium poppies as a cash crop, but it was not enough to pull them out of poverty. The Thai government banned opium cultivation in 1958 and, in the following years, tried to encourage crop substitution.
Chao Thai Pu Kao Coffee - Thailand’s First Arabica Processing Plant
From Trading Consumer Goods to Coffee Production
In 1987, Teera joined the Highland Agricultural Project to become a coffee trader and agricultural promoter, encouraging and helping farmers to switch to coffee cultivation and earn a better living. He set up the Chao Thai Pu Kao Coffee plant, Thailand's first arabica processing plant, importing machinery from the United Kingdom and Germany.
The Birth of Hillkoff Specialty Coffee
Coffee Crisis Gives Company New Name, New Start
However, in 2001, in the wake of the global coffee crisis, prices tumbled down and plunged Teera's business into a financial crisis. Naruemon quit her lecturer job and flew to the rescue of the company. Teera gave her his roaster and the last batch of green coffee beans. She got to business, changing the company's name to Hillkoff, a shorter name that consumers would readily recognize, developed packaging, and went to Bangkok to promote her coffee.
"I wanted to promote the consumption of coffee in Northern Thailand," she said, adding, "there were no coffee shops, and it was very difficult to expand the market."
However, over the next five years, Naruemon managed to redress Hillkoff's financial situation. She continued refining her marketing for her premium coffee. As customers ' interest in coffee grew, she went for horizontal diversification, adding equipment to coffee and selling espresso machines for home and commercial use.
Hillkoff, now staffed with 220 people, has two processing factories, 12 retail stores in Thailand, and one in Malaysia.
Winner of the Thai National Good Governance Award for Zero Waste Coffee
Helping Farmers, Sustainability, Core of the Business
Hillkoff processes coffee grown in 50 villages from eight provinces in the North of Thailand. Over 900 households produce some 1,000 tons of coffee beans a year.
The company insists on purchasing all the beans produced by farmers, irrespective of their grade and aspects, leading to zero waste production, Naruemon explained, adding that Hillkoff trains farmers on quality development, increasing their profit, and trains people on the company's coffee equipment to open a coffee shop.
The company won the 2024 Thai National Good Governance Award.
A Logo that Tells a Story
As she rebranded the company, Naruemon also revamped the logo. She kept the original pinecone design, chosen by her father as a symbol of a robust flower, his devotion to nature, and circular economic values. She added graphic elements representing science, one of Hillkoff's core values, and sustainability.
Engaged in Coffee Waste Recycling
Hidden Treasure in Coffee Waste
In coffee production, some 50 % of the harvest is agricultural waste. Naruemon decided to explore what value-added products could be derived from that waste to reach a zero-waste up-cycling model.
Coffee beans are pits inside the red or purple fruit known as coffee cherry. Each cherry holds two pits, commonly called beans. Once the beans are extracted, the husk, the pulp, the parchment, and the silver skin are usually discarded.
Hillkoff spent a decade researching the possible use of coffee waste and developing products, taking advantage of coffee pulp's many properties and active compounds.
The company separates the pulp into edible and non-edible pulp. The edible pulp is turned into different products, such as vinegar syrup, balsamic vinegar, coffee cherry tea, and the company's latest innovation: Coffogenic drink. The non-edible pulp becomes biomass and fertilizer, provided for free to farmers working with HillKoff.
According to Naruemon, if half of the coffee pulp produced globally each year, some 7,500 million kilograms were to be recycled into useful products, "we could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 1,875 million KgeCo2" equivalent. That would translate, she said, into "caring for over 31 million trees over 10 years or reducing fossil-fuel-driven car trips around the world by 187,000 rounds."
I also wanted to share a key goal of our internal development. At HillKoff, we aim to become a zero-waste coffee factory, ensuring that every resource sourced from farmers is used to its fullest potential without creating any pollution
Coffogenic, a Functional Food Against NCDs
The inventive drink made from coffee cherry pulp comes from research conducted in several Thai universities since 2014, with researchers in several disciplines, such as medicine and food science.
Coffogenic comes from the combination of coffee and chlorogenic. Chlorogenic acid is a bioactive polyphenolic compound found in coffee beans and pulp. The potential health benefits of the compound have been researched and identified as anti-diabetic, anti-carcinogenic, and anti-inflammatory. Chlorogenic acid is also believed to protect the cardiovascular system, fight oxidative stress, and have anti-pathogen effects. Beyond chlorogenic acid, Coffogenic contains a high level of polyphenol and is low in caffeine.
Hillkoff launched Coffogenic in 2023. Further to its health benefits, the product also contributes to zero-waste coffee production and increased revenue for farmers.
Intellectual Property Brings Value
Naruemon takes the protection of her intellectual property seriously. The company has several design patents for its coffee Packaging, coffee box fold, tea packaging, rice box fold, drip coffee rotating tray, and rice box. Hillkoff also has a trademark registered nationally and internationally through the Madrid system, and a PCT patent application for Coffogenic (PCT/TH2024/050025).
Naruemon benefitted from the WIPO's IP Management Clinic Program, which helps companies effectively and strategically use their IP assets with one-on-one mentorship sessions and tailored training. The WIPO expert notably helped Hillkoff with its international trademark registration.
"We were confused about international trademark applications; we did not know how to conduct prior art searches before the training, but we were guided step by step," Naruemon said. "IP brings more value to my products; it shows their uniqueness."
Hillkoff's products are sold country-wide in supermarkets, in four service stores, online, to coffee shops, and to an international dealer in Malaysia.
The company now seeks to export its products beyond Malaysia and wants to use IP to enter licensing agreements. "In the coffee sector, companies get bigger and bigger, and we want to be part of the global business," she said.
Reducing Coffee Roasting Emissions and Product Diversification
Hillkoff relies on science to find solutions to sustainable living and up-cycling local resources. The company helped reduce smoke from roasting by switching to a wet scrubber system, allowing water to help eliminate dust and oil after coffee roasting.
In the same way, the company has been developing banana-based products, such as dried bananas dipped in espresso or green tea powder, taking advantage of the fact that bananas are commonly grown alongside coffee plants and could provide extra income for many farmers.
Naruemon said Hillkoff launched initiatives such as intercropping bananas with coffee, promoting beekeeping, cultivating Indian gooseberry (Phyllanthus emblica), and supporting other local crops. "These efforts reduce dependency on external inputs and foster a safe and sustainable agricultural system. We envision an agroforestry design and a collaborative farming ecosystem within our community," she said.
