The first specialty coffee shop in Nepal was established in 1999. Today that shop, Himalayan Java, is a household name in the country. Although tea has historically been an integral part of Nepalese social life, local thirst for coffee continues to grow and international demand for Nepalese coffee is steadily rising. But there’s still untapped potential to grow more.

Helvetas, which has worked in Nepal since 1956, played an integral role in the systemic development of Nepal’s coffee sector over the last three decades. This entailed support for production, processing, marketing and policy development. These building blocks led to designing and embedding the appropriate systems and approaches at local, regional and national levels that have allowed coffee to flourish in both the domestic and international marketplace.

Two of Nepal’s foremost coffee experts, Bhola Shrestha and Dr. Badri Bastakoti, worked with Helvetas over many years to help establish and grow the industry. Below, they share perspectives on the key approach for uniting the coffee farming community, creating and adapting systems to make coffee a commercial crop, and the shifts they’ve seen in coffee consumption over the years.