The Brisbane Tongan Community (BTC) are passionate about promoting the importation of Tongan goods and produce to build a stronger Tongan economy as well as sharing organically grown products with the Australian market.
23 February 2019 | Sulieni Layt of Pasifika Media & Public Officer of BTC
Brisbane, AUSTRALIA: This month members of the Brisbane Tongan Community (BTC) conducted a site visit to the Kingdom of Tonga and purchased samples of Tongan coffee from two local producers - Tupu‘anga coffee and Kingdom Koffie.
The purchase included samples in a mixture of ground, beans and Vanilla ground varieties with view to donate these samples to selected Brisbane coffee shops looking for something unique to try as a point of difference.
In an effort to promote the amazing taste of Tongan coffee, BTC shared some ‘ofa (love) by donating samples of Tupu‘anga Coffee from Affirming Works NZ Ltd to local Tongan coffee shop – ‘Umu Kitchen in Tarragindi.
“I tried the Vanilla flavoured Tongan coffee and it was a delicious and tasted unique,” said ‘Umu Kitchen co-owner and Australian-born, Emily.
'Umu Kitchen is located at 8 Denham Terrace, Tarragindi, co-owned by Soane (Tongan born) and Emily. Check them out on Facebook or on their website.
“I tried the Vanilla flavoured Tongan coffee and it was a delicious and tasted unique,” said ‘Umu Kitchen co-owner and Australian-born, Emily. Emily added, “the vanilla beans were ground together with the coffee, as opposed to be added as a flavouring.”
The next sample of Tongan coffee is expected to be donated to L&L Cafe at Hillcrest on Brisbane’s Southside.
According to the Affirming Works NZ Ltd (AW) website, Tongan coffee is grown, harvested and produced in the Kingdom of Tonga, and provides sustainability to families and communities living there. The profits of the business are reinvested in to the delivery of AW programmes, providing mentoring to around 400 children and their families each year.
BTC has established networks with NGOs on the ground in the Island Kingdom and are always open to Brisbane businesses wishing to import Tongan products and supplies.
For more information, please send an email to brisbanetongancommunity@gmail.com