Nebilyer Honey Papua New Guinea

TRACEABILITY:

FLAVOUR NOTES:

• Mango
• Pineapple
• Orange
• Dark chocolate

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION

Country: Papua New Guinea
Region: Nebilyer Valley, Western Highlands Province 
Farm: Nebilyer Plantation
Farmer: James & Rita Leahy
Altitude: 1.350-1.550 m.a.s.l

GROWING CHARACTERISTICS

Varietal: Arusha , Bourbon, Typica
Drying: Raised Beds
Processing: Honey

MORE INFORMATION

Nebilyer Valley is known as the fruit bowl of the Western Highlands Province. The region is known for having the best pineapples, bananas and pawpaw fruit. The soil is extremely fertile and nutrient-rich. In addition to coffee, vanilla is also planted on Nebilyer plantation. Vanilla trees provide shade for coffee trees and another cash crop. Nebilyer has invested in training local farmers and encouraging them to plant vanilla, cardamom and other cash crops. They also have 21 beehives on the plantation.

Cherry is selectively handpicked by workers on the Nebilyer farm. During the harvest season, Nebilyer Plantation employs up to 80 people to help selectively pick ripe, red cherry in their fields. Once picked, cherry is floated to remove any underripes and pulped on a MacKinnon disc pulper. Parchment and remaining mucilage is laid on patios and raised beds to dry. Parchment is raked frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 8 to 12 days for parchment to dry. In 2021, Nebilyer Plantation started experimenting with raised drying beds. Seeing immediate improvements in quality, they
expanded to include 10 additional beds and are currently building more and more beds. They aim to have enough beds by 2023 to dry all coffees on raised beds.

Nebilyer’s wet mill was designed to work with the environment. A wind turbine powers the mill’s lighting and all cherry pulp is reused as fertilizer on the plantation and surrounding farms. Wastewater is treated through 3 settling ponds and a self-designed sand filtration system. James keeps frogs and fish in the last step, an open drain way, to help him monitor water quality. Finally, water filters through 300 meters of thick vegetation before being released into waterways. The water flows past the Leahy’s house to ensure “I expose myself to any risk before it goes into the main river and to the community,” James explains. To date, these methods have successfully filtered water and kept the community’s waterways safe