Holistic management approach to local coffee entrepreneur in northern Thailand

In the current year, the agricultural business is adopting a holistic management technique, using the concept to build through the ecosystem and the supply chain of the product. This approach studies the upstream, midstream and downstream of the product platform. In the case of coffee, it starts with coffee farmers, coffee processing manufacturer, and coffee wholesalers or retailers. By collecting data from the Doi Chang coffee farmer community, which is an arable area on a plateau in northern Thailand. For the development of Arabica coffee growing potential, the situation of entrepreneurs will be surveyed and analyzed through economic analysis. Focus on the methods they use to process coffee cherries into coffee beans. For downstream, market studies and economic assessments will be used to suggest potential strategies that can enhance and create value for these entrepreneurial products. This research aimed to address common challenges in the manufacturing industry, simplify the technology adoption process and improve coffee sales and marketing. The research methodology is a mixed method and based on participatory research techniques. During the study, the following holistic management models are applied: 1) the management paradigm shift and study visit; 2) Developing transformational leadership strategies and 3) Organizing activities to develop methods of processing coffee into value- added products. In upstream management, land improvement, strengthen local community’s engagement, as well as promoting organic agriculture farming are evaluated. Then, a training program is organized to educate farmers about coffee in the highland fields and the processing of value-added coffee products from coffee by-products. For midstream applications, a holistic management approach will encourage manufacturers to improve the efficiency of the coffee drying process, as well as to control the quality of dry coffee beans using solar dry dome. The study found that the improvement of the good drying technique would make the dry coffee mold free and not destroy the essential substances in the coffee beans. In addition, the new drying process is able to save electricity with an annual production capacity of 4.8 tons, which is 1.5 times higher than the previous method. With this new approach, the payback period of the solar dome is only one season of cherry harvesting period. In downstream, development approaches encourage entrepreneurs to understand various marketing strategies. That can increase the market potential of their new products. Additionally, future development will include supply chain collaboration and management in order to further expand their business platform and develop sustainable growth to the entrepreneur.