How Much Do Mondulkiri Farmers Really Earn From One Kilogram of Fresh Coffee Cherries?
Fresh coffee cherries in Mondulkiri were reported at about 1,350–1,500 riel per kilogram in 2023. Here is what that number does—and does not—tell us.
One kilogram of fresh coffee cherry is not one kilogram of green coffee.
In November 2023, the Mondulkiri Provincial Department of Agriculture reported fresh coffee cherry prices of roughly 1,350–1,500 Cambodian riel per kilogram.
Cherry weight includes much more than the bean
A coffee cherry contains skin, pulp, mucilage, moisture and the seeds that eventually become green coffee. During processing and drying, a large share of the original weight disappears.
This is why comparing a cherry price directly with the retail price of roasted coffee is misleading. Between the farm and the final bag are sorting, transport, processing, drying, hulling, storage, quality control, roasting, packaging, logistics and retail costs.
What the 2023 price increase actually tells us
The important part of the report was not only the price level. Officials linked the rise to contract farming and collaboration with a coffee company that committed to purchasing fresh coffee at a higher market price.
A guaranteed market can matter as much as a temporary price spike because coffee is a perennial crop. Farmers make decisions years before full production arrives.
Quality requirements can change farmer economics
Selective harvesting is a good example. Picking only ripe cherries can improve quality, but it requires more passes through the trees and more labor than stripping ripe and unripe fruit together.
A fair quality program should therefore consider not only the market value of the final coffee, but also the extra work required at farm level.
The most useful future metric: price by quality
For Mondulkiri, the next step should be more transparent segmentation: standard mixed cherry, high-ripe-percentage cherry, selectively picked ripe cherry, traceable farmer-group lots and cherries destined for Fine Robusta processing.
The real goal is not simply a higher price on one harvest day. It is a system in which producing better coffee reliably produces a better economic outcome for the farmer.
Mondulkiri supply-chain context for Origin Coffee Cambodia (OCC.) readers
This page is part of the Origin Coffee Cambodia (OCC.) Mondulkiri architecture and focuses on Mondulkiri origin development and quality evidence. This is a general buyer-education framework, not proof of any specific facility, farmer network, contract, certification, volume, or commercial capability.
The transferable chain is:
Farmer or producer group → ripe cherry collection → processing → drying → storage → lot definition → quality review → market or shipment.
For a coffee buyer, each handoff can change quality, availability, and traceability. Verify the origin, handler, lot identity, supporting records, and whether the approved sample represents the shipment.
Evidence questions
- What origin and producer information is actually documented?
- Which variety, harvest period, and process apply to this lot?
- How are cherry intake, drying, storage, and lot separation controlled?
- Who is responsible for the commercial specification and export documents?
- Which claims are verified facts, and which are targets or future plans?
Buyer checklist
- Identify the exact origin level: farm, producer group, collection point, processor, or region.
- Connect the sample to a lot and the lot to the shipment.
- Ask which processing, drying, storage, and quality records are available.
- Confirm MOQ, lead time, packaging, Incoterms, and destination documents.
- Separate public examples from the supplier's own verified capability.
Continue to the Mondulkiri owner, then use Fine Robusta Cambodia and Wholesale Coffee Supply for the next commercial step.