Coffee has held a prominent place in Sri Lanka’s agricultural landscape during the early 19th century. In 1869, the industry faced a devastating blow when Coffee Leaf Rust swept through plantations, decimating crops and bringing production to a near standstill. Over a century later, Sri Lankan coffee is making a remarkable comeback. While still considered a nascent sector, specialty coffee offers Sri Lanka a significant opportunity to diversify the country’s export portfolio, while also developing smallholder farmer livelihoods. Australia has a been longstanding supporter of the specialty coffee industry and worked with multiple private and public sector partners and since 2017 through Market Development Facility (MDF) began to unlock the potential of this emerging sector. MDF began to collaborate with a range of partners — from coffee companies and processors to plantations and nurseries — to build a stronger, more resilient specialty coffee ecosystem

MDF’s collaborative efforts with its partners began to focus on identifying key opportunities and addressing critical challenges across the coffee supply chain. This resulted in an increase in quality production, marking a significant step towards achieving international specialty coffee standards. Today Australian investments in the coffee sector through MDF, has benefitted over 2,407 smallholder coffee farmers, many of whom are women, and supported coffee sector partners to generate additional business revenue totalling LKR 280,202,502.

To chronicle the transformation of Sri Lanka’s specialty coffee sector, MDF developed the powerful From Bean to Cup: The Journey of Specialty Coffee documentary. The story takes viewers through the sector’s revival, featuring coffee farmers, roasters, processors and government and explores the rich and evolving story of Sri Lanka’s specialty coffee sector. To bring to life the untold stories in the sector, a spinoff series, Beyond the Bean – The Voices of Sri Lankan coffee, was also created to put the spotlight on the farmers, entrepreneurs and innovators redefining coffee in Sri Lanka.

To share these stories with the coffee industry and key related stakeholders, MDF held an exclusive screening and networking event at newly reimagined heritage property Radicle Gallery (sister café to Seed and Grind) on 27June 2025 to demonstrate the work Australia’s MDF has been conducting in the coffee industry since 2017.

The screening was accompanied by a curated gallery experience that took attendees through the revival of the Sri Lankan coffee industry and MDF partners’ innovations. The gallery also included screening booths featuring human impact stories. Despite its re-emergence, not many in Sri Lanka or outside the country are aware of Sri Lankan-grown specialty coffee and the aim of the event was to tell a story through the voices of those driving its growth by looking at how the Sri Lankan specialty coffee sector has since revived and expanded, following the adoption of MDF-supported innovations across the coffee value chain.

This evening brought together key stakeholders from the private sector and government, as well as potential investors—including startups, roasters, processors, plantations and financial institutions—to explore the growing business incentive for scaling specialty coffee in Sri Lanka. The key attendees included Paul Stephens, Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka; Binesh Panwala, CEO of Kahawatte Plantations PLC: Johaan Rodrigo, CEO of Horana Plantations PLC; Mustafa Jafferjee, Chairman of Advocata; Romani De Silva, Deputy Chairman/MD of Alliance Finance PLC; Jayanthi Dharmasena, Managing Director of Hayleys Agriculture; Shiraz Akbarally, Chairman of Colombo Coffee Company and Executive Director of Akbar Brothers; Chalinda Abeykoon, Managing Partner of nVentures; Kapila Ariyaratne, CEO of SDB Bank; Thilan Wijesinghe, Chairman of TWCorp, and many others. The evening featured remarks from H.E. Paul Stephens, Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, who reaffirmed Australia’s continued support in unlocking opportunities across the coffee sector. Binesh Panwala, CEO of Kahawatte Plantations PLC, spoke on the growing interest of large-scale plantations and the future export potential of locally grown specialty coffee. The evening concluded with reflections by Deshan Wickremasinghe, Country Team Coordinator of MDF Sri Lanka, who also shared an overview on the current landscape and what lies ahead for the industry.

The event was held in the leadup to the Sri Lanka Coffee Festival which is scheduled for 8 and 9 July. The festival, now in its fourth-consecutive year, will continue to be supported by Australia but will be led jointly by MDF Partner Lanka Coffee Association and the Department of Export Agriculture, highlighting the Government of Sri Lanka’s commitment to the sector.

The gallery was also opened to the public on 28 June, drawing in over 200 coffee enthusiasts who explored the story of Sri Lankan coffee through film, visuals and immersive exhibits. The two-day coffee gallery experience was a first of its kind and provided attendees with an open forum to engage on current trends, strengthening investment prospects and identifying pathways for the future of Sri Lankan coffee.