Turn On the Upstream-Downstream Dialogue

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Visitors take turns visiting participants\' booths at the Nusantara Coffee Festival at Bentara Budaya Jakarta, Jakarta, Sunday (22/7/2018).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The Nusantara Coffee Festival, which was held from Friday to Sunday (19-22/7/2018), served as a meeting place for farmers, market participants and decision-makers. The dialogue was expected to bridge the various interests and issues in the upstream up to downstream in the world of coffee.

"We not only acquired new markets and new knowledge but also found solutions to problems, including capital sources, through the dialogue that took place during this festival. Dialogue like this should be encouraged continuously," said Eko Suratno, a coffee farmer from Malang regency, East Java, Sunday.

This festival involved farmers and coffee processors from Aceh, North Sumatra, Jambi, Lampung, East Java, Flores, Sumba and Papua. They brought excellent products to be exhibited, tested and marketed at the festival. Within four days, about 1.5 tons of coffee from 24 farmer outlets was sold out. Transactions were worth more than Rp 1 billion.

Several types of unique and rare coffee ran out on the second day, including coffee that had gone through fermented wine processing, single seed coffee, Liberica coffee and Arabica coffee of typical variety. Stalls that could maintain their coffee supplies brought the coffee to the festival in various ways, such as sending by train, plane, taking coffee from agents, and to absorb coffee at their colleagues\' shops. Several of them applied online reservations due to limited delivery time.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Participants take part in a “cupping” competition at the Coffee Nusantara Festival in Bentara Budaya Jakarta, Jakarta, Sunday (22/7/2018). Coffee-tasting skills have become part of the expertise, which is becoming increasingly popular.

An unidentified farmer from Dampit, Malang, for example, had run out of stocks on the third day. They finally served the bookings via online. "We also got an order for 1 ton of green coffee beans from a coffee company. This is our new market. So far we’ve produced 7 tons of coffee," he said.

Up for grabs

Farmers of the 0741 group from Jambi, who carried 300 kilograms of coffee, also ran out of coffee. There was high demand for the Liberica coffee in their stores. Robusta fruit-scented coffee grown at an altitude of 1,200 meters above sea level was also up for grabs. Robusta coffee from Sumba Barat Daya ran out on the first day. There was high demand for this Robusta coffee type due to the chocolaty scent.

Various equipment for the brewing coffee was sought. At Gudel Kopi outlet from Pasuruan, coffee filters from bamboo became one of the buyers\' favorites.

Darwin Jasmin, owner of Segar Harum stall from Binjai said sellers at the festival not only pursued transactions but also promoted and introduced coffee products. "The important thing for us is to expand the market. We sold coffee with a discount of up to 30 percent so people would try our coffee. We also prepared testers to help buyers recognize the differences in coffee flavors. If they like the taste, they will definitely come back. Here, we were forced to increase our stocks several times," he said.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Visitors take turns visiting participants\' booths at the Nusantara Coffee Festival at Bentara Budaya Jakarta, Jakarta, Sunday (22/7/2018).

Farmers could also study the tastes of the market. "There were many who liked the civet coffee," said Didik of Kayu Mas Coffee Shop from Situbondo, East Java. Dina Chaliq, a visitor from Jakarta, attended the festival to learn more about Indonesian coffee. Dina plans to open a cafe in Europe. Coffee beans, according to Dina’s plan, will supplied from Indonesia.

Meeting point

In the festival, farmers, entrepreneurs, banks, government, and research institutions were able to meet. The Industry Ministry, for example, helped farmers by providing equipment subsidies. Banks also gave information on 7 percent interest credit for coffee industry players. The interest would be lowered again to 3 percent.

In the upstream, the Coffee and Cocoa Research Center helps farmers obtain certified seeds, and the same thing is carried out by the Agriculture Ministry. The industry gives farmers the opportunity to supply their produce to their factories.

Knowledge about post-harvest coffee management was also disseminated in dialogue with farmers and coffee industry players. Johny Rahardi, owner and founder of Uncle John coffee machine, in a discussion entitled "Technology in the Coffee Industry" on Sunday afternoon, shared his knowledge to enable farmers to get good coffee beans after harvests. "The water content should be kept no more than 12 percent. Of that number, coffee can be stored for a long time. If the water content is 15 percent, fleas can lay eggs and hatch on the beans and the coffee will be broken up. Less than that, the aroma of coffee can lessen," he said.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

A discussion on "Technology in Coffee Industry" is held in the Coffee Nusantara Festival at Bentara Budaya Jakarta, Jakarta, Sunday (22/7/2018). The discussion presented speakers, among others, Director of PT Santos Jaya Abadi Adi Haryono (left), representative of Anomaly Coffee Ryo Limijaya (second from left), coffee lover Mirza Luqman Effendy (center), founder of "Uncle John" roasted coffee business Johny Rahadi (second from right), and moderator Lucky Pransiska (right).

Adi Haryono, director of PT Santos Jaya Abadi, ensured that his company bought coffee from farmers. Mirza Luqman Effendy, founder and CEO of Brewphobia Coffee, and Ryo Saputra Limijaya, head of sales and marketing of Anomali Coffee, said the coffee industry continued to gain market opportunities because the number of coffee drinkers had not decreased. However, downstream industry players should be smart enough to catch the market taste.

There are a number of issues that need to be solved. One of them is improvement in the upstream sector. Thus far, coffee production in smallholder plantations is still low, averaging 700 kg per hectare. In a number of places, like Papua, it is even lower. There is still work to do in post-harvest handling.

(NIT/ITA)