Trade and Investment Bulletin Volume VI, May 2017 | Page 7

Number I | September 2016
Domestic Production, Export, and Consumption of
Indonesian Coffee
Indonesia is the world's top coffee
producing and exporting countries. Most
of the production constitutes the Robusta
type. Indonesia is also famous for having
a number of specialty coffees such as
'Kopi Luwak' (known as the world most
expensive coffee) and 'Kopi Mandailing'.
Among agricultural commodities, coffee
is Indonesia's fourth-largest foreign
exchange earner after palm oil, rubber,
and cocoa.
Coffee was introduced to the archipelago
by the Dutch who initially planted coffee
trees around their stronghold of Batavia
but quickly expanded to Bogor and
Sukabumi regions in West Java in the
17th and 18th century. Indonesia proved
to have a nearly ideal climate for coffee
production; hence plantations were soon
established in other parts of Java and on
the islands of Sumatra and Sulawesi.
Today, Indonesia's coffee plantations
cover a total area of approximately 1.24
million hectares, 933 hectares of Robusta
plantations and 307 hectares of Arabica
plantations. More than 90 percent of
total plantations are cultivated by small-
scale growers.
Indonesia coffee export to the US grew by
37.9% in the period of 2014-2016,
reaching USD 25.48 million in 2016.
One successful story of a small-scale
grower is the KOPEPI Ketiara Cooperative.
Located in the Gayo Highlands of
Sumatra, the KOPEPI Ketiara Cooperative
cultivates coffee at elevations between
900 and 1700 meters above sea level.
The area's soil is suitable for the
production of Arabica coffee and these
plants have grown in the region since
1908 and are now recognized globally for
their rich flavor and strong body. The
cooperative uses the wet-hulled or semi-
washed processing method and applies
Good Agricultural Practices (GAP).
The Koperasi Pedagang Kopi Ketiara is a
women-run cooperative with over 890
grower-members who cultivate coffee on
more than 830 hectares of land. The
cooperative produces 100% shade-grown
Arabica coffee. Member farmers are
located around the Lut Tawar Lake in the
Gayo Highlands in the district of
Takengon and Bener Meriah, Central
Aceh. The area is a mountainous, tropical
forest within the Leuser Ecosystem.
Indonesian Coffee Production & Export:
2008
2009
2010
Production
698,016
682,690
686,921
(in tons)
Export
491,335
518,122
440,241
(in tons)
Export
1.08
0.88
0.86
(in bln USD)
The current chairwoman, Ibu Rahmah,
founded the cooperative in 2008 and has
also operated and managed her family's
coffee business for 20 years - purchasing
cherries, processing the green coffee and
selling to local traders. The commitment
of the coop's women managers to have
all members working together in support
of coffee production has enabled Ketiara
to expand and become a major player as
a coffee exporter to US, Europe, Japan,
Australia, and Asia
Photo: Chairwoman, Ibu Rahmah picking
Coffee with other women.
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016¹
633,991 748,109 740,000 711,513 550,000 650,000
353,698 520,275 460,000 382,774 350,000 400,000
1.09 1.53 n.a. 1.03 1.19 1.36
¹ indicates forecast
Source: Asosiasi Eksportir dan Industri Kopi Indonesia (AEKI)
Number VI / May 2017 | Trade & Investment Bulletin
7