During the past months of involvement with agencies dealing with the
Rohingya crisis, JMD has not been idle in Aceh.
As thouse of you know who have been following this blog, JMD’s work
started in Aceh Jaya district right after the 2004 tsunami, and we still have
offices in Lamno subdistrict, where for four years we’ve been trying to assist
the 400-plantation Robusta coffee farming community, which was devastated by
the 30-year conflict and has yet to recover.
This region of Aceh, and in fact of Indonesia, is home to some of the
best Robusta coffee in the world, and prior to the plantations’
near-destruction was known as THE best coffee in Indonesia. Robusta is used in espresso, blends, and
instant coffee. It is the coffee most
widely used in Asia and Indonesia, while the west favors the milder Arabica
blends. Traders the world over are
moaning about the lack of high-quality Robusta—necessary for really good
espresso. Italy, in particular,
collectively weeps at the dearth.
One reason, we believe, that Robusta is given such a tiny berth on the ship
of coffee commodities is that until now, no universal quality standards have
been developed for its production, evaluation, and marketing. Imagine our delight, then, to receive the
gracious assistance of the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), which itself developed
Arabica standards and is now embarking on the equally challenging task of
creating a world market for Robusta.
To make a long story short, one of the ways that CQI is helping us refine
our successful Arabical production peer education training is by submitting
beans from this year’s harvest for evaluation at the Indonesia Specialty Coffee
Association’s Coffee Auction in Surabaya from the 12-14th. That’s tomorrow—or rather today in Indonesia. Unfortunately, the larger cupping competition
and conference was cancelled due to the keynote speaker’s inability to attend,
but the auction segment of the program promises to be very useful to all
attendees. When we find out if these
beans have the potential to be high enough quality to merit an investment in
reclaiming these plantations, we’ll start submitting proposals to agencies
including USAID for basic assistance to get production back to where it was
pre-conflict. Our goal for the 400 Lamno (Aceh Jaya) farmers is to
return Robusta production from 50 tons to 500 tons per year, which would raise
the local economy’s revenue from $130,000 to $1,300,000 per year—from coffee
alone. If that works, we can expand northward in the district where additional
5,000 Robusta coffee farmers need
assistance. With some economy of scale re-established in Aceh , Robusta can
begin to be treated like the future “It-Commodity” that we know it is destined
to be.
I’ll
keep you posted, but do look in on the folks at SCAI, as well as CQI—both great
groups whose aim is to improve the standard of living of people producing
global commodities.
Specialty Coffee Association of Indonesia
Plaza
Aminta Lt. 3 Suite 302, Jl. TB Simatupang Kav. 10
Jakarta,
12310 Indonesia, Tel: +62-21-7511941 ;
Fax: +62-21-7511411 ; Email: Info.scaindo@gmail.com
Coffee Quality Institute
Long Beach, CA
http://www.coffeeinstitute.org
SCHEDULE
Date
|
Time
|
Activities
|
PIC
|
30
September 2012
|
10am
-11.30am
|
Press
Conference ISCA 2012,
Jakarta
|
SCAI
|
12 October 2012
|
2pm -3.30pm
|
Press Conference ISCA 2012,
Surabaya
|
SCAI
|
12 October 2012
|
8am-5pm
|
Roasting Class
|
Manuel Diaz from Coffee Quality Institute 9Master Roasting and
Q/R Grader Instructor)
|
13 October 2012
|
9am onwards
|
Judging 30 coffee samples for auction
|
National and International judges
|
14 October 2012
|
9am-10am
|
Registration
|
SCAI
|
10am
|
Opening Ceremony
|
Vice minister of Agriculture (TBD)
|
10am – 12am
|
Cupping buyers
|
SCAI
|
12am
|
LUNCH BREAK
|
|
1pm – 5 pm
|
Auction
|
SCAI
|
15 October 2012
|
7am – 5pm
|
Visit Plantation in Kaliwining,Jember-East Java
|
SCAI
|
16 October 2012
|
8am-11am
|
Visit Indonesia Coffee and Cacao Research Institute
|
SCAI
|
12am
|
LUNCH BREAK
|
1pm – 4pm
|
Heading to Kalisat Jampit area
|
17 October 2012
|
9am-11am
|
Visit coffee plantation own by PTPN XII
|
SCAI
|
12am
|
LUNCH BREAK
|
1pm – 9pm
|
Return to Surabaya
|
