Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/491359
52 STiR tea & coffee industry international These are farmers are from many of Indonesia's 300 ethnic groups and speak hun- dreds of different languages and dialects: Malays, Bataks, Javanese, Sudanese, Madu- rese and Bugis, Balinese, Betawis, Gayos and aboriginal Papuans. "The toughest nut to crack in this business (buying green coffee) is to make the right contacts and to get down to the local level where there's potential for a direct relationship with the producer," said Batdorf & Bronson's Benck. Coffee industry organization To reach the coffee market most rural coffee farmers sell their cherries to coffee col- lectors, known as "coyotes" or "tookays," (lizards), who go from farm-to-farm picking up green coffee, which is sold to other intermediaries or to coffee brokers and export- ers. Each player in the supply chain takes a piece of the pie, the largest going to the coffee roaster and retailer. Small holders are at the bottom of the supply/value chain. They are also "out of the loop" when it comes to understanding and interacting with the market. An Indonesian coffee farmer can make a living when demand and prices are high, but they are dependent on middlemen. To increase their power and influence, farmers are turning to co-operatives and eliminating the private intermediaries. Through these democratic organizations, farmers can access buyers at the upper end of the supply chain, better understand market requirements and end up with a fairer share of profits. U.S. funded KBQB (Koperasi Baitul Qiradh Baburrayyan) founded in 1995, is a large co-op in Aceh Province with 8,000 farmer-members from the coffee-growing regions around Lake Tawar, central Aceh. Members democratically elect coffee collectors who are responsible to them. The organization provides coffee seedlings, farm machinery, micro loans and training to farmers. It owns a coffee processing plant in Takengong , north Sumatra, and packing facilities in Medan, Sumatra's capital. Their coffee is both certified organic and fair trade. AMARTA, another U.S. funded group, acts as an agricultural marketing group, facilitating communication between coffee farmers, exporters and consumers. It set up "farmer unions," clusters of co-ops which act as coffee processors and brokers. These groups emphasize cupping and evaluation. "It's about cup quality" Many small coffee processors in Sumatra, Sulawesi, Flores and Papua use the wet- hulling (aka wet natural) process rather than the more modern fully-washed process. Full washed coffee is more hi-tech, more labor intensive and uses a lot more water. [Wet-hull coffee requires 6 cubic meters of water per metric ton vs. fully- washed processing which requires 15 cubic meters of water per metric ton.] These are highly relevant statistics where water is scarce. In fully-washed coffee, the cherry is washed free of all layers clinging to the bean with the exception of the parch- ment. It is then dried to 12% moisture. In wet-hulling, the cherry is de- pulped, but the mucilage is left adhering to the parchment bean. The mucilage- covered bean is stored for a day or two, then washed and sun-dried to between 30 and 35% moisture level. It is sold as is (not fully dried) to a secondary proces- sor who removes the parchment layer at the time of sale. At this stage the bean is a unique blue-green in color and asym- metrical in shape. "One of the critical aspects of cof- fee processing in Indonesia is sun-drying. BUYER BEWARE! Kopi Luwak ("cat poop coffee") Buyers beware. Some coffee growers state or certify that their cats are treated humanely. However, a BBC investigative team found that the animals were kept in wire cages with cement floors and fed a diet limited to coffee fruit. Encroachment coffee The WWF has reported that coffee grown inside a wildlife reserve in south- ern Sumatra was shipped illegally by exporters to western markets. These two troubling accounts suggest all conscientious consumers should check the provenance of coffees and other products that end up in the shopping cart.