Third-Generation ‘Huller’ Revolution

A coffee huller left by a Dutch coffee company still stood in the middle of Arpani’s workshop in Pagar Alam. The machine became the seed that germinated the creation of modern coffee hullers today.

KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI

A welder builds a coffee bean peeling machine on Saturday (12/5/2018) at the CV Utama Karya workshop on Jl. Serma Somad in South Pagaralam district, Pagaralam, South Sumatra. In addition to CV Utama Karya, at least 19 other factories in the area also manufacture peeling machines, marketing their machines to Sumatra and Java, as well as several regions in Sulawesi and East Nusa Tenggara.

A coffee huller left by a Dutch coffee company still stood in the middle of Arpani’s workshop on Saturday (12/05/2018) in South Pagar Alam, Pagar Alam. The machine became the seed that germinated the creation of modern coffee hullers today.

The meter-long, 70-centimeter-tall machine had been left in the middle of the workshop for decades because it was broken. Several parts of the machine, which was made in 1923, were also missing, including the funnel for adding the coffee beans.

Even though it was outdated and no longer worked, this machine became the embryo for the modern coffee bean hullers the workshop produces. According to Muladto, Arpani\'s daughter-in-law who also manufactures hullers, the machine was purchased from someone in Lahat, South Sumatra. "At that time, Dad [Arpani] bought it for around Rp 2 million in poor condition. The machine was then repaired," she said.

The machine is too cumbersome in terms of its weight, weighing about 500 kilograms. It takes several people to move it. However, its capability is not to be doubted, as it can process 1 ton of coffee beans in just one hour.

In its heyday, the machine was used by a Dutch coffee company that had established several coffee plantations in Pagar Alam. Because it was very heavy and expensive, very few people could own one. According to a story recounted by Sarbin, Arpani\'s father-in-law, this particular machine was placed at a government representative office, and the farmers had to bring their harvested coffee beans there to be processed.

Sarbin learned how to operate the huller from his father, Kamid, who was a skilled mechanic of a Dutch company that had opened a plantation (onderneming) in Pagar Alam, South Sumatra. At the beginning in 1944, Mbah (grandfather) Kamid had been transferred from Surabaya, East Java, to serve as a mechanic at a tea and coffee plantation in Pagar Alam.

At that time, the Netherlands owned hundreds of hectares of coffee plantations, where they used the heavy huller to process the beans. The huller was made of iron, which had to be imported from the Netherlands, and each unit weighed about 500 kilograms.

Mbah Kamid transferred his skills to his son, Sarbin, who began modifying the machine so that it would not have to remain in one place because of its heavy weight. He conducted various trials until in 1990, Sarbin discovered a way to create a huller with lighter materials, primarily mild steel and plates. This led to the production of a basic peeling machine with a 5 horsepower (HP) capacity that weighed only about 60 kg.

The new huller could be used anywhere because it could be moved easily. "Farmers often used a huller with a capacity of 5 HP to peel dry coffee beans," said Muladto.

KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI

A worker builds parts for coffee bean peeling machines on Saturday (12/5/2018) at the CV Utama Karya workshop on Jl. Serma Somad in South Pagaralam district, Pagaralam, South Sumatra. At least 20 local factories produce the machines for domestic distribution across Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and East Nusa Tenggara.

Today, local farmers often use the peeling machines his family makes to process their coffee. Muladto also invited Kompas to take a look at coffee being processed at Talang Mengkenang village in Pajar Bulan district, Lahat regency, South Sumatra. Ten years ago, farmers in this village peeled coffee beans the traditional way, starting with shelling the coffee beans by placing the beans on the street for passing vehicles to run over them.

However, since the huller machine became available, farmers chose to own a machine themselves, placing the equipment behind their houses. Besides operating it for their own purposes, they also rented the machine to other farmers, receiving payment in kind in the form of dry coffee beans.

Richard, 40, a coffee farmer in Mengkenang village, said that after harvesting the berries and drying them for about 12 days, he usually visited a farmer who owned a peeling machine at their home. There, he peeled the dried coffee beans and paid for the service in dried beans. The peeling machine’s owner was entitled to 100 grams of coffee beans for every 14 kg of coffee beans peeled. Sometimes, the machine’s owner also charged cash for the peeling service at Rp 100 per kilogram.

A 5 HP huller can also be transported to another location on a motorcycle to peel dried coffee beans. It takes the machine only 5 minutes to peel 12 kg of dried beans, which made the post-harvest processing easier for farmers.

Using a machine called a pulper, the coffee beans can be extracted from the fruit. This technology helps farmers who want to sell their coffee products immediately. Without a pulper, the farmers will need at least two weeks to process their coffee beans for sale. “This machine is currently being assessed, but hopefully [it] can be marketed this year,” said Muladto.

These machines are being innovated because many farmers were forced to sell wet coffee beans because of pressing financial needs or unfavorable weather conditions. "Sometimes they just [dry] the beans for two to five days, then sell them quickly because they need the money. In such situations, a pulper may be of interest to farmers,” said Muladto.

Amid the current enthusiasm to boost Nusantara (archipelago) coffee production, local manufacturers of hullers and other post-harvest coffee machines would be a capital asset in developing the commodity in a particular region.

The peeling machines will help farmers greatly in post-harvest processing so they can achieve better, optimal results.

"All parties should thus be encouraged to continue to innovate in order to provide convenience and added value for coffee in line with market development," said South Sumatra Coffee Council chairman Zain Ismed.