The Jubilance of the Third Wave

The third wave of coffee, a term popularized around 16 years ago, is celebrated jubilantly in West Java, where the coffee business is about not only its various flavors but also the creativity in its processing.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

A staffer roasts coffee beans on Tuesday (23/1/2018) at Kopi Koneng Garut in Cikandang village, Cikajang, Garut, West Java, which is owned by the Karya Mandiri Cooperative. Kopi Koneng Garut is rare Arabica variety that grows only in Cikandang.

The third wave of coffee, a term popularized by United States coffee roaster Trish Rothgeb around 16 years ago, is celebrated jubilantly in West Java, where the coffee business is about not only its various flavors but also the creativity in its processing.

Thanks to their own perseverance, local coffee farmers can export their coffee harvest independently nowadays. Coffee shops selling self-produced beans are blossoming, and visionary cooperatives and farmers’ groups are mushrooming.

Such strong persistence was evident amid uncertain weather in the changing of the seasons in Pangalengan district, Bandung regency, earlier this year. Ten employees were working hard at the coffee processing facility owned by Pangalengan coffee farmer Wildan Mustofa.

“We will send 9 tons of Friensa variant coffee to the United Kingdom. It is crossbred from several arabica varieties in my own plantation in Mount Halu, Bandung,” he said.

Wildan treats the Friensa coffee beans as if they were his babies. They were stored in sacks made of smooth fabric instead of burlap. He checked every inch of the trucks that transported his coffee to Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok harbor. The flooring inside the container was covered with wooden boards and tarp to prevent damage during transport.

“My relationship with customers is like a marriage. You need to serve one another and maintain it at whatever cost,” Wildan said. Trust, especially from foreign customers, does not occur instantly. In the past seven years, he has learned everything about coffee — practically from scratch. He learns about plantation management in the upstream and business management in the downstream.

He also often challenges himself by participating in coffee-tasting events in foreign countries using his own money. He establishes his relationship with foreign customers this way. “I want to be involved in the rise of West Java coffee by providing the best coffee beans to the world,” he said.

Wildan is not alone. Farmers in Cikandang, Garut, nurture their coffee plants with love. This year, the farmers have exported 42 tons of their yellow-colored Arabica coffee cherries to South Korea. “South Koreans came here for coffee tasting. Our mainstay koneng coffee got a score of 86.97,” said local farmer Uloh Sutarman.

Such success was inseparable from the farmers’ wish to build the future of their coffee through the Karya Mandiri cooperative, established six years ago. Now, the cooperative has 223 members and manages between 500 and 2,000 coffee plants.

They have agreed to establish a one-channel selling point. Price wars between farmers for instant profit no longer exist. The farmers’ willingness to unionize has led to a funding cooperation with a national bank. “Once the farmers fulfill their household needs and enjoy better harvest prices, they can be more focused on producing the best coffee possible,” he said.

The spirit of coffee development is also blossoming in the Gambung plantation in Mekarsari village, Bandung regency, one of the oldest coffee plantations in Java, which can trace its history back to the 1700s. Local coffee’s golden era faded in the 1870s. Nowadays, locals are trying to jumpstart the coffee business once more amid vast tea plantations.

Through Mekarsari village’s Forest Community Body (LMDH), farmers learn how to cultivate, harvest and wash coffee properly. A number of post-harvest tools can be used together to improve the quality of coffee beans. Javanero, a private company focusing on coffee business development, works with the farmers.

LMDH Mekarsari secretary Dedi Darmadi said coffee sales were also managed independently. Collectors are required to buy their coffee from the LMDH to prevent prices from going too low. “The LMDH has all the data on Mekarsari coffee, including a database of harvests. Some 20 percent of sales revenue is given to [state forestry company] Perhutani, the village and the LMDH,” Dedi said.

Mekarsari village head Ferry Januar Pribadi has also initiated a system dubbed “coffee ATM” in cooperation with a region-owned enterprise (BUMD). In the system, farmers selling their coffee can have the money from the transaction transferred to their personal savings. “They can withdraw cash in line with their needs. The BUMD can help provide staple needs. The goal is to maintain circulation of money within Mekarsari village,” he said.

Under the Kopi Aing brand, Gani Rustendi, 38, and Evin Brenda, 33, try a different tactic. They opened a coffee plantation in Puntang, Bandung regency, with 4,000 coffee plants seven years ago. They also have a roasting center and a café offering 70 blends in Bandung.

They implement a plantation management and roasting system not only to seek profit but also to facilitate control to obtain the best beans. The system includes ensuring planting quality, evaluating coffee beans and minimizing loss due to damages to the coffee beans during roasting.

Evin is responsible for managing the café, where all the coffee beans come from Puntang. Evin learned about coffee in Italy for a year. She said baristas should understand the coffee beans they use. If they purchase coffee beans blindly, they will never learn about the quality of coffee beans. “This will affect the coffee’s taste and its popularity among consumers,” said Evin, who often provides free trainings for baristas.

Apart from ensuring coffee quality upon brewing, this will also help to ensure funding for the plantation. She uses part of her profit to pay her workers Rp 50,000 (US$3.60) a day, pay for the planting of coverage trees, fertilizing and pruning. “For these past seven years, we have believed that if we maintain quality on the upstream, we will face no problems in the downstream. If the plantation is damaged, the coffee will not last long,” she said.

Poet Khalil Gibran, a well-known coffee lover, once said: “Work is love made visible. And if you can\'t work with love, but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work.” Coffee farmers seemingly heed this advice. They work not only with love, but also with loyalty, creativity and joy.

(CHE/SEM/BKY)