By Heneage Mitchell
When it comes to learning about the wide variety of specialty coffees to be found in Indonesia, a visit to the SCAI (Specialty Coffee Association of Indonesia) is sure to reap rewards.
SCAI, which was founded two years ago, is an independent organization supported by USAID and Amarta that brings together specialty coffee growers, traders and buyers of Indonesian specialty coffees from across Indonesia and around the world. Currently it has over 70 members and it is continuing to develop new areas of expertise and relevance.
"SCAI is an association that provides a forum for all Indonesian specialty coffee stakeholders" Suhendra, SCAI executive director told Tea & Coffee Asia recently. "We would like to see all the stakeholders as members of the association, including farmers and producers, and to establish linkages with buyers and importers, unite, and from there we would like to promote and set standards for coffee farming, quality, processing and export and retailing of speciality coffees for Indonesia."
The mechanisms for achieving this include a number of initiatives aimed at disseminating more information to the industry to help boost awareness of Indonesian specialty coffees.
"We try to establish targets and objectives through programs and activities such as educating local and international markets about our speciality coffee and the issues surrounding it," Suhendra explained. "Secondly, our mission includes helping to add value to speciality coffee, through establishing effective certification processes and standards, for example. We tell everyone that comes here that Indonesia practices organic farming traditionally. Establishing organic certifications is another issue altogether of course. We are often asked about organic coffee and we can discuss traditional farming techniques, but buyers are looking for internationally recognized certification."
Value chainThe players involved in the added value chain include farmers and processors through to exporters. All have different viewpoints and issues to address.
"SCAI exists to help each sector overcome the problems they are facing, domestically or internationally, and to work with all the sectors to establish a viable specialty coffee segment within Indonesia," Suhendra said. "Also we would like to have a networking platform for all the members to benefit from mutual experience."
SCAI also addresses the regulatory climate affecting Indonesia’s coffee industry.
"The critical issue of improving and making changes in trade and other relevant regulations affecting the specialty coffee business of Indonesia is of course of prime importance to SCAI and its members," said Suhendra.
As of July, 2009 SCAI had 74 members, mostly exporters with some farmers included. Overseas membership includes representatives from Australia, Egypt, Norway and the US.
Disseminating information regarding Indonesia’s specialty coffees is a core element of SCAI’s work.
"Besides the more commonly known varieties such as Gayo, Mandheling, Lintong, Sidikalang, Java Preanger, Java Jampit, Bali Kintamani and Toraja, Kalosi, Flores Bajawa and Wamena Papua, there are some less-well-known arabica producing areas in Indonesia," Suhendra pointed out. "South of North Sumatera, in the province of Jambi, there is around 3,000 ha situated more or less in the foothills of the Kerinci mountains under cultivation by the local farmers. In West Sumatra in the district of Solok - not in the city of the same name - there are two lakes at higher altitude – Danau Atas [Upper] and Danau Bawah [Lower] where around 5,000 ha is under arabica production."
And there are yet other areas producing high quality arabica specialty coffees that most in the international coffee community have yet to hear about.
"In the South Sumatra area of Lahat there are also small areas of arabica being produced," said Suhendra. "There is an area of arabica being maintained by an SCAI member in Bengkulu in the Kapahyang sub-district called Mangkuraja arabica, for example. And in Lampung in the Tenggamus region there is a very small amount of arabica being produced of reportedly high quality, according to sources in the coffee industry."
These less-well-known coffees have yet to be discovered by the mainstream specialty coffee industry, and it is SCAI’s mission to ensure that these and other as yet unknown arabica coffees are introduced to discriminating consumers around the world.
There are specific steps that need to be taken to ensure these varieties are presented to the market with the best possible chance of success, according to Suhendra.
"With Mangkuraja arabica, we needed to determine its cupping quality," he told us, citing an example. "The aroma was quite good, the body needed some improvement in the growing or processing techniques to bring out the best characteristics. But as a single origin, with the right marketing, it could certainly qualify as a specialty coffee if it was served as such in any coffee shop in the world."
And Indonesia has many such potential specialty coffees still up its sleeve.
"Specialty coffee is as much about the perception and, let’s face it, the marketing, of a single origin or a blend of specific coffees as it is about the quality and cupping characteristics," Suhendra concluded. "A local coffee drunk by local coffee drinkers is not a specialty coffee to them. But take it to London and present it as a unique, single-origin coffee and it automatically qualifies as a specialty coffee. So perception, as in all other things plays a major role in determining the status, specialty or otherwise, of these single origin coffees."
And so, now, does the SCAI.
Photos courtesy Specialty Coffee Association of Indonesia