adri’s dream

Studying abroad only made Adri think about his country more. When he witnessed how wine was such a representative product in France, where he studied marketing, he wondered how a product from Indonesia could become relevant to the world. Wine has represented France since the Middle Ages, if not before that, just as Indonesia represented coffee since it was a Dutch colony, but years of low prices and unfair trade practices have not done Indonesia’s coffee industry any justice. For him, bringing an Indonesian product to the world meant spreading the message that Indonesia has so much to offer.

For some years, however, he mostly worked in the corporate world in Jakarta, but corporate life wasn't for him. One day, when on vacation, he found himself on a coffee farm that sadly wasn't doing very well. "The product was great," says Adri, "but they didn't know how to sell it." Soon after, Adri decided to work with these farmers. For two years he managed his corporate job in Jakarta while working pro-bono for this group. He became their marketing supporter, aiding them in negotiating with potential buyers. When results started manifesting, the farmers asked Adri to join them for good and become their marketing partner. They offered him a commission and a better price. Adri said, "yes," and Ontosoroh was born. 

When we met with Adri, it quickly became apparent that we represented each other's values. We both see ourselves as “means” to empower others; we aim for others to grow so that, at one point, we might not even be needed anymore. Ontosoroh is inspired by a character from an Indonesian novel whose mission is to do business professionally and ethically. Working with Adri since 2016, we know that he honours this character’s reputation!

 

These are the farmer groups, cooperatives and family enterprises
Ontosoroh brought together.

Onotosoroh started working with 1 organisations and 5 farmers. Today, it’s a consolidated company formed by 7 employees.
They work with around 10 organisations and 434 farmers from three different islands. 

 

Flores Rende Nao

full time workers: 300; 1200 associated. 15 villages producing capacity per family: 500 to 600 kilos
hectares: 400
bags bought this year: 809

buntu ledo

members:16
hectares: 28
bags bought this year: 15

SAPTO WENING

workers: 16
hectares: 28
bags bought this year: 20

 

Toraja Parindingan

150 members: 7 farmer groups (4 women groups)
hectares: 60
bags bough this year: 15

Enrekang karangan

members: 60
hectares: 25
bags bought this year: 15

java candiroto

workers: 100
hectares: 300
bags bought this year: 160

 
 

java sunda tilu

workers: 20
hectares: 20
bags bought this year: 22

 
 
 
 

THIS SIDE UP VALUE CHAIN:

Ontosoroh is central to our Bunto Ledo value chain. They oversee the local transport from Sulawesi to the international port of Surabaya and coordinate communication with our partners at origin.

 

THE PRICE YOU PAY:€7,98

CULTIVARS:

Unique Robusta varieties, Arabica S795 and Typica, SA-436, Ateng, Timtim.

ALTITUDE:

750-2100 meters above sea level.

NOTABLE:

Ontosorh sees itself as a "Coffee farmer's Incubator." In this sense, they primarily work with farmers that seek help and with whom a mutually beneficial relationship can be developed. They also work with diverse organisational structures, adapting to each partner's needs. Some are informal groups, cooperatives, and family-owned enterprises. They invest in tangible and intangible assets for their partners, such as coffee processing equipment,  training, and education. Ontosoroh also works on creating a business model together with the farmers' groups and helps them improve their sustainability practices.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

2016: our partnership is born. We create a cross-industry partnership to promote and upgrade specialty robusta from Flores.

2017: first pilot shipment from Ontosoroh to Europe.

2018: we jointly created semi-washed and fully washed drying experiments that gave more insights into how best to highlight Flores Robusta's unique flavour profile.

2019: with the help of Pak Dominggus, in the village of Buntu Ledo set up a cooperative structure in 2019 (Koperasi Buntu Ledo Sipporanu) with Ontosoroh and This Side Up as stable buying partners. Together, we created a step by step manual with checkboxes to improve quality during the harvest and post-harvest with positive results.  

2020: we landed a tender to supply the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and increase our order from 160 to 600 bags. This major increase required a lot of extra training on the part of ASNIKOM to see to the required quality. As an added incentive, we decided to up the farmgate price to 4,14 USD/kg. labelled every single bag according to the farmer. The cupping scores greatly improve.

2021: retained the same amount of coffee bags and price as 2021 despite the pandemic. The Circular Fashion Project and the Regenerative Robusta Project is born.  

2022: three new coffee groups join our portfolio: Java Candiroto, Java Sunda Tilu, and Gowa Maino.

2023: the low productivity some of our partners suffered this year due to climate change brings new challenges and possibilities in our collaboration. Diversification, soil quality, and chemical-free processing have become increasingly relevant to our partners at origin.

Considering this and other issues, Adri came up with a project proposal we decided to support: the creation of weatherproof drying facilities. One of our partners' main challenges is that the natural robusta used to be sweeter and more vibrant. After analyzing this issue, Adri and his team concluded that this was a direct result of the high intensity and unpredictable rainfall in Manggarai last year, which made the proper drying process difficult for the crop. We aim to see how our partners will achieve more consistent drying and increase overall quality. For this project, the budget is around Rp 77.217.000 (EUR 4815) for eight drying hut units.

PROCESSING:

Honey: the coffee cherries are handpicked in the morning and pulped immediately by sunset on site. Each families have these huts in the middle of the plantation to pulp and semi dry the coffees before taking them to the final UPH to be fully dried.

Natural : coffee cherries handpicked and laid out on beds immediately between 10 and 14 days.

Unclean washed: terrible name, we know - but we used it to catch your attention! the coffee is pulped, wet fermented, submerged in a water tank inside plastic bags for 48, up to 72 hrs. The difference with a full wash is that there is no additional water rinsing after fermentation. The coffees on the bags are simply drained and then dried on bamboo beds. The amount of mucilage left is somewhere between fully washed and pulped natural.

Pulped natural, honey processed fine robusta: dried on open bamboo pole beds. All manually picked, pulped and hulled.

Fully washed: left overnight in the pulper to ferment for approximately six hours. Coffee is then dried on a tarp for 3 to 4 days.

Rende Nao farmers:€3,29

The price Ontosoroh pays Rende Nao farmers for the coffee (USD 3, 59). We pay a premium for processing and sorting the robusta as arabica. The farmers are paid 64,000 Rp/kg (compared to 58.000/kg last year) and around 65% more than what they would receive from the market.

  • Sapto Wening Robusta - Honey Washed: €2,30

  • Toraja Buntu Ledo - Coop - Washed: €4,78

  • Toraja Parindingan - Washed: € 4,60

  • Enrekang Karangan - Washed: € 4,47

  • Java Temanggung Condiroto - Honey: € 2,30

  • Central Java Batang Sapto Wening: € 2,11

ONTOSOROH + Asnikom: € 2,38

Ontosoroh export, packing, quarantine, local tax and handling expenses + insurance. In most cases, with the farmer groups, their coffee gets bought by Ontosoroh, shipped to Java, milled and packed there. In this sense, the prices for this service for the other coffees plus the milling service provided by Ontosoroh is:

  • Sapto Wening Robusta - Honey Washed: € 0,69 + Milling: € 1,97

  • Toraja Buntu Ledo - Coop - Washed: € 1,04 + Milling: € 2,12

  • Toraja Parindingan - Washed: € 0,98 + Milling € 2,30

  • Enrekang Karangan - Washed: € 1,05 + Milling: € 2,10

  • Java Temanggung Condiroto - Honey: € 0,79 + Milling: € 1,51

  • Central Java Batang Sapto Wening: € 0,72 + Milling: € 1,39

SHIPPING: €0,40

Local shipping from Ruteng, Flores to Surabaya, Java (0,11) + shipping from Surabaya to Rotterdam (0,17) + clearance and local costs (0,42).

THIS SIDE UP: €1,55

This Side Up compensation for spending time and resources importing this coffee. Our work includes year-round contact with producers, managing export, shipping, import, warehousing, grading, sampling, finding and keeping roasting partners for Ontosoroh and ASNIKOM. For a full overview of what we do to earn our margin, see the Trade Models page.

CUSTOMS, INSURANCE, FINANCING: €0,30

Financing cost. These loans we take ensure immediate payment to Ontosoroh when they receive the coffee in their stock, in turn ensuring quick payment to the farmers.

REGENERATION:
€0,06

A standard TSU premium on all coffees designated exclusively to accelerate farmers’ own regenerative agriculture projects. This premium will be invested in both the Regenerative Robusta Project we’ve been developing since 2021, and the Asnikom Rende Nao drying domes project that came to life in 2023.

 

AVAILABLE FROM ontosoroh:

  • Flores Rende Nao village lot – honey robusta

  • Flores Rende Nao village lot – natural robusta

CONTACT ontosoroh :

Our project's main coordinator in Indonesia is Adri of Ontosoroh and the local cooperative is ASNIKOM.
 

CONTACT Adri Yahdiyan
EMAIL adri@ontosoroh.co.id
TEL +62 857 4385 9181

FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM

 

 
 

Pokoh, Wedomartani, Ngemplak, Sleman Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta 55584, Indonesia

 

where specialty robusta began for us

At the time in 2016, this certainly was our most controversial project. Having studied the successes of specialty robusta in India and Ecuador, we thought of the idea of upgrading the existing, low growing robusta on the island of Flores. Through Adri Yahdiyan, founder of Ontosoroh Coffees, we learned that not only does the island boast a range of unique robusta varieties, but that the quality of these "fine robustas" was already known worldwide. He then introduced us to ASNIKOM, a locally owned cooperative in the regency of Manggarai who could do something as radical as intuitive: process robusta with the same machinery and standards as arabica - and we vowed to pay them the same premium as they would get for fine arabicas. In 2017, the first results came in: a spicy, very full bodied robusta that is pleasantly bitter because of its caffeine content, sweet chocolaty and very clean.

Since 2018, our crop was sourced from three families within a single village of Rende Nao as opposed to multi sources (within Manggarai) last year. We also tweaked the pulped natural and did some semi-washed and fully washed experiments to highlight body and the crisp chocolaty overtones. For the unbiased roaster, this coffee could either be a wacky single origin or a beautiful supplement to blends that provide the flavour that traditional coffee drinkers sometimes miss so clearly (and vocally) in our specialty coffee niche...

 

CULTIVARS :

Unique robusta varieties derived from natural cross-pollination.

ALTITUDE :

1,200 - 1,600 meters above sea level.

NOTABLE :

Our first robusta, and part of an ambitious project with two NGOs (VECO, Ecoflores) and two progressive coffee companies (Ontosoroh and Pelan Beans) to create a specialty robusta standard for the entire island of Flores.

PROCESSING :

honey : the coffee cherries are handpicked in the morning and pulped immediately by sunset on site. Each families have these huts in the middle of the plantation to pulp and semi dry the coffees before taking them to the final UPH to be fully dried.

natural : coffee cherries handpicked and laid out on beds immediately between 10 and 14 days.

 

Key ACHIEVEMENTS :

2016: created a cross-industry partnership to promote and upgrade specialty robusta from Flores.

2017: local coop ASNIKOM used arabica standards to process fine robusta; imported first pilot shipment to Europe.

2018: sourced from three families in one village (Rende Nao) only, upgraded pulped natural by ceasing green bean drying, created semi-washed and fully washed drying experiments that gave more insights into how best to highlight Flores robusta's unique flavour profile.

2019: created a step by step manual with checkboxes to improve quality during the harvest and post-harvest. The results of this approach were seen immediate in the cupping scores and uniformity of the coffees.

2020: went from 160 to 600 bags of coffee from Rende Nao farmers and paid +0,20 USD /kg farmgate price. Labeled every single bag according to farmer. This enormous scale up actually led to better cupping scores too.

2021: retained the same amount of coffee bags and price as 2021 despite the pandemic. The Circular Fashion Project is born, and gorgeous new cotton bags were designed by Spanish designer Sylvia Calvo and her team to be reused as garments or tote bags. At the same time, the Regenerative Robusta Project is born in Flores, the first steps begin to develop.

2022: The Regenerative Robusta Project first visible results sprout.

2023: we significantly increase our Rende Nao stock, making it our most sought coffee in our Indonesia portfolio. The Circular Fashion Project launches its second season. New creative possibilities sprout.

TASTIFY™ CUPPING NOTES :

Browse through our Tastify Archives on Google Drive.

PHOTO GALLERY :

You may use these images freely to promote Rende Nao among your customers. Please credit Dick Wynendaele if you do.

OUR SPECIALTY ROBUSTA PROJECT IN FLOREs:

In 2015, the wonderful Nina van Toulon of Ecoflores introduced us to the Indonesian island of Flores and its coffee. She calls this eco-diverse paradise home for more than ten years and has become passionate about saving her from plastic pollution, both on the ground and in the sea. What's more, she felt that development aid alone was not delivering enough results and thought perhaps Flores' coffee might hold the key. She told us about the island's prizes for its unique arabica coffees -  but we soon found that elevation constraints would be a huge problem if we were to try to make specialty coffee production viable as a means to raise social and environmental standards on the island.

Some months later, having read about the successes of specialty robusta in India and Ecuador, we thought of the idea of upgrading the existing, low growing robusta on the island instead. We got in touch with Adri Yahdiyan, founder of Ontosoroh Coffees and found that not only does the island boast a range of unique robusta varieties, but that the quality of these fine robustas is known worldwide among the old coffee buyers and roasters us Third Wave snobs hardly ever hear about. In fact, our partners at ARC in Italy confirmed that "Flores Gr.2" robusta is always in high demand because of its clean cup and chocolaty notes.

For our bold plans to come to life, Adri recommended we talk to ASNIKOM, a well-organised and locally owned cooperative in Manggarai who would be able to process robusta with the same machinery and standards as arabica - and we vowed to pay them the same premium as they would get for fine arabicas. We later learned that Nina's partners at VECO - an esteemed NGO that has been active in upgrading agricultural livelihoods for years in Flores - already worked with ASNIKOM and were very interested in technically supporting our project to create a true specialty robusta. This stroke of luck that strong ties already existed between all parties made it possible for changes to be made to the group's robusta production relatively quickly. 

In 2017, after one year of cooperation the first results manifest in stock: a spicy, very full bodied robusta that is naturally bitter because of its caffeine content, sweet chocolaty and very clean. Some progressive roasters are already showing that if we can get over our preconceptions, this coffee can work as an unusual but chocolaty single origin espresso (with heaps of crema) or more likely, a blend supplement that adds a recognisable coffee flavour for more traditional drinkers. In our view, it's an even bigger surprise to specialty coffee enthusiasts once they are able to reconnect with their "pre-specialty" self! 

Soon after, a surprisingly good reception of this coffee (some roasters even offered it as a single origin espresso), offered an unanimous feedback: this is one of the best robustas specialty roasters had ever tried, with a total lack of negative flavours usually associated with robusta (which mostly has to do with processing!). One minor comment that was noted was the Manggarai's body is relatively light for a robusta, while many roasters choose robusta in their blend to accentuate body especially. This led Adri of Otosoroh to propose two things: 1) more traceability by sourcing from a few quality focused families in the village of Rende Nao only and 2) processing experiments based on his experience in Sumatra: a fully and semi washed version. For the fully washed coffee, after pulping, it is washed and fermented for 24 hours. After, it is washed again and dried. The semi wash process is quite similar but with elimination of the second washing step. Lastly, we ceased to dry the green beans for the pulped natural, which increased the humidity homogeneity tremendously last season. We are finding already that these three coffees far surpass last season's cup quality, and will choose which processing types we want to continue next season based on roaster feedback.

In August 2019, Maarten visited ASNIKOM in Rende Nao together with roaster friends and Adri from Ontosoroh. Whilst walking through the fields, alongside the pulping stations and having cups of excellent coffees at the farmers houses, they discussed the swings in the coffee quality and uniformity, and what to do about it. A plan was made to create a step-by-step manual in the harvest and post-harvest process. Not because out of distrust or lack of expertise, but in order to identify abnormalities in the process and to identify single farmers that could use some extra training during the season. By identifying these weak spots, the overall quality and homogeneity of the coffees saw instant improvements.

Since 2020, Rende Nao continues to be a huge success, especially because This Side Up landed a tender to supply the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure with coffee at all their offices - and Rende Nao forms a large part of this blend. Mainly for this reason, we were able to increase our order from 160 to 600 bags in the 2020-2021 season. This major increase required a lot of extra training on the part of ASNIKOM to see to the required quality. As an added incentive, we decided to up the farmgate price to 4,14 USD/kg. All bags are labeled according to farmers like last year, and the quality of the lots overall increased significantly, even with this enormous spike in quantity. We are very proud of Ontosoroh and ASNIKOM for their combined quality control efforts both at wet and dry mill level.

In 2021, we started an exciting new project: the circular fashion project, together with renowned circular designer Sylvia Calo. Lennart met her at the Dutch Fashion Week through our friend Pere Cornellà. Over a coffee, she shared her idea to intervene in the design stage of the coffee bags so she could use the material to make designer clothes for her new collection. Free resources because she's piggybacking off an existing value chain, more value added at origin and awesome looking coffee bags... This year, we made it reality. Adri outdid himself and made sure that even all the ink used was 100% biodegradable. Very proud of this multi-chain collaboration that exhibits true circularity!

 

WIlD FLAVOURS FROM AN ASTOUNDING CULTURE

In 2018, our Indonesian exporter Adri Yahdiyan from Ontosoroh Coffees convinced us to try a sample of a microlot from the island of Sulawesi. We were astounded by the complex flavour notes that ranged from spices and nuts to bright tropical fruits and expressive florals - a coffee that was as African as Indonesian, all at once. That year we tested it out in the European market, the few bags we had sold out in no time, receiving even more enthusiasm than we had anticipated ourselves. It was the start of a wonderful journey.

In the summer of 2019, Maarten visited the farmers in Buntu Ledo. Quite a trip, Buntu Ledo lies hidden in the heart of the beautiful island of Sulawesi. He met a culture and architecture there that were too astounding to describe briefly . They had some constructive talks with the farmers that led to the establishment of the farmer group “Koperasi Buntu Ledo Sipporanu”. This group is growing as more farmers enticed after hearing about our high prices (100% above market), and the coop’s eligibility to receive pre-financing through our partners Progreso. The farmers expressed great curiosity in learning more about specialty coffee, the end market, agricultural practices and more. With a coffee like this and some very talented and ambitious farmers, we couldn’t be more excited about this project.

 

CULTIVARS :

Arabica S795 and Typica.

ALTITUDE :

1,750 - 2,100 meters above sea level

Notable:

Farmers in Buntu Ledo are steadily becoming an independent collective and cooperative. Farmers in this group would like to have more say on their coffee. Coffee is grown with strict no slash and burn practices based on local customs law. It is shade grown with medium density.

PROCESSING:

Unclean washed: A very particular type of honey washing which we provokingly decided to call “unclean washed”. The coffee is pulped first then wet fermented: submerged / soaked in a water tank inside plastic bags for at least 48, up to 72 hrs. The difference with a full wash is that there is no additional water rinsing after fermentation. The coffees on the bags are simply drained and then dried on bamboo beds. The amount of mucilage left is somewhere between fully washed and pulped natural.

Washed: Red coffee cherries are handpicked in the moring and manually pulped in the afternoon. The pulped coffee is stored in plastic strawbags and submerged under a water tank for 48-72 hours fermentation. The coffee is then ligthly rinsed with running water and subsequently dirend on raised bamboo beds for 12-16 days.

 

Key ACHIEVEMENTS:

2018: started with the first microlot and exporting partner Ontosoroh hired a local Torajan coffee expert to help the farmers progress. 

2019: creation of the cooperative. This Side Up visits the farmers, the relationship gets stronger. With Ontosoroho’s support, the first drying dome and dry mill in Buntu Ledo is built.

2020: implementation of traceability coding that facilitates the follow up of crucial information.

2022-2023: sadly, and because of the rapid effects of the climate change, Buntu Ledo faces a major disruption in weather pattern, resulting in drop of harvest up to 70%.

TASTIFY™ CUPPING NOTES :

Browse through our Tastify Archives on Google Drive.

PHOTO GALLERY :

You may use these images freely to promote Buntu Ledo among your customers.

Wonderful Toraja - the culture and the coffee :

In the summer of 2019, Maarten van Keulen visited the farmers in Buntu Ledo. The culture he saw there was unlike anything he was prepared for. The otherworldly architecture of the houses aside (see pictures), the Torajan treatment of their dead is something unlike any modern culture —and reminiscent of ancient, neolithic cultures throughout the planet. 

To Torajans, the death of a loved one is not final and death itself is viewed as the single most important event of the life cycle. When a Torajan dies, the deceased is embalmed and placed at home. They are not considered dead until a funeral takes place, which could be months or years later. In the interim, they are deemed as sick and household members tend to them round the clock with food and beverages. They are treated as guests, and it is not uncommon to have more than one sitting around in the home.

So when Adri and Maarten arrived and were offered tea in one of the coop members' homes, it was a slight culture shock to see a deceased, embalmed family member sitting in a chair next to them. They also happened to arrive during the funeral ceremony and were treated as guests of honour. Considering this was Maartens’ first origin trip for This Side Up, he hit the uniqueness jackpot immediately in terms of culture —and also in terms of coffee.

As for the coffee, Toraja is one of the few places in Indonesia where arabica is the dominant species grown. It thrives in the highlands that are over 1500 meters above sea level, and has done so since the Dutch relocated some of Java's arabica production after an outbreak of leaf rust in the mid 19th century. We were definitely not the first to discover the uniqueness of this coffee's flavour profile: the Japanese have been steadily buying Torajan coffee since the 1990’s, prizing the S795 variety which supposedly is responsible for the coffee’s syrupy sweetness. Nonetheless, the region’s coffee sector went into decline. In the early 2000s, the government initiated several large scale coffee rejuvenation programs as a countermeasure, but unstable and low prices and complicated, unfair local value chains persisted, causing farmers to move away from coffee production. In Buntu Ledo, from the 500 farmers that were part of the rejuvenation program, only about 20 families remain. 

Meanwhile, in the late 2000s, the specialty segment in Europe and the US started to take notice of Torajan coffee, long withheld from it due to, in our view, a prejudice against Indonesian coffees. Often thought of as earthy and spicy due to the famed (or dreaded) giling basah (literally translated: wet ground - meaning wet hulled) processing method, the possibility of a fruity, light bodied, African style filter coffee simply didn’t add up in specialty coffee professionals minds until recently. We are happy this is changing now, but are also wary of how fickle specialty coffee demand is. In a region where many waves of investment and disappointment have superseded each other, we do not want to disappoint the remaining passionate farmers and vow, as a company, to make sure to 1) reward the farmers consistently (100% above market prices!) for treating their unique coffee as well as they do and 2) keep coming back, year after year, as the Bunto Ledo project grows and evolves. 

In 2019, with the help of Pak Dominggus, the village of Buntu Ledo set up a cooperative structure in 2019 (Koperasi Buntu Ledo Sipporanu) with Ontosoroh and This Side Up as stable buying partners. As it is set up now, it has huge coffee potential. The 80 hectares of coffee plantation were relatively run down but the active farmers in the coop are starting to upgrade the land and take Ontosoroh’s processing specialism to heart. The high prices Ontosoroh and This Side Up pay, have in turn gotten the surrounding farmers to start talking. In 2020, we have therefore jointly decided to import the neighbouring farmers’ lot in Bunto Pepasan as well.  

Alongside the newly established Koperasi Buntu Ledo Sipporanu co-op, Ontosoroh and the coop are initiating a path towards geographical indication (GI) in Buntu Ledo that could lead to the development of tourism and reignite more enthusiasm for coffee planting.

After a very enthusiastic reception of the first harvest in Europe, in 2020 we were confident to triple our order from Buntu Ledo. This immediately triggered more farmers to want to join the project and Adri proposed to create a second lot from outgrower farmers, which we named Buntu Pepasan. This second lot was processed according to similar standards as Buntu Ledo proper, but exhibited significantly more quakers. Training was required to let this second experimental lot shine with its full potential, which is what was invested in with the premium we paid. 

In 2021, we decided to rename the coffee’s processing from special honey washed to unclean washed. A provoking and perhaps unsavoury name, but what we intended was for people to ask questions about what makes this processing so unique. It worked. We now have three lots from Buntu Ledo, the Buntu Ledo traceable farm lots which can be traced to individual member farms through codes on the bag. These are the coffees by the coop proper, and exhibit the greatest amount of complexity. Buntu Pepasan was renamed Buntu Ledo Village lot and has become significantly better this year, with a fraction of the quakers compared to the year before. Lastly, the coop experimented with natural processing, of which we imported a small lot.

 

Finding a “V60 proof” robusta

It was this moment of pleasant surprise that Maarten encountered in the summer of 2019. He was sitting in a pine forest, which looked like the lower Alps, but oddly, he was at a coffee plantation in Eastern Java. In between the pine trees of this magnificent forest, both arabica and robusta are grown. This was a trial project of our Indonesian export Adri Yahdiyan from Ontosoroh coffee - and it turned out to be a great gamble.

Sapto Wening, as the cooperative organisation is called, is the perfect This Side Up partner. It exists because of their mission to initiate an economic opportunity for youth aged 17-30 year old in the pine forest surrounding their village, without cutting a single tree. In this sense it is a social youth project, and agroforestry project, a specialty coffee project and a fine robusta project, all in one.

 

CULTIVARS :

SA-436 or as the locals call it: Kopi Java.

ALTITUDE :

750 - 1,100 meters above sea level.

 

NOTABLE :

Organically grown by default in natural pine forest. Great flavour complexity of dark berries, white pepper, cedar and herbs. Total production of only 1,2 tonnes in 2019/2020 harvest.

PROCESSING :

Pulped natural, honey processed fine robusta: Dried on open bamboo pole beds. All manually picked, pulped and hulled.

 

Key ACHIEVEMENTS :

2019: The 2020 season is the first time this coffee got exported, being This Side Up on the receiving end. Sapto Wening used the profits from the TSU sales for purchasing a micro mechanical pulper/huller for the 2020/2021 season.

2020: Sapto Wening farmers installed a solar panel electicity system that supported their entire milling process.

2021-2023: farmers continue working on becoming 100% off-grid and develop an ecological water filtration system. 

TASTIFY™ CUPPING NOTES :

Browse through our Tastify Archives on Google Drive.

PHOTO GALLERY :

You may use these images freely to promote Ontosoroh among your customers. Please credit Dick Wynendaele when using these pictures.

 

Meeting Sapto Wening :

Adri from Ontosoroh Coffee had his first introduction to the Robusta from Batang through an acquaintance that sent samples and explained the story of how he and his friends organised a youth group that focused on agroforestry management and added value activities. The organisation was called "Sapto Wening", their main mission being to initiate an economic opportunity for their members (mainly youths aged around 17-30ish working odd jobs) in the pine forest surrounding their village without cutting a single tree. In 2016 they started to plant robustas between the pine trees in three plots (~1 ha each) and to encourage existing coffee farmers to rejuvenate as well as improving agricultural practices for their robustas.

Before, and the majority still is, robusta coffees in the area traded even lower than the R price benchmark of Rp 14.000 per kilo (many farmers would accept prices as low as Rp 10.000 per kilo), for low quality local grown robusta. The guys from Sapto Wening wanted to change this and begun processing better grade robustas from their family farms and introduced it to local cafe, roasteries, and the roasted version as well. The profits they received were re-invested in: a) opening up their own local coffee shop in the pine forest, b) opening up new coffee plots, c) improving the facility of surrounding places of interest, especially the Curug Genting waterfall. Again, all done by trying without cutting a single tree.

Ontosoroh really liked their combination of youth-centred as well as sustainable agroforestry business model and thus at first bought some small batches and then helping them with some equity to buy red cherries for them to process. And the result was the coffee that Maarten tasted when he visited in the summer of 2019.

As Adri says: “I think definitely the most important and interesting part of this project is the youth-led movement to improve the economic situation of their village through coffee and any other means. There are too many instances in the coffee world that cultivation and improvement stopped because of failed regeneration of farmers. They also have an interesting business model where they combined the forest sustainability aspect and other areas such as tourism, F&B services as a source of economic opportunity rather than a competing industry. All done collectively and independently. We really like their idea.”

Sadly, in 2020, there was no coffee available from Sapto Wening for us to purchase, so we will be in more intensive contact next year to make sure we can continue supporting this inspiring project with high prices.

 

Greater together

“Coffee business should be the means towards something greater and therefore the willingness to grow together is essential.”
Adri

When Adri met with the Parindingan heads he immediately noticed they functioned democratically. Parindingan was the right fit not only because they encourage women entrepreneurs, youth education and agroforestry, but because they proved strong to their values. Adri is already working on a business model together with this group of farmers, who after some disagreements with a larger cooperative, decided to try their luck independently. Today, they are defining a working structure within the organisation which includes diversifying their crops, in a project similar to what we jointly created in Flores. “The relationship is strong, and they are open for communication.” shares Adri, who also values their transparent and traceable system. Sadly, in 2023 their yield dropped 60%, but the higher prices and stable demand from our side will hopefully help them see these times through.

 

CULTIVARS :

Arabica

ALTITUDE :

1200-1500 meters above sea level.

NOTABLE :

This is a newly formed farmer cooperative that envisions community development driven enterprise. It encourages women entrepreneurs, youth education, and agroforestry.

PROCESSING :

Washed: cherries are harvested at their ripest point, pulped that same day and transferred into a washing station where coffee is fermented under water for 14 days. Coffee is then dried on racks under a closed roof hut.

 

Key ACHIEVEMENTS :

2021: Toraja Parindingan is born.

2023: Toraja Parindingan first international export.

TASTIFY™ CUPPING NOTES :

Browse through our Tastify Archives on Google Drive.

PHOTO GALLERY :

You may use these images freely to promote Ontosoroh among your customers.

 
 

caring for our coffee's future

Indonesia's coffee is some of the best in the world, but several limitations have prevented it from gaining the reputation we believe it deserves; crop competition, low prices, and lack of infrastructure have taken farmers to mainly produce commodity or no coffee at all. Enrekang is no exception. It has been mostly ignored and forgotten; ignored by the market, overlooked by its farmers, but not by all. Yolan Tirta wondered what could happen if the future of specialty coffee was secured; could this become a reliable source of income for farmers? What other steps could he take to secure this future? In 2010, he did the transition to specialty coffee in the region, and started planting varieties. So far, they've invested in drying domes, mills, and warehouses for their farmer partners.

 

CULTIVARS :

Arabica

ALTITUDE :

1600-1850 meters above sea level.

 

NOTABLE :

This is a family enterprise initiated by Yolan Tirta, who is a new generation farmer that believes in the future of specialty coffee. They’ve invested in drying domes, a mill, and warehouses for their farmer partners.

PROCESSING :

Fully Washed: cherries are harvested at their ripest point, pulped that same day, and transferred into a washing station where coffee is fermented under water for 14 days. Coffee is then dried on racks under a closed roof hut.

Anaerobic Natural: cherries are harvested at their ripest point, stored in anaerob bags for 4-6 days, or until there is hint of banana flavour. They are then dried in a closed air drying hut for 24- 27 days. .

 

 

Key ACHIEVEMENTS :

2017: Enrekang Karangan is formed as a family enterprise.

2021: the group manages its first international export toTSU

2023: second export to TSU, momentum starting to build

TASTIFY™ CUPPING NOTES :

Browse through our Tastify Archives on Google Drive.

PHOTO GALLERY :

You may use these images freely to promote Ontosoroh among your customers.

 
 

Close to Home

Chayo, the leader of this family enterprise, is without doubt part of the newest generation of farmers in the Java region. As a trader and a processor, he says “ If tobacco were to become a dominant crop in the area, there would be no forest left”. While facing the competition with this dominant crop, he works tirelessly to improve the economics of coffee, and turn it into a viable solution for farmers while incentivizing the preservation of the forest. They are already doing this in interesting ways. For instance, the older generation of farmers work closely with young farmers, very young farmers, managing a phenomenal knowledge interchange. Today, farmers below 30 are very keen to produce better quality coffee and in a more sustainable way. 

For a long time Adri was interested in working with farmers in this area, but hadn’t found the right match. Being one of the biggest coffee producing areas in the country, and the closest to Ontosoroh headquarters, it is quite amazing to witness how he finally found the right partner, close to home. 

 

CULTIVARS:

Robusta

ALTITUDE:

800-1100 meters above sea level.

NOTABLE:

In this region a coffee competes with tobacco, since they cannot grow together and require quite distinct caring techniques: tobacco kills forest and uses high density chemical fertilizers. Chayo mostly works with very young farmers.

PROCESSING :

Natural: cherries are hand-picked at their ripest point, pulped, and dry-fermented overnight. Soon after, coffee is dried in the drying dome until it reaches 30% moisture content. It is then transferred to open an air drying on tarpaullin until it reaches a 12% moisture level. Dried parchment is then hulled, and double sorted by a gravity sorter. It is then manually sorted.

 

Key ACHIEVEMENTS :

2019: Java Candiroto is formed as a group.

2023: first international export through us.

TASTIFY™ CUPPING NOTES :

Browse through our Tastify Archives on Google Drive.

PHOTO GALLERY :

You may use these images freely to promote Ontosoroh among your customers.

 
 

tobacco NEighbours

Due to climate change, some producers in this region face next to zero productivity. Besides dealing with the constant consequences of climate change, farmers in this region also endure a fierce crop competition with tobacco. Because tobacco needs sunshine and high density chemicals it cannot grow next to coffee, which is a long term crop, needs shade and in this case grows organically. 

Asep, the leader of this family owned enterprise, detected the quality of their coffee some time ago, but who would sell it? He dreamed of making this area more independent and more focused on specialty, but life made him forget about this—momentarily.  One day his luck changed.  He met Adri, they interchanged ideas and started working together. So far, they’ve invested in a new specialty drying station and warehouse. The operation is not that big yet, but we believe it will steadily grow. 

 

CULTIVARS :

Arabica.

ALTITUDE :

1,400-1,700 meters above sea level.

NOTABLE :

Since 2018, coffee production in this region declined dramatically. This family owned enterprise assiduously works to make specialty coffee a viable option in a region, while enduring a dramatic yield drop and crop competition with tobacco.

PROCESSING :

Fully washed: Coffee cherries are harvested at their ripest point, left overnight in the pulper to ferment for approximately 6 hours and finally dried on a tarp for 3 to 4 days. 

 

Key ACHIEVEMENTS:

2022: Ontorosoh invested in four drying dooms, micro-pulping and micro-hulling machines.

2023: first international export through us.

TASTIFY™ CUPPING NOTES:

Browse through our Tastify Archives on Google Drive.

PHOTO GALLERY :

You may use these images freely to promote Ontosoroh among your customers.