JAVA SINDORO - KOJOYO COOPERATIVE

De Kojoyo Cooperative, onder leiding van Wahyu Setiono, brengt meer dan 250 Arabica-koffietelers uit zes districten in Temanggung, Midden-Java, samen, waarvan er vier zich richten op Arabica van speciale kwaliteit. Kojoyo werd in 2019 opgericht en is ontstaan uit Wahyu's transitie van afgestudeerd theoloog en koffiehandelaar naar innovator op het gebied van verwerking.

Nadat hij de kunst en wetenschap van koffieverwerking had ontdekt, volgde Wahyu een opleiding aan de Java Legend Coffee School, waar hij zowel basis- als geavanceerde verwerkingstechnieken onder de knie kreeg. Zijn doel was duidelijk: economische kansen creëren voor kleine boeren en hen tegelijkertijd begeleiden naar duurzame en speciale koffieproductie. De coöperatie werkt ook samen met het Indonesische Nationale Agentschap voor Terrorismebestrijding (BNPT) om voormalige extremisten te rehabiliteren door middel van koffieteelt en toerisme. Verschillende leden zijn ex-gedetineerden die nu hun brood verdienen met koffie.

Kojoyo, gelegen in een regio die vroeger afhankelijk was van tabaksteelt, speelt een cruciale rol bij het helpen van boeren bij de overgang van tabak naar koffie, het verjongen van de bodem door middel van biologische landbouw en het bevorderen van klimaatbestendigheid met windschermen, compostering en initiatieven voor bodemregeneratie. Ondanks uitdagingen zoals cyclonen en onvoorspelbaar weer, blijven Wahyu's gestructureerde aanpak en zijn inzet voor empowerment van de lokale bevolking zowel het land als de gemeenschap versterken..

JAVA CANDIROTO - KOJOYO COOPERATIVE

Cahyo, founder of First Light coffee. Cahyo Pertama, whose name literally translates to First light is a 31 year old entrepreneur that is leading the youth movement from Candiroto village in the Temanggung district. Coffee has been part of his family although his parents have been spice traders all their life. Originally this village used to have excelsa variety that never really made the cut making robusta this region’s native species. Although coffee wouldn’t be the first choice for many of the youth that are part of his group, finding jobs that could pay bills was getting difficult. More of younger members came together to discuss this and see how they could help themselves find stable alternatives. Since most of them had coffee in their family and it was evident demand for higher quality coffee seemed promising. 20 of them together with Cahyo decided to give specialty coffee a try out of which roughly 10 of them were first time coffee planters. Incomes from coffee allowed them to also improve their ‘image’ in the society, it was profitable and doing it together enabled access to knowledge, resources easily. It is a robusta that clearly can change the bad reputation this variety has.

Limu Kossa was founded by Giday Berhe. He began his coffee career as a trader in Jimma in 1993. He then opened a wet and dry milling station with the aim of supplying the central coffee market with high-quality coffee. In the early 2000s, he decided to establish his own farm in the village of Galeh in Jimma and, from the outset, build meaningful relationships with neighboring small producers. Not only does he spend a large part of his profits on healthcare and education for the community, he also actively teaches farmers to upgrade their farms and techniques so that they can ultimately process and export their coffee at high premiums. His dedication to producing quality coffee while supporting his local community has even earned him the title ‘Abba Ollie’ or ‘he who uplifts’.

RAEK itself was founded in 1996 to offer an economic alternative and reliable income source for vulnerable members, including women and youth, in a region severely impacted by poverty and conflict. RAEK's coffee is grown at high altitudes (1,400 to 1,800m) around the Kahuzi Biega National Park and is known for its high quality (scoring over 85.5%) and Certified Organic status. TSU has maintained a vital partnership with the RAEK cooperative (Regroupement des Agriculteurs et Eleveurs de Kabare) since 2017, consistently purchasing their coffee to offer essential economic stability and support development in their war-affected region of South Kivu, DRC.

The planned import of the 2024 harvest, originally expected in early 2025, was significantly delayed until recently (late 2025) due to severe geopolitical complications that saw both the RAEK partners and the coffees themselves scathed by the conflict.

This challenging situation creates a timely opportunity to rewrite the Radboud Blend starting in 2026, allowing for the direct inclusion of this Congolese coffee. By committing to this sourcing, Radboud can have a direct, tangible impact on the well-being of the farmers, as providing this kind of reliable economic stability during intense conflict is a crucial factor in helping the community maintain cohesion and protect biodiversity by offering an alternative to poaching.

Colombian coffee is a fully washed coffee, meaning the cherries hand-picked, de-pulped, washed with mountain water, fermented for 18-24 hours, sun-dried on concrete patios and on raised “drawers” with high airflow for about 2 weeks, manually sorted at the farm in four separate rounds, hulled and bagged at the Argote family farm. The Rwandese coffee is a washed arabica coffee. The combination of altitude and processing results in a fresh, citric and fruity profile, with lots of sweetness and a hint of acidity. The Indonesian coffees are natural processed robustas, giving it a very round, sweet and spicy taste, without the hints of tar and rubber so often associated with this type of coffee. The Brazilian coffee is a pulped natural. The combination of altitude and processing results in a jammy, red fruit profile, with lots of sweetness and a dark chocolate backbone. For the Nicaraguan coffee, it is handpicked, measured, and de-pulped without water. Shortly after, it ferments in the tanks for 15 to 36 hours. It is then washed and transported to Santa Lucila Dry mill, where it is processed until it reaches 11 degrees in humidity. Coffee is packed in 69 Kg bags.

Zwarts Coffee uses modern, highly energy efficient hot air roasters with an inbuilt afterburner, leading to lower CO2 emissions than conventional roasting. The machinery uses state of the art roasting software, controlled by a skilled roast master. The roast time is around 10 minutes. After the first crack, the coffee is roasted for a remainder of 25% of the time. All three the coffees are roasted separately, and mixed afterwards, to obtain the best flavor through the individual roast profiles and guaranteeing full traceability from bean to cup.

Many parties claim to be sustainable and carry out “impact projects” to mask their negative impact and divert attention. At This Side Up, we pay good prices — and we’re proud of that. So we’re happy to show it. Below you’ll find the purchase contracts we’ve signed with our partners in coffee-producing countries. We work through open dialogue with producers, based on equal entrepreneurship and grounded in their production costs plus a profit margin — and we pay that price. We compare it to both the world market price and the Fairtrade price to illustrate what this means in concrete terms.

WHERE: Flores, Indonesia
WHAT: Establishing an agroforestry system to improve coffee yields and provide alternative sources of income for farmers on Flores.
WHO: 100 farmers from Flores, Indonesia, This Side Up, MVO, Asnikom, Pretaterra, CCF, and Progreso.

WHERE: Nicaragua, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, DR Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Indonesia.
WHAT: Providing an additional and lasting investment incentive for our partner producers in regenerative agriculture.
WHO: All origin partners of This Side Up.

WHERE: Rende Nao, Manggarai, Flores, Indonesia; Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Barcelona, Spain
WHAT: Creating the very first fashion collection designed at the origin location.
WHO: Sylvia Calvo (Sylvia Calvo BCN), Adri Yahdiyan (Ontosoroh Coffee), This Side Up Coffees.

WHERE: Abakundakawa Rushashi, Gakenke District – Northern Province, Rwanda
WHAT: Creating an agroforestry pilot plot to test and demonstrate the potential of an intercropping system to non-certified coffee farmers.
WHO: Abakundakawa Rushashi (cooperative), This Side Up (funder), MVO Nederland (funder), Matthew Gates (agronomist).

Adri Yahdiyan

adri@ontosoroh.co.id

+62 857 4385 9181

Andy Carlton

andy@zombocoffee.com

+256 787 251280

Gidey Berhe Retta

limmukossa1@gmail.com

+251 917 550 244

Antoine Kagenza

abakundakawarushashi@yahoo.fr

+250 7 8328 8732

Juan Pablo Lasso Argote

jupalasso@hotmail.com

+57 3002199249

Arianova Almendárez

+505 8655 3429