A model for sustainability: in the production of speciality coffee: Jill Adams accompanies a group of Australian roasters and visits a sustainability project in Kintamani and Papuan.

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Most people think of Bali only as a tourist destination. Bali's reputation as a coffee producing country is little known on the world market. This region, however, has been producing quality coffee since before Indonesia's independence, along with better-known Indonesian coffees such as Mandheling, Toraja, Linton and Gayo.

The Kintamani coffee-producing area is located in the northwest region of the island, west of Mt. Batur, an active volcano that rises 1,717 meters from sea level. It is a cool mountainous area with altitudes between 900 and 1,500 meters above sea level. The temperature is between 15-250 [infinity] C and the temperature between day and night is consistent. The rainfall is high with a rainy season lasting six to seven months, and a dry period of four to five months with three months of uninterrupted dry weather. The soil is rich volcanic with much organic matter. The coffee produced here is strongly regional with qualities specific to the terroir.

In addition to the geographical factors that give this coffee a specific cup quality, coffee grown in the Kintamani region is influenced by distinct human factors. Local communities that are organized in traditional Bali farmer groups known as Subak Abian (SA) grow the coffee. This organization of farmers controls the religious, social and economic life of the community and guarantees a coffee that is carefully grown according to the rules of the SA. Farmers share skills and knowledge so that the production is homogeneous.

History of Coffee Growing

Coffee has been planted in Bali since early in the 1800s, but leaf rust destroyed the industry in the early 19th century. Coffee was planted again in the early 20th century with the Dutch administration planting 13,000 hectares in Kintamani. This coffee became well recognized on the domestic market.

The Japanese invasion of Indonesia from 1942-1945 interrupted coffee production as the Japanese Army used land to grow food for its troops. Eruptions of Mt. Batur in 1948 and 1977 and Mt. Agung in 1963 seriously interrupted coffee production, and as production decreased, so did the recognition of this coffee.

In 1979, Arabica coffee growing was encouraged in the Kintamani region. Coffee seedlings were distributed and agricultural assistance was given to smallholder farmers. When the world coffee price dropped in the 1990s, many farmers cut their coffee production and planted tangerines and oranges instead. Some farmers completely removed their coffee trees, but most farmers planted alternate rows of coffee and tangerines.

In the early 2000s the tangerine trees began to suffer from a disease, and Dinas Perkebuan (DISBUN) of Bali Province encouraged the rehabilitation of coffee.

The Kintamani Project

In 2001 the Indonesian Coffee and Cacao Research Institute (ICCRI) and a French organization, Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, France (CIRAD) started to investigate the market for Kintamani coffee. ICCRI was successful in implementing wet processing in Bali, but it could not help the farmers to sell the coffee. ICCRI met with a buyer, PT Indo CafCo (ICC) who agreed to support the project. ICC became actively involved in 2003 with Arabica in Kintamani and in 2004 with Robusta in the Papuan district of Bali. It now operates as one of the main SA buyers and exports Kintamani coffee to Australia, the U.S., Denmark, Taiwan and Russia. ICC also acts as supervisor, teacher and controller of wet processing.

Initially ICC worked with Bali Estate Department (DISBUN), who gave machinery to the SA. ICCRI supervised and controlled the coffee harvest and wet processing and was also involved in educating the farmers on production methods and cupping. The SA maintained ownership of the coffee and did all the harvesting, wet processing and sun drying of the parchment.

During harvest time, which is May for Arabica in Kintamani and July/September for Robusta in Papuan, the ICC does a crop survey then meets with DISBUN and the SA to fully gauge the production and to negotiate a formula for the coffee price. ICC will continue to control and supervise the production even though this can be difficult when much of the wet processing is done at night and there is much traveling between SA areas. As the farmers gain more experience ICC will reduce the supervision.

The DISBUN decided to separate coffee areas based around villages, SA and the amount of red cherry produced, which makes the coffee traceable.

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By 2007 ICC worked with 10 SA farms for Arabica and 13 for washed Robusta. Two names have been registered; Bali Gourmet Coffee for Robusta and Batur Highland Arabica for Arabica.

Tour for Australian Roasters

In early September 2007, a small group of Australian roasters visited the ICC project in Kintamani and Papuan. The initial aim was to bring roasters and growers in contact to facilitate a better understanding of coffee for professionals working at the roasting and brewing end of the industry.

On our first day we visited Bali Coffee Bhineka Putra Perkasa, a roaster in Denpasar. This was not related to the Kintamani or Papuan projects but provided us with an understanding of the coffee market in Bali. The business is in the hands of Wirawan Thahjadi, son of the original founder. Wirawan took control of the business after 13 years living in Los Angeles with his American wife. One of the features of the tour was a caged Luak. We had all heard about the fine taste of coffee made from its droppings but had never seen the animal. All its droppings are collected and kept for the tourist groups.

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For the roasters in the group, the 75-year-old Menando B roaster, from Germany was a highlight. This 60-kg roaster was the first that Wirawan's father ever bought and it had been in use for 70 years. There was a second Menando and a larger roaster and several small roasters. Wiriwan also has a coffee shop and training room where we sampled the Luak coffee. At $3,000/kilo this is one of the most expensive coffees I have ever had.

On our second day we met with Uliana Purbana from ICC and we drove from our hotel in Ubud to Kintamani to visit several of the SA coffee projects. Uliana manages the Kintamani project for ICC and does most of the supervision of the wet processing. She also inspects all of the parchment as it comes into the warehouse at Tabanan, and overseas, the hulling sorting sales and final shipment. When ICC joined the Kintamani project, Uliana spent two months during harvest living at Mabi Village, the first SA to be involved in the project.

Just out of Kintamani we started to see our first coffee trees growing amongst the tangerine trees. It was the end of the picking season, but occasionally we could see a few cherries and the odd flower.

Our first stop was at Girl Kusama Nadi where the wet processing was finished and the parchment was being sun-dried. This SA had been given a pulper and huller and all the farmers brought their cherries here for processing. Within hours of harvesting it is pulped then washed, sorted and fermented between 12 and 36 hours. It is then fully sun-dried on raised racks and finished on mats on cleaned patios.

At Mabi village, our next stop, we walked among the coffee and tangerine trees. The environment for coffee growing is breathtaking. Coffee and tangerines rub shoulders and the growth is lush and shaded. We came across the odd cow tethered in small huts. The cows produce fertilizer for the trees. At times they roam through the coffee trees grazing on undergrowth and at other times they are tethered in their small, moveable huts. The coffee trees, all varieties of the typical cultivar, are pruned so that they stay low and the branches "weep." In pruning, the top is lopped off after four years. New growth is pruned yearly. They produce about 20% peaberry.

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We met with Nyoman Suarta, an agricultural scientist working for the Indonesian Government and head of the 23 SAs in the Kintamani area.

Mabi village was in full sun-drying mode as the wet processing was temporally finished. There was a small amount of cherry on the trees but the harvest was at its end. The entire village road is used for drying, as is each available space in and around the houses. There are large patios where dried parchment was being finished and small racks, about the size of a single bed, are either stacked five or six high on the side of the road or spread along the road. At the first sign of rain the dry parchment is raked into the middle and covered and the racks are stacked and covered.

On our third day we returned to Mabi Village for presentation from the CIRAD GI project and an opportunity to cup a number of coffees. The ICC project and CIRID work parallel to each other and have similar aims: to get a better price for the growers and better recognition of the coffee from the Kintamani district. GI is a classification for all foods that are unique according to terrior and culture. This classification increases the value of the crop and the return to the farmer. The Kintamani crop is already expensive, more expensive than Toraja and other Sumatran and Indonesian coffees.

Coffee Varietals