Towards a sustainable coffee plantation

Coffee plantations in the area of Pangalengan, West Java have the benefits of volcanic soil, 1200+ meter high altitude and surrounded by protected national park with mature cinnamon and mahogany trees. However, its farmer weren’t exposed to proper knowledge of sustainable planting and processing techniques and fair trade.

Starting in 2007, PT. Morning Glory Coffee International approached local farmers in Pangelangan and provided hands-on guidance. The harvested coffee beans are gradually improving in its product quality and marked by its first international exhibition at the 2008 Triestespresso in Trieste, Italy with collaborative support from the Department of Trade and Agriculture. Through international exhibitions, Pangalengan coffee farmers had gained the interest of world coffee communities and experts. With its recent earthquake disaster in September 2009, Mr. Paul Golding of Toby’s estate directly observed the area and commenced fund raising from the Australian Coffee Community to help out Pangalengan farmers and their families. PT. Morning Glory Coffee International itself had raised US$ 15,000 worth of supplies for the farmers with whom they have worked with.

Mr. Ross Bright, a world renowned barista judge, was so impressed by the quality of these coffee beans and he strongly believed Pangalengan would produce the world’s next best tasting coffee. Mr. Bright spent 2 days in West Java specifically to visit the plantation and conducted a workshop on processing cleanliness to the coffee farmers in Pangalengan.

An Australian Coffee Ambassador, Mr. Toby Smith of Toby’s estate, held a seminar for Pangalengan coffee farmers on fellow coffee farmers and plantations throughout Costa Rica, Brazil and Yemen whose techniques of planting, handling and processing coffee beans produce higher selling price effectively afford these farmers a better standard of living.

These seminars by international coffee experts in 2009 have inspired Pangalengan farmers to compete in the international market & PT. Morning Glory Coffee International has planned to set up more seminars by international experts in the near future, in addition to its regular seminar schedules. In March 2010, PUM – the Netherlands Senior Experts will send their agriculture & international marketing experts specializing in coffee to conduct 2-4 weeks on site seminars and workshops directly to coffee farmers in Pangalengan.

Beginning in October 2009, with the increase in coffee beans quality and sustainable farming, Pangalengan farmers have doubled the price of their green coffee beans.

Website: www.mg-coffee.com
Contact: naelcharis@me.com