Fragrant news comes from Sidomulyo, a village on the slopes of Mount Gumitir in Jember, East Java. The village cooperative dubbed the "foreign exchange village" made history by releasing its first coffee exports to three countries - Brunei Darussalam, Hong Kong and Singapore - last month.
The value of the memorandum of commitment or letter of intent (LoI) for the three Indonesian trading partner countries was recorded at US$ 78,000, as well as proof that village cooperatives can compete in the international market. In detail, US$ 30,000 came from Brunei Darussalam, US$ 23,000 from Singapore, and US$ 25,000 from Hong Kong.
For Kamiluddin, Head of Sidomulyo Village, this achievement is not just a commercial transaction. "This is not just about coffee, but about trust that the village can manage cooperatives professionally, transparently, and globally oriented," he said on Sunday (31/8/2025) as quoted by the Jember District Government website.
Located in a tropical climate with volcanic mountains, Indonesia is known as one of the best coffee producers in the world. A variety of excellent coffees, such as Gayo Arabica from Aceh, Toraja coffee from Sulawesi, to robusta from Lampung exist in this country.
The flavors of the various types of coffee are distinctive with complex and unique flavors, making them popular with foreign markets - especially in Asia, Europe, and North America.
The flavors of the various types of coffee are distinctive with complex and unique flavors, making them popular with foreign markets - especially in Asia, Europe, and North America.
Based on data from the Ministry of Trade, Indonesia's coffee exports experienced a positive trend, reaching US$ 1.35 billion in January-July 2025. It is projected to increase by more than 100% compared to the achievement of coffee exports throughout 2024 which reached US$ 1.64 billion.
Director General of National Export Development Fajarini Puntodewi said this surge was driven by several factors. For example, the failure of the arabica coffee harvest in Brazil, a temporary import ban on Vietnamese robusta coffee in Europe due to pesticide notifications exceeding the threshold, and an increase in global coffee prices.
" Europeanbuyers are increasingly looking for robusta coffee from Indonesia, especially Lampung coffee," Fajarini wrote in a written statement received by SUAR, Tuesday (02/09/2025).
According to Fajarini, Indonesian coffee is very competitive with coffee from Brazil and Vietnam. One proof of this is the high demand from foreign markets despite the uncertainty surrounding world trade and economy.
Previously, in early August, the US government imposed a 50% tariff on one-third of Brazilian goods to the United States, the highest tariff of any country in the world. This allows Indonesia to take the opportunity to expand its exports to other countries.
Fajarini said her office assists with business matching, business pitching, and export training.
"With a combination of steps from the business side and government support, we believe that Indonesia's coffee competitiveness can continue to increase. Not only in the Southeast Asian region, but also in the global market," Fajarini said.
Productivity and added value
Meanwhile, farmers and exporters hope that the government will help boost productivity and leverage the added value of Indonesian coffee to compete in the global market. According to him, Indonesian coffee has advantages that other countries do not have.
"What distinguishes Indonesian coffee from Brazil and Vietnam isorigin. Differences in geographical factors, weather, and post-harvest treatment make Indonesian coffee flavors very unique, with quite a lot of diversity," Ichwan told SUAR.
Ichwan emphasized that most of Indonesia's coffee production capacity is still produced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As a result, Indonesian farmers often still export their products in the form of coffee beans, although the number of processed coffee exporters has also begun to increase.
"The competition for processed coffee is quite tight. The capacity to fulfill large orders of processed coffee can only be done by large companies such as Santos, Top Coffee, Aneka Coffee Industry, and others," he said.
In that industrial-scale production capacity, processed coffee exports have been successfully exported to the Philippines, Malaysia and Japan.
Apart from the United States as the country with the highest demand for coffee beans, Indonesian coffee farmers have sent exports to Egypt, South Korea, Eastern Europe, Russia, Germany, Italy, Belgium and the United Kingdom.
With this reachability, Ichwan said, the government can facilitate increased exports by increasing promotions and trade contacts abroad.
"Actually, the problem with Indonesian coffee is production. In the last ten years, Indonesia's coffee production volume has remained relatively constant without a significant increase," Ichwan concluded.
Chairman of the Downstream Industry Compartment of the Indonesian Coffee Exporters Association Moelyono Soesilo noted that coffee productivity produced by Indonesian farmers is relatively far behind competitors in volume, despite competing in price.
He noted that robusta coffee production is currently only 1 ton to 1.2 tons per hectare, much lower than the productivity of Vietnamese farmers who can produce 3.6 tons per hectare - let alone Brazil which can reach 4.5 tons to 4.8 tons per hectare.
Moelyono admits that farmers' cropping patterns are still unwilling to change, continuing their parents' patterns. Extension workers and supervision in the field are relatively lacking, fertilizer is difficult to obtain when needed, and farmers' economic strength is still weak.
"As a result, because they plant for necessity, the yield during harvest is relatively low," he said.
Free market needs rules
In addition to challenges from farmers, the absence of regulations has made the coffee market ecosystem in Indonesia run without regard for the interests of the actors in it.
Coffee entrepreneur from Garut, West Java, Aries Sontani, said that the high market demand is indeed beneficial for farmers. Currently, raw coffee can be priced at Rp 17,500 per kilogram, a significant increase from a few years ago. However, on the other hand, the behavior of buyers who want to buy coffee directly from farmers makes middlemen scream.
"Where there is a plantation, the buyer immediately buys it. Whereas in the plantation there are farmer groups that take care of it, there are rules, and there are people who have been meritorious in processing coffee from harvest to ready to enter the market," Aries said when contacted by SUAR, Wednesday (03/09/2025).
Fajarini added that strengthening processing to increase added value along the supply chain can be one way out so that coffee farmers can export more than just beans.
Some of the strategies include stabilizing the price and availability of basic commodities, improving domestic trade facilities, and facilitating product development and certification.
According to Fajarini, the Ministry of Trade focuses on opening foreign market access for Indonesian products. "Efforts include strengthening international trade diplomacy and increasing export promotion and information," she said.
