BeanScene Magazine

In the local market, where the parchment coffee is traded, 72 year old Lumika is easily spotted as she goes about her buying. Apart from being afforded great respect by all facets of the industry, Lumika is also renowned for her keen eye for quality. She is known for purchasing only the best parchment coffee from local small growers.

With her own processing facilities, Lumika and her sons produce a superior product of consistent quality and high cup profile. For ten years now, Pt.Volkopi Indonesia has purchased all of Lumika’s coffee and in appreciation of her “kind coffee heart” and her addiction to her product, Volkopi trademarked her coffee, using her name to identify the product.

Dariusz Lewandowski, manager of Pt.Volkopi Indonesia, says: “We believe that her name will be carried into the future and she will always be remembered. As coffee is all about relationships, this relationship between Old Lady Lumika and Volkopi, is a continuation of coffee history that is rooted in specific individuals”.

During many discussions with Volkopi, three words keep being repeated - “people, nature and quality”, as their focus and reason to operate. Dariusz says the company believes that “good people, in hand with nature, make coffee beans special. This quality can be perceived in the cup and as a result, translates into a better life for the farmer”.

In Lintong, northern Sumatra, these are not just empty words, but supported by actions. The relationship of people and practices, can be clearly measured in a cup of unique quality.

This area of LintonNihuta province produces another superb bean, called the “Blue Batak”. Both “Lumika” and “Blue Batak” are produced here and offer slightly different cup complexities. These coffees are quite different from other mainstream Sumatra arabica’s. This is because the people who work their plantations, know that only selected coffee trees, in selected coffee areas, produce beans that qualify for inclusion under the “Blue Batak” and “Lumika” labels.

With strict quality control standards in place and education programs raising standards, it is possible for the demands of quality to be applied in all stages of production. Here, the growers are rewarded for their quality and unique taste characteristics. This combination of factors keeps driving the quality of beans up, by the constant focus on proper growing and processing practices, in tandem with a people who are happy to apply these standards. It is a highly successful commercial relationship based on mutual benefit and one which the world palate now enjoys.

The Batak Toba people of this region, produce a bean which is heralded as being “the best Sumatran yet”! That’s a big statement, made by international roasters, who all agree that the “Blue Batak” bean is “something special”. This bean has a distinct blue-green colour, hence its name, plus it holds a unique taste, in combination with excellent primary, secondary and tertiary characteristics. That’s “huge in-the-cup”, performing well as a single origin experience, but is highly suited to the production of a quality espresso blend of harmonious fine balance and rich flavour complexity.

The topography of the area is flat, with an altitude of around 1600 metres. Soils are rich in organic matter, medium fertility and acidic in nature. The coffee trees are mostly grown in full sun, with heavy mulching to maintain humidity and increase soil fertility. Plantation practices are by hand, from hoeing and weeding, spreading natural compost and processing pulp, through to harvesting and pulping, to hand sorting at several levels. Here, as Dariusz claims, is the outcome of the “human factor”, providing a rewarding and unique taste.

Tree varietals in this region are mainly Catimors (70%), with Typica’s (25%) and Bourbon (5%). The Dutch colonialists bought the original seeds to Sumatra around 1850, but today’s trees are in general, 7 to 15 years old, growing to a height of 1.5 to 2 meters. The plantations are small, being 0.5 to 1 hectare per farmer, of 500 to 1000 trees. Almost 80% of this region is focused on growing coffee, with vegetables and rice making up the rest. It is quite common to see rice paddies, running right up to the start of rows of coffee trees, laden with ripening cherries.

Volkopi Indonesia, has been strongly focused on assisting the farmers to achieve a quality product where off-take and higher prices on a global market would be their reward. To achieve this objective over a 10 year period, is an outstanding story of vision, focus and education, coming together with the human factor. Volkopi fully funded and set up a Coffee Quality Support Centre, consisting of a meeting hall with full educational facilities, a laboratory and a coffee seedling nursery, to support the community. The result of this infrastructure, is clearly noticeable in the quality of the final export bean, as “best farm and harvest practices” produce a bean of global demand.

With a focus on people, their quality of life and achieving sustainable rewards, Volkopi run and finance an English language school for 60 children to assist their opportunity for future employment. Further, they employ a Costa Rican coffee agronomist, Eduardo, to work with the farmers to raise the standards of coffee seedlings, farm practices and also train a local lady, Damor, as a future agronomist. Running education programs and consulting directly to the growers, Eduardo is improving both quality and commercial outcomes, from the grass roots up.

Children from the language school are involved in a tree planting program, where twice yearly, they plant hundreds of trees to improve the environment and create awareness outcomes in the next generation and possible future farmers. The area, supported by Volkopi, ran a program to assist the coast of North Sumatra following the devastating 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

The collection of quality programs, run for the local people in this region, are one of the finest to be found. Here, a balance has been created, where all parties benefit from the common association. Now, supported by Rainforest Alliance and the 4C Association (Common Code for the Coffee Community ), for its social and ethical standards, is a credit to the focus and vision of Dariusz and his team at Pt.Volkopi Indonesia - “ taking care, of the people taking care, of the coffee”.

My thanks go to Dariusz at Volkopi. Also to his staff, Eko, Edo, Uden, Nanang, Dadang and Ineu and to Lumika.

For those interested in understanding more about the 4C -
www.4c-coffeeassociation.org