Sustainable coffee farming refers to practices aimed at producing coffee in a manner that minimizes negative impacts on the environment, supports social responsibility, and ensures economic viability for farmers. Agroforestry in Sumatra is the main objective where coffee plants are grown under a canopy of shade trees, which mimics the natural forest ecosystem, promotes biodiversity, conserves soil, and provides habitat for wildlife.
In Sumatra, this includes measures to protect the region’s rich biodiversity. This may involve preserving forested areas, planting shade trees, and implementing conservation programs to protect endangered species. At Opal, we aim to support initiatives that promote sustainability in coffee production. That is why we have partnered with Orang Utan Coffee…
The Orang Utan Coffee Project, established in 2009, supports farmers and the protection of orangutans and their habitat, taking responsibility for cultivation, processing and trade of a fair and transparent coffee. Orang Utan Coffee Project, through specialty coffee, connects rainforest and wildlife conservation with sustainable cultivation – from the plantation to the roaster.
The aim is the conservation of the tropical rainforest, the habitat of the orangutans, and to secure the livelihood of a growing community of presently over 500+ smallholder farmers in Gayo Highland, Northern Sumatra, Indonesia.
A premium of 50 cents per kg of exported green beans goes to the coffee farmers for the compliance with nature conservation standards. Another premium of 50 cents for the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme SOCP of the Swiss foundation PanEco.
The Gayo Highland is situated at 900 – 2000 MASL and is one of the largest Arabica producing areas at this altitude in the world.
The coffee plantations in Gayo are managed by individual smallholder farmers with an average land ownership of less than 2 hectares. Due to its fertile, volcanic soil the character of Gayo coffee is very diverse, considering also the wide variety of coffees that are planted, ranging from Bourbon to Catimor. Not to mention the extraordinary post-harvest handling.
All this makes Gayo Coffee a very unique coffee. These complex influences of the Gayo Highlands create a multitude of distinctive flavours, which make Gayo coffee one of the world’s most special coffees.
Gayo Highland Grade 1, Arabica, Giling Basah (wet-hulled), triple picked.
The quality is ensured by local Q-graders following SCA (Specialty Coffee Association) standards.
Wet hulling or ‘Giling Basah’ is a processing method exclusively used in Indonesia, probably in response to the climatic conditions. Indonesian wet hulled coffee can be identified by its dark, bluish-green colour caused by the high moisture content of the beans. This process creates an intense coffee with a distinctive profile.
Wet hulled coffee has more earthy notes than washed coffees, which give it a strong and intense body. Additionally, the OrangUtan Coffee is rich in fruity and nutty flavours with a mild acidity.
This combination creates a complex and well-balanced coffee for both filter and espresso.
The rainforest is the habitat of many endangered species – including the Sumatran orangutan. The ongoing destruction of tropical rainforests threatens its existence – but also that of the farmers. It is therefore important that smallholders recognise and protect the importance of the rainforest for their livelihood.
Today, only 20% of the original Indonesian lowland rainforest habitat of the orangutans is left. That habitat once stretched across the entire island of Sumatra. Our aim is to protect the orangutan population by preserving the remaining rainforest and securing the livelihood of a growing community of smallholder farmers in the Gayo Highland.
This is a great opportunity for you to support the endangered Sumatran Orangutan as well as their tropical rainforest habitat. This is coffee with a purpose, coffee that does something good, and coffee that supports a cause. It is a talking point and opportunity to share the efforts of Orang Utan Coffee and to help spread the message.
Opal Coffee has strong ties to Indonesia, first being our Director, Hendra, who is Indonesian. Our sister company, Wahana Estate, is located in Sidikalang, Northern Sumatra and is owned by the in-laws of our director. Wahana Estate is one of the largest private coffee estates in Indonesia that spans across almost 500 ha of land in Sidikalang, Toba Region, North Sumatra. Supporting Orang Utan Coffee Project is an easy choice because of the connections and close ties to the country and region that Opal Coffee has.
Visit to know more: https://orangutan.coffee/
In late October and early November, Jason (Opal BNE) and Hengky (Opal SYD) traveled to West Java to visit several coffee farms, with the goal of developing a sustainable and long-term buying plan.
We recently had some Mountain Water Process Decaf land in New Zealand and we thought this would be a great opportunity to provide some information on the two types of Decaf that we currently have in our warehouses.
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