Indonesia Pegasing

Grown: Panta Musara, Pegasing, Aceh Tengah

Altitude: 1,300-1,500m

Varietals: Tim Tim, Caturra and Abysynnia

Producers: Around 70 smallholder farmers and Hendra

Drying: Raised beds in poly tunnels for up to 30 days

Hendra’s father, Hamdan, moved to the area in 2006 from Banda Aceh and bought some land in the sub district of Pegasing to start growing coffee. This move inspired Hendra who started to work with his father in 2010. He soon started to experiment with washed coffees after reading through old literature and seeking help from other producers in Indonesia who were also moving away from wet hulled processing.

Hendra and his family have invested heavily in the farm, particularly in the post harvesting facilities where, with the help of some funding, they have built a small wet mill with two pulpers, gravitational washing channels and several raised beds in large poly tunnels for drying the coffee. Hendra has continued to experiment and now has around 8 – 10 different processes that he uses.

The coffee is purchased from 70 farmers in the region who want to work with Hendra. He has incentivised them to pick ripe cherry by rewarding good picking. If any farmers have travelled further to get to Hendra’s farm, then they are paid extra for the additional distance they have travelled. Hendra has also started a nursery where he is helping to regrow the Abyssinia varietal that was planted when coffee first came to Indonesia. He is working with local farmers to plant small plots on their land where he pays more for this varietal due to the reduced yield and higher cup quality.