Indonesia Shines At International Coffee Awards

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Original Indonesian coffee beans, such as Malabar from West Java and Solok from West Sumatra, presented by Tanamera Coffee at the Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE) 2016, have won two main trophies apart from a handful of medals.

"The success of Tanamera Coffee contributed to Indonesia being acknowledged for its premium specialty coffee amongst the world's best coffee producers," John Lee, one of the directors of the company, said here on Tuesday.

The annual competition was held by the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RSAV), which particularly assesses coffee based on  quality and roasting consistency. A total of 658 entries from various countries such as Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, United Kingdom, and the United States competed.

Indonesia's representative, Tanamera, successfully attained the first place and was awarded the "Champion International Roaster" and "Champion Filter Coffee." In all, Indonesian coffees won a  gold, five silver and seven bronze medals.

"Of the 20 kinds of coffee that we had brought, 13 won the awards," Lee noted.

Such an achievement, according to him, was in line with the mission of Tanamera to deliver premium specialty coffee from  renowned regions across the Indonesian archipelago through  cooperation with local farmers.

Since it began trading in 2013, the coffee company has been having a direct trading arrangement with six local coffee farmers in Gayo (Aceh), Flores (East Nusa Tenggara), Toraja (South Sulawesi), and West Java.

Tanamera has also been working directly with the farmers to improve the quality of their harvest, green bean processing and overall income.

"Supporting and engaging as a partner with local farmers turned out be the key factors that enabled us to introduce the best Indonesian coffee to the world market," Lee stated.

Besides the two existing coffee outlets in Central Jakarta and Serpong, Banten, Tanamera plans to open two additional branches in Jakarta in June as well as a new outlet in the UK in 2017. (WDY)