Coffee Development History of Indonesia, the third largest Coffee exporter in the World

Indonesia's coffee business originated in 1696 during Dutch colonization of Indonesia, from a Batavia spice farm to a coffee-producing area, making Java and Sumatra today known as the world's third largest coffee exporter.

Coffee has been recognized as a cash crop in Indonesia for more than 300 years, as has the habit of drinking coffee. Indonesian coffee culture is no different from many countries in ASEAN. It is a combination of deep-rooted local coffee and espresso drinking style from the United States. Indonesia's famous coffee business consulting company understands the origin and trend of Indonesian coffee drinking. It can be divided into two periods:

Black coffee period.

It can be said that Indonesians have been drinking black coffee for a long time from the past to the present, and black coffee was recognized by Indonesians before espresso. Coffee is popular in bags and black coffee called KopiTubruk, which costs about 3000 rupees (about 12 baht). Indonesians drink coffee with fried bananas and Turkish-style hot coffee. If someone likes cold coffee, they pour it down the plate before drinking it to lower the temperature. The local coffee shop is popular with men and women of all ages, especially men who like to socialize and tell stories, and will smoke a cigarette here and drink coffee while passing the time.

② Espresso era

Italian-style coffee was produced 20 years ago, but it was not popular until 2004, when coffee chain giant Starbucks realized the spread of espresso coffee in Indonesia because it was sold only in some hotels and the price was relatively high. Although coffee consumption in Indonesia continues to increase, Indonesians insist on coffee consumption behavior as a social activity or entertainment need, rather than coffee as an indispensable part of daily life and always buy a cup of coffee before going to work, as in many other countries. Indonesians tend to drink coffee after work. Coffee shops become a third of the places people choose to talk or meet after work. Anyway, More and more Indonesians are now aware of quality coffee and know where they choose to drink it, how to make it and how to make it as a way of life.

The Chairman of the Specialty Coffee Association of Indonesia (SCAI), one of the institutions for the promotion and development of coffee growing knowledge in Indonesia, gave a brief overview of the export coffee business. "Indonesia's total exports grew by an average of 50-20% per year from 2000 to 2009 until it became the world's third largest coffee producer, with robasta coffee accounting for about 70% of total exports, because the Dutch growers, who were the first to grow coffee, did not fully understand Arabica coffee, resulting in low coffee yields and many premature deaths. Farmers returned to growing robasta coffee that was suitable for climate and disease resistance. Later, farmers learned the knowledge and set up organizations to promote Arabica coffee cultivation, which made farmers more confident in growing quality coffee, which was also the demand of market growth. In 2010, the main obstacle to coffee exports was that Indonesia faced longer and heavier rainy seasons than normal, resulting in lower yields. But there is also demand for coffee from all over the world. This means that Indonesian coffee is being demanded by more people, and is becoming more and more high-quality and international. Coffee shops vs. popular Italian coffee It can be said that Indonesia's coffee market, like many ASEAN countries, will develop from the entry of American giants into the domestic market and independent coffee shops. This important phenomenon has changed the perception of coffee as related to life and encouraged local businesses to open their own cafes. The coffee shop owner expressed his opinion on the popularity of Italian coffee: "At present Indonesian coffee is in development, especially in big cities, the market is growing, and consumers are beginning to know more about coffee. Independent shops and coffee chains have been set up a lot and have grown over the past 4-5 years, and I believe the coffee business will continue to grow over the next 5 years. And these shops have increased coffee production and coffee consumption in Indonesia and led to the creation of more local cafes." Another important feature of Indonesian coffee shops that cannot be ignored is the proud recommendation of coffee shop owners for local coffee, even big brands like Starbucks Indonesia still provide quality coffee from Sumatra locally to meet customer needs. This is another factor that Indonesians take into account when considering the quality of local coffee. The cafe owner commented on this problem: "In 2000 when the new store opened, Indonesians did not know espresso, since they tasted espresso from Italy from the chain store, when independent coffee shops or local chain stores kept opening, people saw that Italian coffee was not the only good taste, coffee shops carefully recommended local coffee, so that coffee consumers understand that local coffee has the same good taste as Italian coffee."

Finally, as Indonesian consumers become more aware of quality coffee, the number of specialty coffee shops has increased, according to coffee shop owners: "The rapid growth of specialty coffee shops in big cities like Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung and Bali also shows that consumers have more knowledge about coffee. Coffee shop owners must choose quality coffee ingredients. The best marketing plan is to hold the hearts of customers with quality products."

A leap forward for local coffee chains. In addition to the growing number of independent coffee shops, Italian coffee has become increasingly popular, even competing with American brands Starbucks and Coffee Bean (currently 31), which has led to more locally branded coffee in recent years.

Here are some of Indonesia's most famous cafes:

PT Javarabica: general manager of the bakery company, Indonesia, said of the opening process: "Caswell's Coffee was established in 2001, close to the time Starbucks was established in Indonesia. In addition to six sales points, Caswell's Coffee has a reputation for providing coffee roasters to five-star hotels, restaurants and coffee shops. At the same time, it also held coffee knowledge training for employees and held many barista competitions."

Excelso Coffee: A coffee shop chain that integrates planting, production, export and sales equipment. Now it has 19 branches and has become a very popular local coffee shop chain among Indonesians.

Bengawan Solo Coffee: With 37 branches, starting with Ipeng Wi-djojo's obsession with coffee flavor, focusing on selecting high-quality local ingredients and making its own roast coffee, Bengawan Solo Coffee has become a well-known coffee shop and is as popular as foreign coffee chains.

Coffee Tcoffee: Launched a new local chain in Surabaya at the end of 2006, Coffee Tcoffee expanded to more than 100 branches in 4 years due to its love of espresso.

Having the country's coffee exports at world-class levels as capital makes Indonesians more interested in entering the coffee industry, whether it's roasting coffee, opening a coffee shop, or opening a shop, making domestic coffee consumption grow not just in terms of product volume. In order to encourage better quality coffee, the coffee business still needs more understanding and acceptance from consumers.