The Cooperative
The Koerintji Barokah Bersama Cooperative comprises 320 smallholder farmers living and working on a high plateau at the foot of Mount Kerinci, on the island of Sumatra. Kerinci sits within the Pacific Ring of Fire, a 40,000-kilometre arc of tectonic instability defined by frequent volcanic and seismic activity. Repeated eruptions have deposited deep layers of mineral-rich volcanic soil across the region, creating conditions well suited to coffee cultivation.
Most farms on Sumatra are small, typically between 0.5 and 2.5 hectares. Coffee is usually the primary cash crop, but it is rarely grown alone. Farmers commonly intercrop coffee with vegetables, potatoes, and fruit, much of which contributes directly to household food security. In addition to their own farms, many coffee producers work seasonally as hired labour on nearby tea estates, which are widespread in the region. After the coffee harvest, it is common for farmers to supplement their income by picking tea under short-term contracts.
In recent years, there has been a growing move among Sumatran farmers to organise into cooperatives. Historically, individual producers had little leverage when selling cherry or parchment and limited access to training or infrastructure. Cooperative structures allow farmers to pool resources, standardise practices, and negotiate more stable pricing.
Koerintji Barokah Bersama was founded in mid-2017 and is managed by Triyono. Under his leadership, the cooperative has taken on responsibilities that often sit beyond the reach of smallholder groups, including processing and roasting. The site includes a dry mill and a fully outfitted roasting facility with an attached cupping lab, all located adjacent to production.
Processing
Coffee is handpicked during the harvest season, with labour typically supplied by immediate family members. After picking, cherry is delivered to a UPH (Unit Pengolahan Hasil) collection centre. The cooperative owns and operates nine UPH stations across the region, each serving different farmer groups. A UPH functions as a small washing station, where cherry is purchased by the cooperative and processed before being transported to the central mill.
To maintain consistency across sites, an agriculturalist provides technical support and oversees the application of standard operating procedures at each UPH. This helps reduce variability introduced by geography, staffing, and harvest timing.
For this anaerobic natural lot, cherry is first floated and sorted by density, then laid on raised beds where underripe, overripe, and damaged fruit is removed by hand. Selected ripe cherry is sealed in airtight 20-kilogram plastic bags and stored in a cool, dry environment at temperatures between 18 and 22°C for seven days.
After fermentation, the cherry is returned to raised drying beds housed under protective domes to limit exposure to rain and excessive sunlight. Drying typically takes between 20 and 23 days. Once dried, the coffee is milled and hand-sorted before final preparation.
Farmers receive a fixed buyer for their cherry and are paid agreed prices. At the end of the year, cooperative profits are either reinvested into infrastructure and quality improvements or distributed among members. The cooperative also provides technical assistance and seedlings for shade trees to support long-term farm health.
Indonesia
Indonesia is a relatively young postcolonial state. Following centuries of Dutch colonial rule, independence was declared in 1945 and formally recognised in 1949. Much of the country’s agricultural infrastructure, land tenure systems, and export-oriented production models were shaped during the colonial period, often prioritising scale and extraction over farmer autonomy.
Smallholder dominance in coffee production today reflects both geography and history. While Indonesia is one of the world’s largest coffee producers, the majority of output comes from farms measured in hectares rather than estates. Access to capital, processing infrastructure, and market information has historically been uneven, particularly outside Java.
Against this backdrop, cooperatives like Koerintji Barokah Bersama represent a gradual shift. By retaining control over processing, quality evaluation, and portions of value addition, farmers are less exposed to price volatility and better positioned to make incremental improvements over time. Access to roasting and sensory facilities remains uncommon for smallholders in the region, and where it exists, it reflects a broader rebalancing of knowledge and control within Indonesia’s coffee sector.
