The History of Lampung Coffee, One of the Special Coffee from Indonesia

Coffee is a favorite drink now. This drink that is brewed with hot water becomes a friend when it opens the day, evening or also at night. Coffee drinks are different from other drinks because coffee fans are very fanatical and taste-sensation seekers. If you drink coffee that doesn't taste right or doesn't taste like your expectations, you fail to drink coffee.

Lampung Caffee, The Robusta Caffee from Indonesia

Coffee is also sometimes associated with social relationships because for coffee drinkers, coffee is chatting. It just doesn't feel right to "hang out" without coffee. This has led to the emergence of many coffee cafes where millinials 'hang out' and 'chat'.

There are jokes or memes even though they chat via WhatsApp chat or Facebook, but are always reminded "Have you coffee?"

Coffee as a well-known drink has a high enough caffeine content that triggers a higher heart work. This increased work of the heart has an uplifting effect and is maintained on the physiological effect of increasing psychomotor work. Usually the effect of drinking coffee only occurs a few hours after consuming coffee.
One of the Indonesian coffee products from Way Kanan, Lampung
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Currently, coffee, which has been used since 800 BC, has become a drink for the world community. More than 50 countries in the world are developing the coffee agro-industry. Indonesia is the third largest producer of coffee, after Brazil and Vietnam.

Two commonly known varieties of the coffee tree are robusta coffee (Coffea canephora) and arabica coffee (Coffea arabica). In general, world coffee enthusiasts prefer to consume Arabica coffee, because it has more varied flavor variants, on the other hand there are not many fans of robusta coffee but fanatics of the distinctive robusta taste.

Robusta coffee has a higher acidity with a bitter taste and is generally used for espresso or the use of ground coffee in the original or mixed to get other flavors. The term robusta is taken from the English word, 'robust' which means strong, to describe strong caffeine levels.

Queen Kaffee Kopi Robusta fromi Way Kanan, Lampung.

Indonesia is one of the developers of these two varieties, but more robusta coffee is cultivated than arabica. Actually there is one type of coffee that is also consumed but less popular, namely the Liberika and Excelsa varieties, but it was not developed in Indonesia.

The island of Sumatra is the largest major producer in Indonesia, supported by four provinces namely Aceh, North Sumatra, South Sumatra and Lampung. Aceh and North Sumatra are the main producers of arabica, while Lampung and South Sumatra are well-known producers of robusta coffee. Initially, the development of robusta coffee was unattractive because it tasted bitter and sour, but it was precisely from this taste that coffee fans could enjoy more robusta coffee than arabica coffee.

At first, Arabica coffee was known beforehand, so that coffee lovers were accustomed and cultured to use Arabica coffee, but this tendency is increasingly changing because the consumption of robusta coffee increases regularly. As explained by Moelyono Soesilo from the Indonesian Coffee Exporters and Industry Association (AEKI) said; "Even though arabica is more sought after, robusta coffee consumption will continue to increase regularly. The proportion of consumption between arabica and robusta is not much different. If in 2010 the robusta consumption was only 35 percent, now it has reached 40-42 percent." As quoted from cnnindonesia.com.
Hagakawa Caffee from Way Kanan, Lampung.

The thing that causes the taste of coffee is identical to the place and location of planting because the ingredients that make up the taste of coffee depend on climatic conditions, soil nutrients, physiological influences, geographic location of agricultural location and the height of the planting area from above sea level. Coffee with the same type of variety planted in different places does not necessarily get the same coffee taste. This is why coffee tastes from Sumatra are in great demand by coffee connoisseurs, including West Lampung coffee and Way Kanan Lampung coffee.

In 2018 Lampung coffee production was 107,183 tons, down from 2017 production of 104,716 tons, as reported by digilib.unila.ac.id. West Lampung Regency is the largest producer of robusta coffee, followed by Way Kanan Regency, Pesisir Barat Regency and Tegangus Regency. In Way Kanan District, the local government is developing a demonstration plot (demonstration garden) with an area of ​​ten hectares for pilot planting of robusta coffee which is centered in three sub-districts, namely, Banjit, Kasui and Rebang Tangkas.


History of Lampung Caffee

Lampung coffee is well known and widely known to coffee connoisseurs. Not only since coffee has become a prestigious commodity as it is now, which has been supported by the presence of many new cafes that have sprung up. Lampung coffee has been known since the Dutch East Indies colonial era.

Lampung Robusta Caffee from Lampung, Indonesia

Coffee which was originally discovered and used by the Ethiopians by consuming coffee beans by mixing coffee grounds with animal fat and wine. In this way, they believe they can increase stamina and the body's energy intake needs.

From Africa, coffee spread to Arabian warriors who consume coffee in the brew it is now. From the Arabian Peninsula then also to Turkey. Turkey, which part of its territory entered Europe, spread fertile coffee beans to Europe which were planted by the Spaniards and the Venetians. Then the Dutch brought coffee seeds to the Dutch East Indies, namely to the islands of Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi. It turns out that the yield from Sumatra Island is very potential.

Coffee is an agricultural commodity in Sumatra which is quite reliable. There are three well-known coffee producers in Sumatra, namely Gayo Coffee in Aceh, Medan Coffee in North Sumatra and Lampung Coffee from West Lampung and Way Kanan.

During the reign of the Dutch East Indies, coffee commodities were also a concern of Dutch VOC businessmen. The Dutch call coffee the term koffie which imitates the term kahveh which comes from Turkey and the term qahwah which comes from Arabic.
At first the Dutch East Indies Government was only in the initial stages of researching coffee by being planted on the island of Java in the Kedaung area which is still close to Batavia (the present-day Jakarta Old Town) in 1696 but the results were not satisfactory because coffee plants needed height as a condition for good coffee tree growth. After that the planting experiment was moved to Malabar, Pengalengan, Bandung Regency, West Java. The results from here turned out to be good because the climate and altitude were up to the mark.

The results of this coffee nursery in Malabar were distributed to various places in the other Dutch East Indies, including Aceh, North Sumatara and Lampung which could grow well. Apart from Sumatra, other islands that were tested were Sulawesi, Bali, the Lesser Sunda Islands and Tomor.

The clearing of coffee lands in Sumatra is also part of the Dutch Ethical Policy. As expressed by Hari Ganjar Budiman (2012) who wrote: “Entering the Ethical Political era, coffee cultivation reached Sumatra, one of which was up to the Lampung area. Along with the first phase of the colonization (population movement) process (lasted from 1905 to 1911) in Lampung, colonists from Java and colonists of Chinese descent began to clear land and develop coffee plants. Lampung's fertile and extensive land allows for the cultivation of large quantities of coffee through smallholder plantations which are scattered everywhere. This plantation continued to grow from the era of the Dutch East Indies government to the era of Indonesian independence.

At that time the Europeans, especially the Dutch, actually saw the residency of Lampung as a producer of pepper and cloves but also coffee. Coffee at that time was the second commodity after pepper. This agricultural commodity from Lampung once placed Lampung as the highest producer of the entire Dutch East Indies region.

In the ambassador's note, a Dutchman who once held a position in the Lampung Presidency during the civil presidency era. Lampung once supplied 70% of commodities to Batavia in the period after 1900s. This is proof that the potential of Lampung agricultural commodities as a producer of coffee, pepper and cloves has been very high for a long time.

Coffee, cloves and pepper were supplied through Telok Betung Port to Sunda Kelapa Harbor in Batavia from 1890 to 1940. Shipments of commodities grew even greater after the railway line between Palembang and Tanjung Karang was successfully used by the Dutch East Indies in 1911.

Actually, the idea of ​​building a railroad for the purpose of transporting this large agricultural commodity had been since 1864, but because the planning and mapping process was very long, the inauguration of its first hoeing only started on June 17, 1864 during the reign of the Governor General of the Dutch East Indies, Mr. L.A.J. Baron Sloet van den Beele. Construction of the first railway network was built by the Dutch company Naamlooze Venootschap Nederlandsch Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij (NV NISM).

It can be imagined that the railway construction process took so long, of course, that the Dutch East Indies Government in Batavia had spent a lot of money in order to facilitate the delivery of large agricultural commodities from South Sumatra and Lampung. This means that agricultural commodities from Lampung at that time were very potential so that the Dutch East Indies Government dared to invest in such a large infrastructure.

For the development of coffee production in Lampung, the Dutch East Indies Government initially tried to plant arabica varieties, but in subsequent developments the Dutch made more variations in coffee plants. The Dutch also tried to get robusta coffee seeds directly from Congo which was introduced in 1898. Efforts to grow robusta coffee in Sumatra are said to have been because the Queen of the Netherlands, Yuliana was a fanatical builder of robusta coffee.
In relation to the robusta coffee variety, Lampung's geographical position benefits because it has a tropical climate which is a friendly home for robusta coffee. Cultivation of robusta coffee varieties in Lampung is successful because it has a climate, natural conditions and an altitude of about 2000 masl, especially in highland and mountainous areas such as West Lampung, Tegangus and Way Kanan. Until now, Robusta coffee planting in West Lampung is still mostly done in Liwa, Waytenong, Sekincau, Fajar Bulan and Air Hitam. Whereas in Way Kanan, coffee cultivation is mostly carried out in Banjit, Kasui, Baradatu and Rebang Tangkas.

In 1992 the New Order Government at that time saw robusta as difficult to market in the export market, so issued a policy to carry out arabicization on the island of Sumatra which was based on the success of Kalibendo in Banyuwangi and Kintamani in Bali, but it turned out that this program failed because many Arabica seeds did not develop. well even die, so this policy is stopped. Until now, Indonesia is still dominant as a robusta coffee exporter. Of the total coffee production in Indonesia, 80% is robusta coffee, and only 20% is Arabica coffee.

Currently, the fact is that the Robusta coffee commodity market is getting more and more crowded. One of the Indonesian robusta coffee exchanges is on the NYSE Liffe and London exchanges, the US Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Futures exchange with a price that is always changing, so that Indonesia is a coffee producer, but unfortunately the price is determined from the London commodity market.

One way of marketing Robusta coffee is also done using futures contracts. Indonesia is one of the world's main producers of robusta coffee, so this marketing mechanism benefits Indonesian exporters. The Robusta Coffee Futures Contract is a means of hedging for players in the robusta coffee industry in Indonesia. Robusta Coffee Futures Contracts have a trading period of one year for each month the contract is traded. At maturity, market players can choose to physically hand over robusta coffee in accordance with the applicable regulations for registered warehouses located near robusta coffee production centers.

The choice of Robusta coffee for Lampung coffee farmers is not only an economic aspect, but has also become a hereditary heritage. Planting Robusta coffee seems like an obligation, so it is only natural that Lampung coffee is a part of Lampung culture. In 2015 the Central Government through the Ministry of Human Development and Culture established Robusta Lampung as one of Lampung's cultural heritages.

In the present era, the development of coffee farming is becoming more civilized. The government has made various programs to develop this commodity, so that Lampung remains a large producing province on a national scale. Lampung's production capacity has helped boost national coffee production and put Indonesia as the third country to produce coffee after Brazil and Vietnam, as reported by the International Coffee Organization (ICO) in 2013.

In recent decades Vietnam has participated in large-scale coffee production and its production can catch up to Indonesia's position, so that in 1997 Indonesia was shifted to third position after Vietnam. Previously, Indonesia was in second position after Brazil. Vietnam is able to simultaneously boost production capacity and coffee quality so as to rival Indonesia's position.

Currently, Lampung coffee has been widely exported to domestic luer, which is dominated by 1V grade robusta, and the largest is coffee beans. The export destination countries include the United States, Singapore, Japan, Britain, Germany and Italy. With a total export value of US $ 36,336,230.50 in 2013 as reported by digilib.unila.ac.id. So why do we drink coffee abroad if the country itself is one of the best coffee producers that is in great demand by other nations. We must also be proud of robusta coffee which is mainly produced in Indonesia, so that currently in the international coffee commodity market the term robusta coffee is always coupled with the word Indonesia, to become Indonesian Robusta Coffee !.



Small Business Unit Spearhead of the Lampung Coffee Industry

The development of the coffee industry does not have to focus on the upstream to develop coffee farming alone, but it also needs efforts to improve the downstream coffee industry by increasing added value after processing to improve the taste image or flavor image variations, packing and labeling with the protection of regional SME trademarks. .

Recently, there have been many small businesses that have brought the name Lampung coffee to the national level. For example in Way Kanan District, many SMEs have carried out the downstream process by increasing added value by enhancing the image of coffee flavors, packing and labeling.

Various brands of this small business such as; Banjit Coffee, Mountain Coffee, Putri Malu Coffee, Heler Coffee, RJK Ground Coffee, Hagakawa Coffe, Putri Malu Robusta Coffee, Queen Coffee, Wiro Kopi and many more. In West Lampung, coffee brands have also sprung up such as Lampung Robusta Red Cherry Coffee, West Lampung Robusta Caffe, Gukola, Rigis Coffee, Ratu Luwak and many more.

 Putri Malu Caffee, One of Caffee from Way Kanan, Lampung

Hopefully the various SMEs that are downstream of the Lampung coffee industry can continue to exist and increase. Also contributing to the development of Lampung robusta coffee to become coffee that is favored by coffee lovers around the world. like Lampung coffee, which was favored by the Queen of the Netherlands, Yuliana.

TheIndonesiaAdventure.com Team Writter

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