Indo-Pacific - Sumatra

Koperasi Pedagang Kopi Ketiara

Founded by Ibu Rahmah in 2008, the Ketiara Cooperative is primarily women-owned and is made up 890 growers and members who are passionate about improving the well-being of their members, delivering a quality product, and protecting the environment. In the 20 years before the coop formed, Rahman was managing nearly all aspects of her family’s coffee business—purchasing cherries, processing, and local sales. This gave her the foundation needed to not only produce great coffee but also to elevate women in the region, creating opportunities for them to succeed in a male-dominated field.

Organic, Fair Trade, and Rainforest Alliance Certified

The support and teamwork at Ketiara Cooperative helped the coop expand their production to sell to larger suppliers. And their vote to become Organic, Fair Trade, and Rainforest Alliance certified has only made their network larger. The benefits of organic certification for the producers and the roasters are huge. Certification gives access to markets that might otherwise be unavailable, premium pricing, and eligibility for grants and financial assistance. This ensures better financial compensation for their coffee, with a minimum Fair Trade market price plus up to a 20¢ premium per pound. The Rainforest Alliance Certified seal ensures that coffee is regularly audited to meet strict standards of social, environmental, and economic sustainability. These standards seek to promote and continuously improve biodiversity, natural resource conservation, effective planning and farm management systems, and improved livelihoods and human well-being.

Washing and Drying

Coffee from Sumatra is wet hulled, a process not used in most other parts of the world but necessary in Indonesia’s more humid climate. This process tends to accentuate the coffee’s body, which makes for a more intense flavor profile. What separates washing from the wet hulling process is the moisture content of the bean—for wet hulling, the beans are have a higher moisture content, so more of the parchment sticks to the bean. The wet hulling process can be harder on the beans, but the whole process leads to an amazing cup.

Fresh Roasted Coffee

We offer several different Sumatran coffees, including Organic Sumatra, conventional Sumatra Mandheling, and Dark Sumatra Mandheling. We roast to different levels to accentuate the various flavors from pepper, chocolate and cedar to softer, earthy and herbaceous flavors.