Koperasi Surya Abada Kayumas (or simply Kayumas) was founded in 2008. Producer-members come from two separate villages, Kayumas and Taman Dadar, and are primarily from the Javanese and Maduranese ethnic groups. They are currently comprised of 150 total members, 59 of which are female. They continue to add new members every year, including thirty new producers for 2019. Coffee is harvested from March until August, with the rainy season occurring in September through March, although weather (and rains in particular) are becoming more and more unpredictable every year. This year (in 2018) the first rains did not occur until the 5th of November, over 5 weeks later than the previous year. Becauase the weather is becoming more and more variable, Kayumas are planting other crops for economic diversity such as avocado, clove, jackfruit, durian, as well as harvesting honey from wild bees.
Each farmer averages around 2 hectares of land, with 1500 total trees. Members typically produce 5-6 tones of cherry per hectare. The growing area is quite remote, about a 7 hour drive from the nearest airport in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city. The farthest farmer lives 14 km away from the cooperative. During harvest period, each farmer brings their cherry to one of 3 centralized pulping and fermentation areas. Coffee is fermented for 24-36 hours and also washed with a mechanical de-pulper after fermentation. It will then be dried to about 40% on raised beds and wet hulled. Then coffee moves to tarps, and once moisture reaches 20%, it will be brought to the nearby industrial center of Sidoarjo where PT Indokom (their principle buyer and exporter) will dry it to 13%, mill it and prepare the coffee to make its way to Surabaya, the port for all East Indonesia Island coffees.
Kayumas gained their Rainforest Alliance (RFA) cert in 2010 and also became the first fair trade certified group on Java, exporting their first FT lots in 2018. The cooperative expressed immense joy to have become fair trade certified. The process itself has brought the community much closer together, and has also paid for new infrastructure such as a clear paved path to the farms, making harvesting and cherry delivery easier and safer, while also providing funds to plant new coffee seeds. Fair trade certification has also motivated the youth to stay in the community and continue to produce coffee, as it has greatly raised the economic level of households.
We are so excited to be working with Kayumas and have every reason to believe that quality will continue to improve. Their motivation and community driven mindset truly sets them apart from.