Member of the Sustainable Coffee Platform of Indonesia wins Specialty Coffee Association of America award

30 / Jun / 16

Mr Ayi Sutedja Soemali, Indonesian coffee farmer participating in the Sustainable Coffee Platform of Indonesia (SCOPI) was the winner of ‘best taste’ at the Specialty Coffee Association (SCAA) Expo Awards in Atlanta, 14-17 April 2016. Ayi Sutedja Soemali is a leader of the farmer cooperative Murbeg Puntang –in Bandung West Java-, which is currently establishing their own processing unit and also represents farmers at the Board of SCOPI. His specialty coffee beans won the best taste with a score of 86,25 and had the highest auction for $55 US dollar per kilo.

Ayi Sutedja Soemali

Since Ayi started his occupation as a coffee grower he wanted to produce a high quality coffee that is also sustainably produced. Therefore, he decided to join the Sustainable Coffee Platform in Indonesia (SCOPI), to prove the quality of his beans, and went through the cupping test, where his beans were assessed on their natural, semi wash and full wash form. Ayi’s coffee beans received an outstanding score from his assessment, categorizing it as specialty coffee.

After the test, his coffee beans became recognized by the Ministry of Trade, allowing his coffee to become one of seventeen Indonesian specialty coffees featured on the SCAA Expo in Atlanta. Turns out, that his coffee beans were the best coffee being sold out in the auction.

Reza Phalevi Cahirul, Indonesian Embassy’s Commercial Attaché in Washington DC, stated “Some 17 specialty coffees being auctioned were sold out in only three hours. It’s a new record of Indonesian coffee auction.” The coffee auction was won by Phil Goodlayson of Corvus Coffee, Denver, with the highest bid of US$55 per kilogram or roughly Rp750,000 per kilogram.

SCOPI and GAEKI (Indonesia Coffee Exporters Union) were appointed to lead the Coffee Auction. Since January 2016, ahead of the event, more than 70 coffee samples were sent from all over Indonesia, out of which 17 samples were selected to participate in the auction in USA. These samples included a total of 5 that were produced by SCOPI members that are also participating in the VECO program.