With more than 17,000 islands, Indonesia is one of the most diverse coffee origins in terms of geographical and cultural diversity. Coffee has been at the centre of trade ever since the Dutch planted the first seeds in the late 1600s. Every region has developed its own style of production and has

its own set of coffee varieties. The most well-known regions for specialty coffee are North Sumatra, South Sulawesi, West-Java, Flores and East Timor. Almost all farms on Sumatra are small, on average between 0.5 to 2.5 hectares. In addition to growing coffee, many smallholder farmers also work as

hired labourers at the nearby tea plantations. When the harvest is finished, coffee farmers will go there and pick leaves under contracted labour. There are more and more initiatives by farmers in Sumatra to organize themselves into cooperatives. Cooperatives can share resources, organize training

and negotiate better prices.