Ketiara Cooperative

This coffee is specially prepared for Stumptown by our partners at Ketiara, a tight knit, energetic and powerful cooperative community. Stumptown has been working with the Ketiara Cooperative since 2013, around the same time the group became organic certified. Ketiara farmers produce coffee organically on small farms in the Gayo Highlands around Takengon in northern Sumatra, where steady rainfall contributes to an almost year-round coffee harvest. Bies Penantan refers to a specific group of villages in the highlands where the smallholders who contribute to this lot grow their coffee.

Ibu Rahmah is the chairwoman of Ketiara, which prides itself for being a female-led cooperative in Indonesia. In addition to collecting, processing, blending, and preparing coffee for export, the Ketiara Cooperative also provides technical services and regular training on best organic practices for members. The original cooperative had 38 members, quickly grew to 650, and now represents over 2,000 farmers in the region.

Coffee from Sumatra is processed using a method called wet-hulling, which lends distinct notes and a heavy body to the final profile. After harvest, Ketiara farmers process their cherry on small wet mills at their homes. Cherry is depulped, fermented, washed, and partially dried. At this point, it is transported to the cooperative facility for final processing. The parchment is removed when it is still wet, at 30% - 45% moisture. After drying is completed on patios, the green coffee is sorted by size and density, and finally hand-sorted before export.

As heavy rains have become more and more frequent in the Gayo Highlands due to shifting climate patterns, it is often difficult for Ketiara members to safely transport their coffee on muddy – and sometimes flooding – roads. In cooperative meetings, many members voiced that improved roadways were their top priority. In response, Ketiara has launched a project to construct accessible and safe farm roads for members. At the beginning of 2021, Stumptown contributed funds to assist in this project in collaboration with our importer partner Atlas Coffees. With these donations, our partners at Ketiara are now converting dirt roads to new concrete roads.

We’re proud to partner with Ketiara, and constantly inspired by the community focus of this group.