Coffee farmer Lintong Nihuta now can enjoy the Starbucks’ coffee. He is
Manatap Siregar, e farmer that graduated from yunior school only has now
responsibility to manage hundreds million rupiahs, the collective funds from coffee
exporting yields with fair international trade.
Manahan, who lives in Sibuntuon Partes at Lintong Nihuta Estate in Humbang, North Sumatera, around 300 km from Medan, the main capital where two Starbucks store can be found sale and trade the arabica coffee from Lintong Nihuta. As like as the name, Lintong Nihuta become the house for arabica lintong coffee. This estate lies on the hill edging to lake Toba that very good for arabica to grow.
Manahan, who lives in Sibuntuon Partes at Lintong Nihuta Estate in Humbang, North Sumatera, around 300 km from Medan, the main capital where two Starbucks store can be found sale and trade the arabica coffee from Lintong Nihuta. As like as the name, Lintong Nihuta become the house for arabica lintong coffee. This estate lies on the hill edging to lake Toba that very good for arabica to grow.
In Starbucks, the roasted beans of Lintong priced at around 10 dollars
for 250 grams with exclusive packaging. There are two brands that sold in
Starbucks, Sumatra and Sumatra Decaf. Lintong
Arabica coffee or as known as Lintong Coffee is one of the three brands that
very famous in the world that planted in Sumatera. Two others are Mandheling
and Gayo.
When the reporter visit Manahan at his house, he frankly said that he
knows not to Lintong coffee since he only sells the beans. Very seldom to roast
and grind the coffee and more practically to buy it at the market. Manahan does
not ever taste Starbucks coffee and he does not know the coffee of Lintong are
exported, roasted in his country but resale it back in the country (Indonesia)
with very expensive price.
In the international
trading network, at the first point, the farmer or the labour do not get their
profit share from the trading. They stay poor, although the yield of their
plantation very high at international market, such as Lintong arabica coffee.
Fortunately, Manahan join to Organic Coffee Farmer Association (APKLO) that
begun since October 2003. APKLO is the concorsium of two coffee farmer group of
Lintong Nihuta and Siborongborong. On 2005, the association achieved the
certificate of Fairtrade Labeling Organization (FLO), a non profit organization
network bases in Bonn, Germany that controls international trade running fair
for commodities supplier such as farmer and labour. APKLO achieved this certification
after briefed by Wakachai Project, a non goverment organization of Japan.
FLO created the trading
standardization for commodities supplier, exporter and buyer. At the official
website mentioned that fairtrade is an alternative approachment in conventional
trading base on cooperation of supplier and buyer. Fairtrade offers the consumers
the way to decrease poor while purchase. The labelled product of FLO is more
expensive however the margin enjoyed by the product supplier.
Pemium Fairtrade
Fairtrade cuts the chain of
trading. The farmer like Manahan able to sell directly to the importer in Japan
without liaising to the collector. “Farmer could not able to make their own
price because should sell their coffee to the collector,’” said APKLO chairman,
Abdul Gani Silaban. “With Fairtrade, we get the minimum standard that not
influenced by world coffee price. When the price high we get higher profit.
Other benefit is we get premium fairtrade, the extra cash that not include to
standar price,” Gani
Starbuck is one of coffee buyer that
join in fairtrade network. There are 24 countries thay take labeling fairtrade initiative.
They are spread in Europe, America, Japan, Australia. In Siborongborong, the
exporter of Lintong coffee that supplies Starbucks, PT Sumatera Speciality
Coffee (SSS) requested by Starbucks to make cooperative with the farmer group
to have the FLO certification.
According to the founder of Wira Farmer Credit Union, his credit union is
at the final step to achieve FLO Certification. “The term to have FLO
Certificate is very difficult but the advantage of fair trading for farmer is
more important. We learn from APKLO successful,” He said.
Now, APKLO plans to build the storey and to buy the peeling machine from the premium fairtrade fund. Manahan also added,”By build the storey, the farmer can deposit their coffee and will release when the price higher. The farmer will not rent the peeling machine if they own it. To enjoy the aroma of Lintong arabica coffee that they produce, Manahan not require to go to Starbuck that sell it very expensive. The fair trade let Manahan to enjoy the aromatic coffee of Lintong, even he enjoy the coffee from anywhere he can get it. (Kompas)
Now, APKLO plans to build the storey and to buy the peeling machine from the premium fairtrade fund. Manahan also added,”By build the storey, the farmer can deposit their coffee and will release when the price higher. The farmer will not rent the peeling machine if they own it. To enjoy the aroma of Lintong arabica coffee that they produce, Manahan not require to go to Starbuck that sell it very expensive. The fair trade let Manahan to enjoy the aromatic coffee of Lintong, even he enjoy the coffee from anywhere he can get it. (Kompas)
