From the Field, News
Friday, July 31, 2020
Trailblazing in Logistics
As of last week, Sucafina became the first coffee exporter to ship coffee directly from Port of Jambi. The Port of Jambi will be the first new port to export coffee from Sumatra since Medan began exporting in the 1700s. Coffee export from Jambi will enable smallholder cooperative members to hold on to a bigger piece of the pie, and it’s far more efficient because so much of Sumatra's coffee is produced in the regions surrounding Jambi, including the well-known Kerinci.
The first container filled and exported from Jambi was produced by Koerintji Barokah Bersama Cooperative. Sucafina and its in-country partners have been working with the cooperative since its inception. “Now, they’re doing everything from growing the coffee to exporting it,” says Daniel Shewmaker, Manager Indonesia & Timor-Leste. “If they can continue to market through us and circumvent Medan altogether, they’re capturing maybe another 6 to 10% of the value. And it’s money they can reinvest in themselves.”
In addition to working with the cooperative to provide consistent agricultural and financial support for many years, Sucafina has been integral in sharing knowledge throughout the exporting process to make sure everything moves smoothly. “It’s important for us to support autonomous development and help build physical and expertise-based infrastructure in Kerinci and beyond,” Daniel says. “It’s exciting for us to be able to help a cooperative reach the point where they’re able to be pretty self-sufficient and maintain a higher level of control and shorten the distance the coffee has to travel."