“Mainly, it is because of the difficulty in obtaining the coffee,” said Ardian, who is also the event director of the 2016 Flores Coffee Festival, in an official statement. He also noted minimum orders, seasonal problems, as well as a lack of product standardization as additional factors.
(Read also: Coffee guerrillas fighting for the perfect cup)
Meeting demand is still an issue for Flores coffee farmers. According to the festival organizer Kompas, the Manggarai Coffee Farmers Association (Asnikom) already had 24 tons of coffee orders on its waiting list this year. It also stated that Asnikom, which has around 1,200 farmer members spread in Manggarai, Flores, had only managed to fill 50 percent of the demand.
On the other hand, Ngada Regent Marianus Sae said that Ngada regency in the Bajawa highlands, another coffee-producing area in Flores, had produced enough coffee to cater to the demand. “We only exported a small amount of the coffee. The rest was sold to farmers in Manggarai, who then re-sold in other areas,” he said, adding that the regency produced over 3,000 tons of coffee every year.
(Read also: Sipping Mt. Kelimutu coffee during sunrise in Flores)
According to Kompas, 70 percent from the total of 7,269 tons of Flores coffee produced last year was sold by brokers in other areas, including North Sumatra, Aceh, North Sulawesi and West Java, which led to the “lost of its identity because it gets sold under another brand that sells more in the market”. Compared to Arabica, Robusta is said to be the most popular Flores coffee in the market. “Therefore, through this festival, we hope that there will be a solution to the problem,” Ardian said.
The Flores Coffee Festival is being held until Saturday at Bentara Budaya Jakarta in Palmerah, West Jakarta. In addition to a few coffee booths, it also hosts coffee-related talk shows, workshops and music performances. (kes)
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