"So far, I see no positive impact from the producer side. Those coffee chains serve imported beans, they rarely serve our robustas," AEKI Executive Secretary Rachim Kartadibrata said.
The country's coffee output has been falling in the past three years as weak prices -- robusta at 30-year lows last year -- deter farmers from planting coffee and maintaining plants.
Indonesian grade four robusta beans now sells at 4,000 rupiah/kg, just enough to buy one kg of rice.
But the new coffee culture could bring a glimmer of hope to domestic producers -- who grow 90 percent robusta and 10 percent arabica -- through the possibility of a share of the growing market, by encouraging consumption of domestic blends.
"We have a lot of gourmet varieties, some of them have never even been heard of in the international market," said Litha Brent, who runs Sulawesi-based CV Gumer trading house.
"Our good quality robustas have appealing and acceptable taste characteristics ... I don't see any reason why it can't be sold in international chains," one trader said.
RSS