Indonesia and Its History of Coffee

In the 1600s, the Dutch East India Company (VOC or Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) was colonizing Indonesia and had brought coffee to try and plant it in the country's lush landscape. Originally a government-backed military-commercial enterprise, VOC was considered the first Ltd company in the world.

VOC was granted powers to wage wars and establish colonies for the purpose of expanding and strengthening their spice trade. In 1619, VOC established themselves in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta) where they took over surrounding territories and Indonesia became the center of the company's trading network in Asia. The Dutch Colonial Government had planted coffee all around the city and by 1711, the first exports were sent from the ports of Java to Europe.

By early 18th century, Amsterdam became the world's coffee capital thanks to the supply from Java and the term "Java" became synonyms with coffee. Plantations later expanded East to neighboring islands such Bali, Timor, Sulawesi and Sumatra. The coffee plantations grew so well, that the VOC controlled coffee trade in Europe and around the world at one point. Indonesia became the first country outside of the Arabian Peninsula and Ethiopia to cultivate coffee in vast commercial volumes.

In 1876, coffee rust swept the lands of Java wiping out most of the Arabica Typica cultivar in the region. To save the industry, Robusta was then replanted as a substitute in 1900.

In 1942, the Dutch were driven out of Indonesia due to Germany's push into Europe. Seizing the opportunity, the Japanese Empire then came to occupy Indonesia and its rich resources that same year. They ruled for another 3.5 years until the end of World War II. And in 1945, Indonesia finally declared its independence.

By 1950 all of Dutch-owned plantations in Java were nationalized and managed as state-owned plantations. Each had also been revitalized with new varieties of coffee arabica.

Today, Indonesia is ranked #4 globally as a coffee producer and more than 90% of Indonesia's coffee is grown by smallholders on farms averaging around one hectare. The country's ideal geographic location, with its rich soil and tropical climate, makes it the perfect environment for growing coffee.