All the coffee served by ‘A Fair Cup’ is grown in the Gayo highlands in the northern province of Aceh, located in Sumatra, Indonesia. The coffee is produced by the Gayo Organic Coffee Farmers Association (known locally as PPKGO). This cooperative was founded by the people of Gayo in 1997 and was the first and still the only, coffee cooperative in Indonesia that is Fairtrade certified. The cooperative started as two small groups of farmers and now has 1400 members throughout 24 communities. Despite the political unrest in the region, the association has continued to produce, process and export high quality Sumatran coffee. 

The significant premiums earned from selling to the Fairtrade and organic markets have allowed the cooperative to contribute to a wide variety of programmes, including:

• Community infrastructure projects, such as clean water supply
  

• A member’s credit union to extend small loans to families in the cooperative.
  

• Community nurseries to provide improved and grafted coffee and shade tree seedlings
  

• Rehabilitation of degraded lands and unproductive coffee trees
  

• A weed cutter programme to help farmers avoid the use of herbicides
  

• Upgrades to all processing facilities
  

• Increased staffing and development of the association

Iswandi Idris- Director of PPKGO states:

 “When you drink our coffee, don’t just think about the money... but about the species we’re protecting in the midst of this conflict. The Fairtrade price is not just about money, it’s about protecting the eco-system and our community.”

Gayo farmer maintaining his coffee farm.

Coffee beans at the processing plant.

Coffee beans ready for export.