Darmin explained that total global exports of the commodity was US$24 billion, but world coffee consumption reached $240 billion.

“So, coffee-producing countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil and Colombia only enjoy about 10 percent of the total value of the coffee they produce,” Darmin said on Thursday in Jakarta as quoted by kompas.com.

The coordinating minister was speaking during the book launch of Arah Kebijakan Kopi Indonesia Menghadapi Tantangan Kompetisi, Perubahan Iklim dan Kondisi Kopi Dunia (Indonesian coffee policy guidance in facing the challenges of competition, climate change and world coffee conditions). Darmin remarked that the book was the “coffee roadmap” for increasing the country’s coffee productivity.

Darmin said most coffee producers could only export dried coffee beans, because the roasted coffee had a relatively short shelf life.

“While we can only export dried coffee beans, those in developed countries turn them into [expensive] ground coffee,” he said.

Darmin also spoke about the low productivity of coffee plantations in the country, which lagged far behind the plantations of other coffee producers like Vietnam, so that Indonesia ranked as only the fourth largest coffee producer in the world.

“Therefore, the government is trying to increase coffee productivity by developing quality coffee seeds,” he said. (bbn)

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