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Global arabica coffee price rise not helping Indonesian farmers
Global arabica coffee prices rose 16 percent year-on-year to US$3.63 per kilogram in the first quarter of 2021, continuing a longer-term uptrend, but Indonesian coffee farmers have seen no better future.
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A farmer harvests robusta coffee in the village of Ciakar, located near Mount Galunggung in Tasikmalaya regency, West Java, in June 2020. (Antara/Adeng Bustomi)
G
lobal arabica coffee prices rose 16 percent year-on-year (yoy) to US$3.63 per kilogram in the first quarter of 2021, continuing a longer-term uptrend, according to World Bank data, but Indonesian coffee farmers have seen no increase in income.
Data from the Trade Ministry’s Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti) shows that the domestic arabica coffee price, set by the Indonesian Coffee Exporters Association (AEKI), dropped by 40 percent from Rp 60,000 to Rp 36,000 per kilogram from April 1, 2020, to April 1, 2021. It has recovered somewhat from that level, settling at Rp 52,000 per kg on Friday.
“The decrease in the [domestic] arabica coffee price [over the past year] is due to a lack of demand from [consumption] places, such as cafes, because the pandemic restrictions have significantly reduced the number of visitors at such places,” AEKI secretary Miftahul Kirom told The Jakarta Post in an email on Wednesday.
The robusta coffee price, meanwhile, has been more stable. The commodity changed hands at Rp 27,000 per kg on Wednesday after an increase since March.
Miftahul attributed the robusta coffee price stability to the fact that the variety is mostly used for prepackaged products, like coffee sachets, which have been impacted less by the pandemic.
Read also: Indonesia’s coffee: More than just a cuppa
Puspitaningasih Sutrisno from West Java coffee grower and processor Kebun Aku told the Post on Monday that the pandemic was partly to blame for the ongoing decrease in the coffee price in her area.
