The event aims to market coffee varieties with a Geographical Indication (GI), a designation for products that have a specific region of origin and possess qualities or a reputation related to that region.

Gayo coffee, which is grown in Central Aceh, was the first Indonesian GI coffee variety to be recognized by the European Union and was registered in 2017. The event, which is being held between Sept. 17 and 25, is set to coincide with the Gayo arabica coffee harvest in late September.

“I sincerely hope that our trade representatives in Europe will give serious attention to Indonesian GI products, including Gayo arabica coffee, so that these and other products can penetrate the global market,” said Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto during a press briefing on Monday, adding that GI was an important means of increasing exports through branding and marketing.

Indonesia and the EU already have an agreement to promote Gayo coffee through the ASEAN Regional Integration Support by the EU (ARISE) Plus program. The program has some 15 million euros (US$17.5 million) in funding and will last until 2023.

Indonesia, the world’s fourth-largest coffee producer, exported $883.1 million worth of coffee last year, a 7.9 percent increase from 2018, according to the United Nations International Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade).

This year, the pandemic has battered the global demand, leading Indonesian exports to fall 8.34 percent annually in August and nosedive by 4.62 percent from July, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data.

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