FTO Women Sumatra

Fair Trade– and organic-certified coffees from Sumatra come from democratically run associations of smallholder producers who generally share a central processing unit or some point of coffee delivery and processing. The average farm size in Sumatra is less than 1 hectare up to about 3 hectares. Women do a substantial amount of labor in the coffee sector in Sumatra, but as in many places there are legal obstacles to their overall success and prosperity. We have partnered with cooperatives on Women Coffee Producers projects in order to separate out coffees grown by women members, and we purchase that coffee at a gender-equity premium that is paid directly to those producers for use as they see fit.

Women GARMINDO

GARMINDO cooperative's full name is the Gayo Arabica Mahkota Indonesia Cooperative, and it is an association started in 2019 with 625 smallholder farmer members, each of whom owns less than 1.5 hectares of farmland, on average. The association was founded by our partner Sakdan, who owns and operates the Bergandal Farm and Mill: He and his brothers were raised in a coffee-producing family and have long been supporters of their fellow farmers.

This coffee comes from the women coffee producers subgroup. A price premium is paid directly to the women above and beyond the quality premium. The women members typically bring their coffee in cherry form to a collection point where it is depulped, fermented underwater for 12 hours, and given a pre-dry before undergoing the Wet-Hulling process. The coffee is dried on patios and typically takes 2–3 days under sunny conditions. It can take up to 7 days when the weather is rainy and humid.