Indonesia
Southeast Asia
Coffee was introduced to Indonesia in the late 17th century by Dutch colonials. Initially grown in Java, it spread slowly throughout the islands and came finally to Sumatra in the 1880s.
La Minita started development of our initial trademarked coffees in 2000, and our first direct exports began in 2001. During our discovery work, we sharpened our focus on the area around the southern shores of Lake Toba, which was created by a super-volcanic eruption about 75,000 years ago.
The eruption was felt globally, changing the climate and human population, and created a base layer of rich volcanic soil that still provides important nutrients required for coffee agriculture. We found the best and most consistent coffee was grown on a high plateau surrounding and including the villages of Lintongnihuta, Dolok Sanguul, and Siborongborong
By 2014, our program had evolved to include a strong partnership with Ineu Yuniawati. Ineu supervised quality control for our original project in 2001, and by 2013 was running her own sourcing and export company. Our demanding, shared quality expectations led us to develop our newest Sumatran trademarks together. Ineu and her team in Sumatra use their local knowledge to deliver consistently high quality coffee from an origin that is notoriously tricky to navigate.
