Exploring The Art of Coffee In Indonesia | ELLE Canada Magazine

To ensure the consistent quality of the coffee harvested while also respecting sustainable-production principles, the program promotes a regenerative-agriculture approach, which focuses on restoring soil health, enhancing biodiversity and reducing farming’s carbon footprint. The goal is to create an agricultural system that not only supports current production but also regenerates ecosystems for future generations. Mimin Mitarsi, another local farmer, is a case in point. Following in her father’s footsteps with the aim of passing her land on to her son, Mitarsi implements regenerative-agriculture practices through various initiatives, including tree-planting and the integration of agroforestry methods, which promote biodiversity. These actions are designed, among other things, to improve the farm’s resilience to climate change while reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.

For many farms here, the process starts in the greenhouse, where coffee seeds are sown. It takes 30 to 45 days to see a fine shoot—called a “butterfly” because of its shape—appear and then another 120 days to see the first leaves of the tree. After 180 days and once the plant has at least five layers of leaves, it’s ready to be taken to the farm. The planting-to-harvesting operation may seem simple, but it requires a great deal of expertise and takes on average three years. “This complex process ensures the quality of the product, so that the coffee sold today has the same excellent taste it had five years ago or will have five years from now,” explains Langrand.

During the coffee-cherry harvest I participated in, I made my way, along with the workers, from tree to tree and branch to branch, gathering all the ripe cherries in a harvesting bag. Then each fruit was carefully examined, sorted and weighed. Immediately after harvesting comes the processing: The skin and mucilage—the viscous plant substance that surrounds the two beans in the cherry—have to be removed; then the beans are fermented and dried in huge purpose-built facilities. After that, the beans are sorted again according to their weight, colour and size by machine, and the final step is going through the beans by hand to make sure there aren’t any defects that were missed.

Being able to experience this process up close gave me a new perspective on my morning coffee and a greater appreciation for the meticulous and passionate work behind each bean. Thanks to the AAA program and the efforts of Nespresso and its partners, every cup we enjoy is more than just a drink—it’s a testament to their commitment to quality and sustainability.