(June 6, 2022) Coming soon to a company coffee kiosk in your area: Papua coffee, a full-bodied Arabica coffee with sultry mocha and fruit overtones grown in the Papuan Highlands by local farmers, many of them mentored and supported by PT Freeport Indonesia.
That's the goal of the Papua Coffee Showcase Project at PTFI’s Nemangkawi Mining Institute, and its plan is to introduce the world to Papua coffee – one kiosk at a time.
And no, neither PTFI nor Freeport-McMoRan are getting into the coffee business, as they’re doing just fine focusing on copper and moly, thank you. Instead, the project is all about being a vested, engaged partner of the community in which PTFI operates.
“Foundationally, this is about supporting the local Papuan coffee industry and business development through collaboration, promotion, empowerment and education,” said Soleman Faluk, Senior Manager at the Nemangkawi Mining Institute. PTFI established and supports the institute, which provides vocational and career training for native Papuans.
Through Nemangkawi, the Coffee Showcase team collaborates with local coffee businesses to support the development of a sustainable coffee industry in Papua through business empowerment, related education and training, and promotion to help drive local economic development. Longer term, the coffee business can help provide a sustainable economic for the people of Papua.
Hotel, airport hosting kiosks
Since the project rolled out in January, the team already has succeeded in setting up Coffee Corner self-serve kiosks at the Rimba Papua Hotel in Timika and in the Freeport Lounge of the Timika Airport, in addition to encouraging some local Timika coffeehouse owners to work closely with the local farmers and serve more single origin Papua coffee.
More Papua kiosks are planned, along with one at the corporate office in Jakarta. From there, the Coffee Corner team has set its sights on crossing the pond.
“Slowly, we are working our way to Arizona and maybe New Orleans,” Faluk said.
In particular, Amungme Gold is a special variety of Arabica coffee that has been developed in the Papuan Highlands for 40 years and was introduced to the Amungme in 1998. PTFI helped establish the Amungme Gold Cooperative in 2013. This cooperative has become independent and now has a coffee shop of its own in Timika. Moving forward, PTFI hopes to promote not only Amungme Gold, but all local farms and businesses who source single origin Papua coffee.
Faluk said PTFI’s strategy to support the cooperative is a four-pronged plan using the resources and people at Nemangkawi to:
- Continue investment into Papua’s coffee industry by providing direct export opportunities and educating and developing Papua coffee communities regarding the process.
- Encourage and empower local coffee businesses to help strengthen Papua coffee farms to meet increased demand.
- Increase Papua coffee promotion and demand through showcasing Papua coffee beans in Indonesia and abroad.
- Provide education and training in the hospitality and coffee industry at NMI for Papuan women and men though the institute’s new Campus Hospitality and Coffee Training Shop.
Photo: Through the Papua Coffee Showcase project, the company helps with education, training and promotion to support local business owners in developing a sustainable coffee industry in Papua.