Growing coffee in Indonesia
What is Indonesian coffee like?
Indonesia grows about 11–12 million 60 kg bags of coffee a year, nearly 90% of it robusta, mostly from small farms in southern Sumatra. Its arabica, from Aceh, North Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and Bali, is often wet-hulled (giling basah), which gives the full body and low acidity Indonesian coffee is known for. The Dutch brought coffee to Java in 1696.
At a glance
2026- Production
- 11.4m bags
- 2026/27 forecast, 60 kg bags
- World rank
- No. 5
- 6.0% of world output
- Species
- Mostly robusta (about 88% in 2026/27), with arabica in the highlands
- Harvest
- Robusta: lowlands March–May, highlands June–August (southern Sumatra). Aceh arabica peaks October–November
- Area under coffee
- About 1.25 million ha (2024)
- Growers
- Smallholders on 1–2 ha farm about 98% of the coffee area
- Exports
- 8.84m bags in 2025/26 (USDA estimate)
- Price paid to farmers
- Lampung robusta IDR 66,661 a kg; Medan arabica IDR 174,162 a kg (April 2026)
- Processing
- Wet hulling (giling basah) for most arabica, Dry processing for almost all robusta, Fully washed at some estates and co-operatives
- Protected name
- Dozens of coffee geographical indications since Kintamani Bali (2008); Gayo also protected in the EU since 2017
Production: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Coffee: World Markets and Trade (July 2026). Other figures describe 2026 and come from the sources at the end of this page. Updated once a year.
Growing regions
All origins- Gayo (Aceh)900–1,700 m (mostly 1,000–1,400 m)Gayo coffee from Aceh, Indonesia: wet-hulled highland arabica at 900–1,700 m, grown under shade by smallholders, protected in Indonesia and the EU.
- JavaIjen arabica about 1,200 m (Bondowoso) or above 1,400 m (Wikipedia)Coffee from Java, Indonesia: where the Dutch first grew coffee in 1699, the old estates of the Ijen plateau, Preanger arabica and aged Old Java.
- Kintamani (Bali)About 900–1,000 m, near Mount BaturKintamani coffee from Bali, Indonesia: citrusy arabica grown among orange trees by Subak Abian farmers, and Indonesia’s first geographical indication.
- Sulawesi (Toraja and Kalosi)About 1,200–1,800 m (Kalosi Enrekang); up to about 1,800 m (Toraja)Coffee from Sulawesi, Indonesia: Toraja and Kalosi arabica from the South Sulawesi highlands, earthy, full-bodied and spicy, protected since 2013.
Indonesia gave coffee one of its nicknames. The Dutch planted it on Java at the end of the 17th century, and for more than a century the East Indies were the world’s main supplier. Today Indonesia grows about 11–12 million bags a year, almost 90% of it robusta, nearly all on small farms. Its arabica, from the highlands of Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and Bali, is known for a heavy body and low acidity, largely thanks to a local process called wet hulling. Here’s how much, where, when and how.
The short version
- About 11–12 million bags a year: 12.37 million in 2025/26.
- Mostly robusta, from southern Sumatra; arabica from the highlands.
- Small farms: about 98% of the coffee area.
- Wet hulling (giling basah): Indonesia’s own process, for body and low acidity.
- Coffee since 1696, when the Dutch brought it to Java.
How much coffee does Indonesia grow?
USDA’s figures for Indonesia’s coffee year, which runs from April to March, in 60 kg bags:
| Coffee year | Total | Robusta | Arabica |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 8.2 million | 6.8 million | 1.4 million |
| 2024/25 | 10.7 million | 9.3 million | 1.4 million |
| 2025/26 (estimate) | 12.37 million | 11.0 million | 1.37 million |
| 2026/27 (forecast) | 11.38 million | 10.0 million | 1.38 million |
Source: USDA, May 2026.
The 2026/27 drop, USDA says, comes from heavy rain during flowering in the robusta highlands of southern Sumatra and in Central Java, which knocked flowers off and washed pollen away. Indonesia’s weather agency expects a drier, longer dry season in 2026 as El Niño builds. Robusta yields are usually below one tonne a hectare, USDA adds, partly because many farmers still use local planting material.
Where is coffee grown in Indonesia?
Across the archipelago, but mostly in Sumatra, which has about 60% of the coffee area, USDA says. The robusta belt of South Sumatra, Lampung and Bengkulu grows 80–90% of the country’s robusta; arabica comes mainly from Aceh and North Sumatra, with smaller amounts from the highlands of Java, Sulawesi, Bali and Papua.
| Province | Coffee area, 2024 | Share of output, 2021–2025 | Coffee |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Sumatra | 267,280 ha | 26.81% | Robusta |
| Lampung | 152,480 ha | 15.08% | Robusta |
| Aceh (Gayo) | 113,970 ha | 9.18% | Arabica |
| North Sumatra | 98,710 ha | 11.22% | Arabica |
| East Java | 91,740 ha | 6.09% | Robusta and arabica |
| Bengkulu | 7.26% | Robusta | |
| South Sulawesi | 4.01% | Arabica |
Sources: Statistics Indonesia (BPS) area via Databoks; production shares from the Ministry of Agriculture via GoodStats. Indonesia’s total coffee area was 1,254,840 hectares in 2024. Bali’s Kintamani is small but famous.
When is coffee harvested in Indonesia?
It depends on the island and the altitude:
| Region | Harvest | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Southern Sumatra robusta, lowlands (about 40% of output) | March–May | USDA |
| Southern Sumatra robusta, highlands (about 60%) | June–August | USDA |
| Aceh arabica (Gayo) | Two peaks: March–April and October–November | Gayo specification; USDA gives October–November as the main harvest |
| Bali (Kintamani) | One harvest, about July–September | Wikipedia |
How is Indonesian coffee processed?
Three ways, Wikipedia explains:
- Dry processing for almost all robusta, and a little arabica in Sulawesi, Flores and Bali: whole cherries dried in the sun, then hulled.
- Wet hulling (giling basah) for most arabica in Sumatra, Sulawesi, Flores and Papua. Farmers pulp the cherries, wash off the mucilage, and part-dry the beans; collectors then hull them while still damp, which turns them bluish-green. It lowers acidity and builds body, the classic Indonesian cup.
- Fully washed coffee from larger mills, estates and some co-operatives in Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and Bali.
Then there’s kopi luwak: beans collected from the droppings of the Asian palm civet, which eats the ripe cherries. Wikipedia says it is rare and can sell for more than US$600 a kilogram.
How much are Indonesian coffee farmers paid?
Less than at the 2025 peak. Spot prices recorded by Indonesia’s commodity futures regulator, Bappebti, and quoted by USDA:
| Market | Peak in USDA’s table | April 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Robusta, Lampung | IDR 104,371 a kg (February 2025) | IDR 66,661 a kg |
| Arabica, Medan | IDR 229,835 a kg (November 2025) | IDR 174,162 a kg |
Higher prices since 2024 encouraged smallholders to use more fertiliser and bring abandoned plots back into production, USDA says. In Lampung, growers often buy fertiliser on credit from village coffee traders, and share harvest labour between farms.
The 2025 floods in Sumatra
In late November 2025, floods and landslides hit the arabica regions of Aceh and North Sumatra. Local government reported at least 12,000 hectares of coffee damaged in Aceh, and the disaster agency counted more than 800 bridges and roads destroyed, USDA says. Some plantations may need two to three years to recover, and transport costs reportedly doubled while roads were rebuilt. The Aceh harvest, usually October–November, slipped into early 2026.
Where does Indonesian coffee go?
USDA expects 7 million bags of green coffee exports in 2026/27, 11% fewer than in 2025/26. Shipments to Europe jumped 72% in 2025/26, to 2.4 million bags, led by Belgium and Germany. The United States took 797,000 bags, 60–80% of it arabica, mostly shipped from Belawan, in North Sumatra. Indonesia also imports some coffee, mostly from Vietnam and Brazil, for its roasters and ready-to-drink makers.
How did coffee come to Indonesia?
With the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Wikipedia’s account, from an article it flags as needing more citations:
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1696 | Arabica seedlings from Malabar, in India, reach Batavia (now Jakarta), but are lost in a flood |
| 1699 | A second shipment takes root |
| 1711 | The VOC sends the first Java coffee to Europe |
| 1830–c.1870 | The Cultivation System forces farmers to grow coffee for the colonial government, attacked in Multatuli’s 1860 novel Max Havelaar |
| 1840s | Brazil overtakes the East Indies as the world’s main supplier |
| 1876 | Coffee leaf rust wipes out most of the old Typica arabica |
| 1888 | Arabica planted near Lake Toba, in North Sumatra |
| 1900 | Robusta introduced to East Java to replace rust-hit arabica |
| 1920s | Robusta spreads across southern Sumatra, still the main growing region |
| 1924 | Arabica planted in the Gayo highlands of Aceh |
| 1950s | Dutch plantations on Java are nationalised |
Source: Wikipedia, Coffee production in Indonesia.
Which Indonesian coffees are protected?
Many. Indonesia has registered dozens of coffee geographical indications (GIs), starting with Kopi Arabika Kintamani Bali on 5 December 2008, Wikipedia’s list shows, followed by Gayo (2010), Flores Bajawa (2012), Kalosi Enrekang, Java Ijen-Raung, Java Preanger and Toraja (2013), and Robusta Lampung (2014), among others. Kopi Arabika Gayo was also registered as a protected geographical indication in the EU on 15 May 2017.
How do Indonesians drink their coffee?
Often as kopi tubruk, ground coffee and sugar stirred into very hot water and drunk once the grounds settle, or as the charcoal-dropped kopi joss of Yogyakarta. In Aceh, there’s kopi saring, strained through a cloth filter and poured back and forth between pots. USDA notes that cheap coffee from street vendors stays popular, while kopi susu, coffee with milk, draws younger drinkers into coffee shops. Indonesia drinks about 4.8 million bags a year.
Indonesian coffee and other origins
- Coffee in Vietnam: the world’s robusta giant.
- Coffee in Brazil: the biggest producer of all.
- The atlas: Indonesia’s growing area on the map.