THE BACKGROUND OF GAYO COFFEE

The coffee cultivation in Indonesia began in 1696 when the Dutch brought over coffee seedling from Malabar, India. In Aceh province, it was also the Dutch colonizers who introduced the skill of coffee planting in the beginning of 18th century. Thereafter, the Dutch started managing coffee estates professionally and the local people (Gayonese) started growing coffee on the limited land. After the Dutch colonial era, the Dutch-owned estates were neglected and taken over by the locals.

WHAT MAKES GAYO SO SPECIAL?

Gayo coffee is not widely known until recently due to the fact that the nature of the locality was not very open to outsiders as well as other contributing factors such as small production, difficulty of transportation, and the Aceh conflict in 1976-2005. In addition, the Gayonese still grow their crops organically without fertilizers and pesticides , therefore the green beans from the area are widely known as being environmentally friendly.