The Government of Pasuruan Regency, East Java, Continues to strive to develop the potential of superior coffee in the local district because of the promising economic potential. Head of the Pasuruan Regency Agriculture and Food Crops Office, Lilik Widji Asri, said that coffee products from farmers in eight-coffee producing centers were widely requested from other cities such as Gresik, Malang, and Surabaya. "It even penetrated national markets such as Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Bogor, Bali, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi," he said, Tuesday (4/10/2022). He said that coffee products from the Candi Mulyo Farmers' Group at Sekarmojo Village, Purwosari District were very popular with the market share of Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States. "Until now, orders for Arabica coffee of 200 kilograms per month were sent to Malaysia starting last June 2021. And last September, there were customers from America who directly surveyed the location to conduct assessments and cooperation," he said.
In addition to the still high demand, he said, the increasing prospect of the coffee business can also be seen in the increasing number of cafes that present Kapiten (original coffee from Pasuruan) in all coffee-producing areas and crowded centers. Lilik said, Kapiten Cafe already has many branches in every sub-district and even each coffee farmer group has also opened a cafe with coffee prices that match the taste. "Now coffee is a mandatory menu in all restaurants, restaurants, cafes, or places that sell food and drinks. And for Pasuruan Regency, there are many Kapiten Cafes visited by many coffee lovers," he said. According to him, with the enthusiasm of the coffee business, the Pasuruan Regency Government continues to make efforts to facilitate coffee farmer groups. Starting from improving human resources, seed assistance, and supporting infrastructure facilities to product processing unit assistance. From 2017 until now, his party has disbursed a budget of more than IDR 5 billion to groups of coffee farmers who are beginners or are pioneering with hopes it can be a trigger to develop a business.
According to him, the potential for coffee is also directly proportional to the increasing planted area in Pasuruan Regency from 4,000 hectares last year, now reaching 5351.97 hectares. Meanwhile, the harvested area has reached 1947.70 hectares with a productivity of 712.81 kilograms per hectare. The planting areas are spread over 8 coffee plant centers in the Districts of Purwodadi, Tutur, Puspo, Lumbang, Pasrepan, Purwosari, Prigen, and Tosari. Coffee in Pasuruan Regency has several advantages such as the Kapiten brand rights certificate, the certificate of geographical indication of Pasuruan robusta coffee, and Regent’s Circular Letter Number 01 of 2019 concerning Friday as coffee drinking day, and others. "A community for the protection of geographical indications of Pasuruan Robusta coffee has been formed, there is also budget support from the Central, Provincial, and Regency Governments and also the Pasuruan Maslahat Arabica Coffee Cooperative (AMPAS)," he said.
