Kayu Aro surviving, still brewing

Kayu Aro surviving, still brewing

Syofiardi Bachyul J.B., The Jakarta Post/Kerinci, Jambi

The siren roared at 6:30 a.m., breaking the silence of a cold
morning.

It came from the tea factory. Tea leaf pickers, mostly women,
hurried one after another along a pathway leading to a section of
the tea plantation where they work. They wore broad-rimmed hats,
jackets and plastic coats to keep warm.

This is a typical scene every morning from Monday to Saturday
at Kayu Aro, a tea plantation owned by PT Perkebunan Nusantara
VI. Measuring about 2,500 hectares, it claims to be the largest
tea plantation in the world. "In other places, tea plantations
are only around 1,300 hectares," said Zainal Prayitno, the tea
tree manager.

The plantation dates back to Dutch colonial times. A Dutch
company, Namloode Venotschaap Handel Vereniging Amsterdam (NV
HVA), turned the Kayu Aro area at the foot of Mount Kerinci into
a tea plantation in 1928.

They grew black (orthodox) tea. Today, 90 percent of the tea
plants originated from those planted in 1928. The seeds came from
Assam, India.

"Orthodox tea is a rarity now. Today, tea plantations usually
grow sinencies, a more superior type of tea," said Zainal.
Orthodox black tea is not as good as sinencies tea in terms of
production per hectare.

NV HVA managed this plantation seriously. From the very
beginning, all necessary facilities were made available. In 1932,
the company built a fairly large factory, offices, houses for the
company's office staff, simple homes for workers, a hospital and
a church.

All the buildings are made of wood and have cement floors. The
houses for the company's office staff had fireplaces with cement
chimneys. Wood was chosen because the area is prone earthquakes.

Zainal said the chimneys have all been destroyed. Some
collapsed when an earthquake hit Kerinci in 1995, killing one
staff member.

The tea plantation and the buildings built by NV HVA still
exist. The buildings have not been changed much. Only the roofs,
some of the wood walls and decayed beams have been replaced.

The machinery in the factory has also been replaced. The first
machine the plantation used, a press cap roller, now stands in
the yard of the factory along with a steamroller.

In 1959, NV HVA was nationalized following the enforcement of
Government Regulation No. 19/1958. After several changes of name,
it became state company PT Perkebunan Nusantara VI.

The long history of the plantation attracts foreign and
domestic tourists, particularly those related to former employees
of NV HVA, as well as groups of students.

"We welcome all tourists and show them how the factory works,"
said factory manager DA Tampubolon.

Tampubolon guided The Jakarta Post around the factory. He
explained how tea leaves are processed into the unique Kayu Aro
tea, which is packed in 40-kilogram packages.

Kayu Aro tea is famous internationally and is usually mixed
with other types of tea leaves. The tea is exported to Europe,
Japan, the United States and the Middle East. It is also sold at
home.

"This tea is rarely grown on other plantations. It has a
unique taste and comes in a variety of sub-types," Tampubolon
said.