Starbucks seeks coffe supply from Aceh: Govt
Starbucks seeks coffe supply from Aceh: Govt
Phelim Kyne, Dow Jones/Jakarta
Starbucks Corp. plans to begin sourcing coffee from tsunami-
devastated northwestern Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, the head of
Aceh's official Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency, Kuntoro
Mangkusubroto, told reporters on Monday.
Kuntoro said Starbucks signed a coffee supply deal "two weeks
ago" with an Aceh-based firm.
"Starbucks will buy the coffee from Aceh," he said, without
elaborating on the specifics of the agreement.
"Starbucks' local partner is a firm called Aceh Coffee,"
Kuntoro said.
Anthony Cottan, the general manager of Starbucks' local retail
licensee, PT Sari Coffee Indonesia, told Dow Jones he was unaware
of the deal and referred queries about the matter to Starbucks'
head office in Seattle.
Starbucks was in discussions with Aceh-based coffee industry
participants earlier this year, Cottan told Dow Jones in March.
An Aceh-sourced coffee product would dovetail with Starbucks'
strategy to brand itself as a firm with a corporate conscience
that balances pursuit of profit with attention to environmental
and social concerns.
Starbucks' efforts in that regard have ranged from the use of
recycled packaging to the sale of organically-grown coffees,
including a variety sold in Australia from the former Indonesian
province and conflict zone of Timor Leste.
Aceh-sourced coffee would likely find a warm welcome among
consumers in developed markets in North America and Europe who
moved to donate millions of dollars to assist victims of the
massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated the province last
December.
Aceh's fertile soil produces about 40 percent of Indonesia's
premium arabica coffee beans. Indonesia is the fourth-largest
coffee bean producer in the world, but lower-quality robusta
beans comprise 90 percent of the country's crop.
Kuntoro said that Aceh's future economic development requires
the province to reduce its reliance on revenues from oil and gas
extraction activities.
U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. has operations in Aceh
including gas liquefaction facilities and a 50 percent non-
operating stake in Mobil Block A Ltd. in Lhokseumawe in the
northern part of the province.
Kuntoro indicated that Aceh's longer-term development required
the development of a more diverse private sector.
"I don't believe in oil and gas (to power development), what I
believe in is entrepreneurship," he said.
"That's why I was very happy that Aceh Coffee is already in
agreement with Starbucks."