Indonesia - Rankekarua

In Torajanese, Rante means “mountain” and karua means “eight”. This coffee is grown in the areas around the eight mountains that stand on the border between Bittuang, Tana Toraja Regency, and Awan, North Toraja regency.  The plantation is located at the hillside of Rantekarua Mountain about 1.400-1.800 masl, spanning around 1.200 hectares in Tana Toraja and North Toraja Regency. Based on this history, the farm calls this coffee coffee the "Lost coffee". About 1,000,000 coffee trees are being grown at the plantation, some have been replanted to improve productivity. This plantation is managed by the partner farmers under the supervision of the agronomy manager. Each time after the harvesting season, Sulotco implements a revenue-sharing system: 60% of the crops are allocated for the partner farmers and 40% for the company. The company implements an alternating bed system in their cultivation of organic coffee, by using sheep manure to enrich the soil. For this purpose, Sulotco Jaya Abadi distributes 2,000 sheep to the farmers, for free. The farmers then collect sheep droppings and sells them to the company to produce organic fertilizer. Leaves from lamtoro trees are also provided to feed the sheep, and, to serve as shields for the coffee plants. And, if needed, the farmers can make their own organic pesticide from natural components, such as betel leaves, areca nuts, and yam. Totally free from chemicals. 

During harvest season there will be many people who come to the plantation, most of them are families of the farmers. Soon after being harvested, the coffee cherries are transported to the processing plant. The coffee is produced at a factory in Bolokan Village, Tana Toraja Regency, then departs by small trucks to the
capital of Tana Toraja Regency, Makale City. From the city of Makale, it is then transferred to a larger truck to be sent to an export warehouse in the city of Makassar, South Sulawesi. Through the sale of Rantekarua coffee, a kindergarten, elementary school, and junior high school in the plantation area for the children of employees has been built. Farmers are paid according to the number of harvests from each of their gardens in one year. If they have not received their salaries, farmers are given loans through employee cooperatives to meet their daily needs and children's school fees. As part of their
environmental campaign, Rantekarua are keeping 200 ha of land as a conservation area. Together with local youth organizations, they are planting trees on vacant land for landslide prevention and investing in wood for the future.