Nuel and Norma have an intense passion for coffee, evidenced by their hand-built coffee roaster and experiments with unconventional drying methods and innovative fermentation methods. Together with our importing partners, they are working to inspire improvement in coffee farming methods in their region, with the hope that improvements in coffee quality and the resultant higher prices paid for the extra effort, will reverse the concerning trend of local farmers converting their coffee farms into orange orchards.
The orange market in Sumatra is subject to much more price instability compared to the specialty coffee market, and the higher prices that we are willing to pay for quality-focused coffee. Nuel and Norma collect ripe coffee cherries from 100 smallholder farmers in Saribudolok, North Sumatra, where volcanic soils and the unique micro-climate of Lake Toba create ideal conditions for growing coffee. Local coffee varieties are collected, pulped, dried, and wet hulled.
