1st Coffee Import
Arabica SL-795 grade 1 (full washed) 970 kg, farmgate price: 4€/kg
Fine Robusta grade 1 (pulped natural) 50 kg, farmgate price: 3,35€/kg
In October 2015, Nicolas revisited the farmers and expanded our selection of coffees by introducing Yellow Caturra. Additionally, due to our satisfaction with the initial 50 kg of Fine Robusta, we made further purchases of it.
During this time, we also worked on refining and solidifying the Two Kings Principle.
2nd Coffee Import
Yellow Caturra grade 1 (full washed) 1020 kg, farmgate price: 6€/kg
Fine Robusta grade 1 (pulped natural) 540 kg, farmgate price: 3,75€/kg
Adhering to this philosophy, in April 2016, Nicolas made another visit to ASNIKOM, accompanied by Ralf Knauthe, a dear friend, regular customer, and fellow coffee enthusiast. This trip allowed them to personally connect with the individuals responsible for cultivating and processing the coffee that brings them daily enjoyment.
During their visit, they learned about the existence of the Red Caturra and Typica variety known as Juria. Juria is the second oldest Arabica variety on the entire island, with some coffee trees being over 30 to 50 years old and only found on select small plantations. Due to the infrequent harvests (occurring only every 3-5 years), most coffee farmers opted to remove these old trees to make way for SL-795.
This unique variety was discovered by a Japanese individual residing in Bali, who, with the assistance of influential local coffee traders, began promoting it in Bali and Japan. Roasted beans were sold for approximately 62€/kg on the island, and sometimes even up to 75€/kg within Indonesia, and as much as 83€/kg in Japan, despite not being processed to meet the "grade 1" or specialty classification.
We made the decision to also procure these varieties from ASNIKOM and received them in April 2017, along with the Red Caturra.
3rd Coffee Import
Typica Juria grade 1 (full washed) 595 kg, farmgate price: 10,31€/kg
Red Caturra grade 1 (pulped natural) 130 kg, farmgate price: 6,5€/kg
In May 2017, Nicolas returned to ASNIKOM, accompanied by two of our loyal customers. One of them expressed interest in procuring traditionally processed coconut oil for his small soap-making venture. The other customer, a professional photographer, was commissioned by Nicolas to create a short film documenting ASNIKOM.
Then, in September 2017, we obtained another batch of Arabica SL-795, alongside the first purchase of coconut oil for our German friend.
4rd Coffee Import
Arabica SL-795 grade 1 (full washed) 300 kg, farmgate price: 5,8€/kg
Once again, in January 2018, Nicolas journeyed to Flores, this time accompanied by his mother and sister. The two women were introduced to ASNIKOM, with the intention of enhancing communication, as they reside in Jakarta.
During their visit, they were apprised of the many injustices that ASNIKOM had faced. The cooperative had earnestly endeavored to encourage more small-scale farmers to become active members, thereby committing to producing the highest quality in order to raise the standards for traders who often drove prices down. Unfortunately, the substantial investments made in globally recognized certifications like rainforest, bio-organic, and especially "fair trade," proved to be futile. These organizations appeared to disregard the exploitation perpetrated by a major Indonesian export company, or even worse, supported such companies that deceived and betrayed ASNIKOM. Both the farmers and the organizations suffered significant financial losses, as the promised profits from obtaining these certifications never materialized. Discouraged, ASNIKOM chose to exclusively utilize our services to liaise with international buyers.
As a small business with only two individuals, we made our best efforts: We participated in the Amsterdam Coffee Festival in 2018 and the Transparent Trade Coffee Meeting in Hamburg, seeking to integrate into the community of coffee roasters. We also reached out to roasters in various cities across Germany, introducing ASNIKOM and the Two-Kings-Principle. However, despite the discussions about transparency and justice for coffee farmers, ultimately, it seemed that no one was willing to pay the rightful price.
In light of this, we decided to send Eric Mwirigi Kithao, a dedicated young Kenyan, to Flores, for a six-month period with ASNIKOM. He lived and worked alongside the farmers, becoming like a son to them. On our behalf, he also visited and documented all active ASNIKOM members. This endeavor significantly strengthened our bond with ASNIKOM.
Eric returned to Kenya, where he began to apply all the knowledge he had gained, alongside a handful of small-scale coffee farmers in Kenya. When we visited these farmers in Flores in December 2018, we were deeply moved by the profound affection they had for Eric and how greatly he was missed.
Towards the end of 2018, we returned once more to ASNIKOM, arranging an order for Cascara SL-795, along with SL-795 coffee beans in natural process.
5th Coffee Import
Arabica SL-795 grade 1 (full washed) 120 kg, farmgate price: 6,8€/kg
Yellow Caturra grade 1 (full washed) 120 kg, farmgate price: 7,1€/kg
Fine Robusta grade 1 (pulped natural) 60 kg, farmgate price: 4,9€/kg
Cascara Arabica Sl-795 45 kg, farmgate price: 2,8€/kg
Finally, in early July 2019, a young Indonesian student named Gerard Alexander Lilipaly, who has been studying at TU-Dresden, visited ASNIKOM on our behalf. He was representative for them at our KAFFEEkostBar in Dresden.
6th Coffee Import
Arabica SL-795 grade 1 (full washed) 120 kg, farmgate price: 7,1€/kg
Arabica SL-795 grade 1 (natural) 30 kg, farmgate price: 8,4€/kg
Yellow Caturra grade 1 (full washed) 120 kg, farmgate price: 7,1€/kg
Fine Robusta grade 1 (pulped natural) 60 kg, farmgate price: 5,3€/kg
Fine Robusta grade 1 (natural) 60 kg, farmgate price: 5€/kg
Red Caturra grade 1 (full washed) 60 kg, farmgate price: 7,1€/kg
Our sixth batch of imported coffees from ASNIKOM arrived in Döbeln around mid-November 2019.
7th Coffee Import
Our seventh batch of imported coffees from ASNIKOM arrived in Döbeln around DATA MISSING.
8th Coffee Import
Our eighth batch of imported coffees from ASNIKOM arrived in Döbeln around DATA MISSING.
