Qatar has imported $19.2m worth of coffee from all around the world.

Indonesia, one of the world’s leading producers and exporters of coffee, anticipates a tremendous increase in coffee exports to Qatar in the upcoming months.

The remarks were made by the Indonesian Ambassador to Qatar Ridwan Hassan, during the ‘Indonesian Coffee O’Clock’ event held at the InterContinental Doha, on Thursday.

“We would like to see more Indonesian coffee here in Qatar, as we have seen the growth of coffee shops and roasteries all over the country, as well as the growth of appreciation and love for coffee,” the diplomat said.

He further added that Indonesian coffee is unique due to “not only provide[ing] the experience of taste but also cultural identity. With the climate condition in the country as well as the blessing of its mountainous areas, coffee can grow very well in Indonesia.”

Indonesia offers a range of complex, syrupy, low acidity, and typically extremely dense coffee that is perfect for roasting on the darker side.

Such quality is largely due to the famous practice of a traditional processing method unique to the country, called ‘giling basah‘.

Giling basah is wet-hulling, which is a semi-washed technique used to process almost all of the coffee in the region.

Through this technique, some of the characteristics of the pulp and fruit are transferred to the bean by allowing the coffee cherry to dry for a period of time, before being cleaned and completely removed.

“The speciality varieties include those cultivated in various areas in Indonesia, such as Gayo, Flores, Sidikalang, Toraja, and of course Java. Each speciality has its own distinguished aroma and taste,” Hassan said.

The ambassador also highlighted that Indonesian speciality coffee exports have increased over the years, particularly its “speciality arabica,” which has gained attention globally thanks to its almost 100 genetic variants.

According to the envoy, ‘very few’ of the $19.2 million worth of coffee that Qatar imported from around the world is from Indonesia.

“There is still so much room for opportunities in Qatar for Indonesian coffee, particularly for the speciality arabica coffee,” he said.

The United States was Indonesia’s largest coffee export market in 2021, according to database provider Statistica, with a volume of an estimated 57.69 thousand metric tons.

Around 380.17 million metric tonnes of coffee were shipped from Indonesia in total that year.

According to figures from the Indonesian Ministry of Trade, the country exported coffee worth $842.5 million in 2021.

The ambassador hopes that the ‘Indonesian Coffee O’Clock’ event will serve as a platform for their coffee to become more widely recognised, especially in Qatar, “and reach more people and more lives, the lives of the farmers and the hearts of the coffee lovers.”

Javanero Indonesia, a representative of the Indonesian coffee industry, as well as Songoaji and Keke Roastery, two Qatar-based coffee entrepreneurs, gave presentations during the event in which they explained the ideas and knowledge behind their country’s coffee.

Further to this, four baristas also displayed their skills during the event, which was attended by several government officials as well as businessmen.