Indonesia has high hopes of carving out a share of the crowded Korean domestic cafe scene and coffee market.
A cafe specialising in artisanal Indonesian coffee is planned to open soon on the Bojeong-dong Cafe Street in Seoul. It will sell ground coffee and coffee beans from different regions in Indonesia, according to the Southeast Asian nation’s small and medium enterprises minister Anak Agung Gede Puspayoga.
“As one of the top coffee consumers in the world, South Korea should buy more coffee from Indonesia,” he said.
According to USDA data, South Korea’s coffee market is estimated at more than US$3 billion annually. Indonesia does not believe it is getting its fair share.
The planned Indonesian coffee cafe will initially sell coffee beans grown in three cities: Temanggung in Central Java, Denpasar in Bali and Bandung in West Java, including Priyangan coffee, Indonesia’s version of kopi Luwak, the famed civet coffee, and Temanggung, its Arabica and Robusta coffee.
The shop is part of a partnership hatched between the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise, or KFME – which represents South Korea’s 7 million small businesses – and the non-profit International Council of Small Business.
The partnership will also see prominent Korean bakeries provide training for Indonesian bakers.