Coffee is one of the main commodities in the economy in Papua. Organic farming, soil structure, and many other factors cause coffee in Papua to have a different taste from coffee in other regions. However, the struggle of coffee entrepreneurs to introduce coffee from Papua is not easy. Having such great potential, the Papua branch of Bank Indonesia then invited coffee entrepreneurs in Papua to work together to hold a coffee festival. The purpose of the coffee festival is to introduce coffee from Papua to the wider community. In addition, the coffee festival also helps coffee entrepreneurs to sell coffee from their own businesses.
The coffee festival in Papua rolls routinely every year and in 2024 it will reach its 7th edition. The theme raised in this year’s Papua Coffee Festival is “The Glorious Green Gold of Papua that is Worldwide”. Coffee in Papua is considered green gold because of the special qualities of the coffee product. Brand awareness is one of the goals of the coffee festival held at the former PTC Entrop Terminal, Jayapura City, Papua Province on August 14-18 2024. Coffee entrepreneurs in Papua are trying to introduce their respective coffee brands to increase sales.
More than 30,000 people attended the 7th Papua Coffee Festival and the number of transactions that occurred during the event reached more than 1 billion rupiah. The high number of visitors and transactions that occurred was a blessing for coffee entrepreneurs who participated in enlivening and setting up stands provided at the coffee festival. The initial goal was for brand awareness, but it turned out that coffee products in Papua were already well-known and even succeeded in carrying out export transactions during the festival, namely by sending 600 kg of green beans to Japan. Market access is also increasingly open along with the development of human resources from coffee entrepreneurs who are also beginning to understand the coffee marketing process to sell abroad. Digitalization also has a positive influence on sales, from digital marketing to payments using the QRIS system assisted by Bank Indonesia as one of the main sponsors of the 7th Papua Coffee Festival.
The hope of coffee entrepreneurs in Papua is that the coffee festival will continue to take place every year. The sponsors are also satisfied because the event they supported was able to attract tens of thousands of visitors and even reached a total transaction of more than one billion rupiah. The local government hopes that the coffee festival can support the acceleration of economic development throughout Papua. The welfare of the community, especially coffee entrepreneurs from farmers to coffee traders, can be realized through a coffee festival that introduces the products they produce.
