Organic Sumatra Aceh Ketiara FAIR TRADE

The Koperasi Pedagang Kopi Ketiara is a women-run cooperative that has over 890 grower-members. The Ketiara Cooperative was started in 2008 by Ibu Rahmah, the current chairwoman, who had operated and managed her family’s coffee business for 20 years-purchasing cherries, processing the green, and selling to local traders. The passion and commitment of the women managers to have all members working together in support of coffee production has enabled Ketiara to expand and become an important supplier to larger coffee traders in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra. The cooperative members voted to become Organic and Fair Trade certified in 2012, making a commitment to use these proceeds to create programs for health, education, and public infrastructure projects that will benefit all coop members.