BY ALEXANDER MERING
Did you know that coffee from producing countries in Central America, South America, the Caribbean and even Mexico, started out with coffee seeds from the island of Java?
Prawoto Indarto, in his book*, ‘The Road to Java Coffee’ mentioned that during the 15th till 16th century, coffee had only been cultivated in the Arabian Peninsula.
According to data in the Coffee and Cacao Trade Journal (1964:29), Netherlands, through the Dutch East Indies Company (VOC Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) had obtained permission from the Ottoman Empire in Turkey, to open branches in the city of Aden and Mocha, a port city in Yemen.
At the time, trade fights over coffee rights were fierce. To break the monopoly held by Arab coffee traders, the Netherlands opened new coffee plantations outside Mocha. This move also allowed the VOC to export coffee seeds to many countries in Asia and Europe.
In 1696, Nicolaes Witsen VOC’s administrator who was also Amsterdam’s mayor, commanded the VOC troops to bring Coffea Arabica seeds from Malabar Coast, India to Java. These seeds were planted in Kampung Melayu, Bifara China (Bidaracina), Maester Cornelis (Jatinegara), Palmerah, Sukabumi, and Sudimara.