Coffee and the SDGs: Sustainable Coffee

Coffee is suitable for cultivation in the so-called” coffee belt” between 25 degrees north latitude and 25 degrees south latitude across the equator. Naha city in Okinawa, Japan is located at 26 degrees north latitude, so the coffee belt is south of Naha City. Most areas of Japan are off the coffee belt, so not much coffee can be produced in Japan.
The only way for Japan to enjoy coffee is to import beans from abroad. Many coffee belts are in developing countries, so it is farmers in developing countries who grow coffee beans. Japan also imports a lot of agricultural products such as wheat and beef, but most of the wheat and beef are imported from developed countries such as the United States and Australia. Coffee is imported from developing countries, so coffee and development in developing countries are inseparable. When considering Goal 1 of the SDGs, "No Poverty," coffee is a very good subject.

Coffee is a luxury item. Coffee enriches your life, but you won’t be malnourished even if you don’t drink coffee. You only drink coffee because you like it. Thus, you will at least not want to bother anyone. If it's coffee, it's easy to think more deeply about SDG Goal 12, "Responsible Consumption and Production."

According to the book "SDGs Interpreted through Coffee (in Japanese)”, sustainable coffee is "coffee that strives to make it possible for future generations to enjoy coffee that tastes at least as good as the current generation enjoys." It sounds like an easy-to-understand definition. If we follow this definition, the word “sustainable” means that the next generation can live in the same environment as the current generation.

Is Gayo Mountain Coffee, which is produced in the Gayo Plateau in Aceh, Indonesia, sustainable coffee? Not all Gayo Mountain Coffee is sustainable coffee, but our shop is called "Sustainable Gayo Coffee", so we handle coffee that is particular about sustainability and SDGs. Together with our colleagues in Aceh, Indonesia, we are striving to ensure that future generations can enjoy coffee that tastes at least as good as the current generation.

As an effort to address this problem, we have introduced the From Seed to Cup, Cup to Seed concept. “From Seed to Cup” is a concept that strives for quality control from sowing seeds to drinking in cups. It is not a concept unique to our shop, but a concept that is often used in specialty coffee. Our coffee is produced by young people from local coffee expert Roku Agri “From Seed to Cup” (consistent quality control from cultivation to roasting) for their beloved Japan. The label of our product is an illustration of the producer, and it is a coffee where you can see the face of the producer.
However, we thought that it was not sustainable to simply ask producers to thoroughly control quality. Just as the SDGs also have Goal 12, "Responsible Consumption and Production," We thought that we, the coffee drinkers, should also do something. This is the part where “From Cup to Seed” is located, and it is our unique sustainable concept. Specifically, a portion of the sales proceeds is returned to coffee farmers to convey a message of gratitude, "Thank you for delicious coffee!"

Gayo Mountain Coffee is a shade-grown coffee grown by a traditional cultivation method using shade trees called tumpansari cultivation. The presence of a shade tree prevents the coffee leaves from getting sunburned and provides sufficient nutrients to the coffee beans. The beans are carefully hand-picked by the farmer. Shade tree farming is said to be an ecosystem-friendly farming method, such as providing a resting place for migratory birds, but it has the disadvantage of being inefficient and placing a heavy burden on farmers.