Running a business in the plantation sector with coffee is not an easy thing. That is what happened to Rahma, a woman from Takengon, Central Aceh who managed to raise the Ketiara Coffee Trader Cooperative, so that she was able to export gayo coffee to foreign countries. Rahmah could not work alone. This success was achieved because of the capital assistance from PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk. On one occasion, Rahmah said, in 1992 he initially opened a basic necessities (sembako) shop. The capital obtained from BRI is IDR 4 million. At that time, he implemented a barter system at the grocery store, where residents, who were mostly farmers, wanted to buy basic needs and exchange them for coffee. Rahmah's business continues to grow. To support capital, Rahmah also received an injection of funds from BRI with a nominal that continued to rise, to IDR 6 million, then IDR 8 million, and IDR 14 million in the 1990s. In order to expand her business, Rahmah even participated in local coffee exhibitions in Bali, Yogyakarta and Jakarta to expand the domestic market. The promotional event is an event held by BRI to encourage the business development of MSME players. The total coffee he sold at that time reached 100-200 tons per month. In 2004, Rahmah again received capital from BRI of approximately IDR 600 million. Over time, in 2009 Rahmah, who continued to empower Gayo Coffee farmers in her area, formed the Ketiara Coffee Traders Cooperative. Starting from 30 members including the management, his party was keen to recruit farmers to be empowered so that at that time the number of members reached 800 farmers. "Because we grew up with BRI, we will not forget BRI," she said.
In introducing Gayo Coffee to foreign markets, Rahmah often participates in global coffee festivals in Seattle, Chicago, and Boston in the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, to Hungary. For this reason, in order to maintain the export market, the Ketiara Coffee Seller Cooperative is obliged to maintain product standardization through the international certification that has been obtained. Rahmah explained, simply for organic product certificates, standardization on land is audited regularly. "Coffee plantations are ensured to be clean of inorganic substances such as chemicals in fertilizers. For fair trade standardization, the financial aspects are audited," she said. Rahmah as the leader of the Ketiara Coffee Seller Cooperative, currently has 1,500 farmers, of which 1,400 are certified organic and enter the fair trade system. The farmers came from 19 villages in Central Aceh District and Bener Meriah District. Currently, the cooperative, chaired by Rahmah, sells coffee for export, with 70% of its market being the United States. The rest are countries in Europe and Asia. On the other hand, the cooperatives that Rahmah regularly fosters also provide education to farmers and the community there to maintain standardization and quality of coffee.
