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Starbucks Indonesia opens coffee sanctuary

January 15, 2019

Thanks to a partnership with PT Sari Coffee Indonesia, Indonesia is now home to Starbucks' largest coffee destination in Southeast Asia — the Starbucks Dewata Coffee Sanctuary, a 20,000-square-foot store highlighting local craftsmanship and igniting all five senses, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson, said in a company press release.

"We began sourcing Indonesian coffees more than four decades ago and have always been struck by the sense of community and care for the coffee journey at every step," he said. "The Starbucks Dewata Coffee Sanctuary amplifies our passion for the coffee journey, our ongoing commitment to Indonesia’s rich coffee culture, and our tireless pursuit of fostering moments of connection between our partners and customers." 

The Indonesian Sanctuary marks the 10th Starbucks Reserve Bar store in Indonesia, one of 185 stores around the world, with the majority in Asia. 
"This is Starbucks at its best, and we are proud to open the doors of this unique experience in one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic markets," Johnson said.

Located in Bali’s up-and-coming premium retail district on Sunset Road, the Coffee Sanctuary experience starts with visitors entering through an Arabica coffee farm and trying their hands at coffee bean de-pulping and washing during harvest season. They also may dry and rake green coffee beans, visit budding seedlings in the nursery, take in the store’s locally inspired design featuring traditional Balinese craft and Indonesian art, and order from a menu featuring more than 100 Dewata-exclusive handcrafted beverages, food and merchandise, including the Lavender Latte.

"Bali has an envied reputation as one of Asia’s top travel destinations and Indonesia is one of coffee’s most extraordinary coffee origin regions, so we’re excited to invite customers here to ignite their senses and explore the seed-to-cup coffee journey at this unique Coffee Sanctuary," said Anthony Cottan, director, Starbucks Indonesia, at PT Sari Coffee Indonesia Limited.  "We’re very pleased to further strengthen the longstanding partnership between Starbucks and PT Sari Coffee Indonesia with this truly one-of-a-kind Starbucks store, inspired by and filled with the finest examples of Indonesian art, design and craftsmanship."

Bringing 'ethically and sustainably high-quality Indonesian coffee to the world'

Starbucks, the largest buyer of Indonesian arabica coffee, is dedicated to working with farmers in Indonesia to ethically and sustainably bring high-quality Indonesian coffee to the world, according to the release. In 2015, the company opened the Farmer Support Center in Berastagi, North Sumatra, where Starbucks agronomists conduct research to develop disease-resistant coffee varietals in an effort to make coffee the world’s first sustainable agricultural product through the Sustainable Coffee Challenge. The Sumatra FSC is one of nine globally, including China, which offers open-source agronomy assistance and support for regional coffee farmers to improve the productivity and sustainability of their coffee trees.

Starbucks Indonesia and the Sumatra FSC have donated more than 330,000 coffee seedlings, along with technical assistance, to smallholder farmers to-date. Through locally driven initiatives to support coffee tree replanting, Starbucks plans to donate 100,000 seedlings annually in partnership with FSC, according to the release.

Since 2006, The Starbucks Foundation has provided more than $4 million dollars to support farming communities and promote education, water, sanitation and health programs across Indonesia. In 2018, it provided grants to Lutheran World Relief to support women-led community health and hygiene programs for 2,100 households in Sumatran coffee-producing villages over the next three years and to CARE to support economic empowerment for women tea workers and community WASH programs in West Java over the next two years.

Starbucks Indonesia serves coffee across 370 stores employing nearly 4,500 people.