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This coffee plantation, which has been developed since 1908, grows on the outskirts of the city in Bener Meriah Regency, Central Aceh and a small part of the Gayo Lues area. The third area, which is located at an altitude of 1,200 m above sea level, has the largest coffee plantation in Indonesia, which is around 81,000 hectares. Each of the 42,000 hectares is in Bener Meriah Regency, the rest (39,000 hectares) in Central Aceh Regency. Gayo people work as coffee farmers with the dominance of Arabica varieties. Arabica coffee production from Tanah Gayo is the largest in Asia.
The spread of coffee plants to Indonesia was brought by a Dutchman in the 17th century who obtained Arabica mocca beans from Arabia to Batavia (Jakarta). The Arabica coffee was first grown and developed in the Jatinegara area, Jakarta, using the private land of Kesawung which is now better known as Pondok Kopi. The subsequent spread of the coffee plant also reached the Gayo Highlands, Central Aceh Regency. From the Dutch colonial period until now, gayo coffee in particular has become the main livelihood of the majority of the Gayo community and has even become the only center of export quality coffee plants in the Central Aceh region. In addition, archaeological evidence in the form of remnants of a coffee drying factory during the Dutch colonial period in Wih Porak Village, Silih Nara District, Central Aceh has provided clarity that coffee has in the past been an important economic commodity.
Gayo coffee is quite famous in the world because it has a distinctive aroma and enjoyment and if cupped or tested for taste and aroma in the gayo area, it almost has the taste of coffee that exists throughout the world, this is due to the altitude factor and several other aspects that make gayo coffee This is evidenced by several times Gayo coffee won the award as the world's best coffee. Despite the crisis in Europe, it did not reduce the demand for coffee from the Gayo highlands in the world market. Coffee from the Gayo area is also the most expensive coffee in the world, this was proven at the world coffee exhibition organized by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) organization in Portland, Oregon Convention Center, United States. The biggest destination countries for coffee exports from the Tanah Gayo Highlands which include the districts of Central Aceh, Bener Meriah and Gayo Lues are the United States and the European Union.
