Gayo main crop 2025/26: fewer cherries, cleaner cups

The Gayo main crop started a little late this year. A rainy season that arrived almost three weeks behind schedule made flowering uneven, and on most farms above 1,400 metres the first real picking only picked up in mid-November.

Volume: down about 12%

Across our six Gayo cooperatives, cherry intake to the end of November ran about 12% below the same period last year. Lower farms were hit hardest, having lost part of their flowering to a long dry spell in August.

For contract buyers, this means:

• Signed contracts are secure. We locked in volume from September and no shipment has slipped.
• Fully washed lots for January–March are still available, but moving faster than usual. If you plan to buy, request samples now.
• Atu Lintang micro-lots continue in small numbers, around 10–40 bags per lot.

Quality: cleaner cups

The good news is on the cupping table. Slower ripening gave the cherries time to build sugar. Fully washed lots we have cupped so far average 85.1 — up from 84.4 last year — with clearer citrus acidity and a long black-tea finish.

The solar dryers at two washing stations helped too. When afternoon rain comes, coffee no longer has to be covered and uncovered again and again, so drying is more even and final moisture is easier to hold at 11–12.5%.

Farmgate prices

Local cherry prices rose sharply with the “C” market. Our quality premium stays at IDR 1,500–3,000 per kg above market for lots scoring 84 and above, paid directly into farmers’ accounts through the cooperatives.

Sample schedule

New-crop type samples leave Medan from the second week of December. As always, samples are free; courier costs go on your DHL or FedEx account, or we prepay and invoice.

Want full cupping profiles per cooperative? Contact export sales, or ask the assistant in the bottom-right corner of this page.