Kuala Lumpur, Dec 1 (AntaraKL) - Three Indonesian coffee brands have participated in the Kota Kinabalu Coffee Festival, which is being held in Suria Sabah Shopping Mall from December 1 to 3.
Frankie Liew, Chairman of Borneo Cafe Alliance (BCA), said, Friday, that the Kota Kinabalu Coffee Festival was exhibiting coffee products and services that were beyond just drinks.
"This is the second time that the Kota Kinabalu Coffee Festival is being held, following its success in 2016. The festival is held from 10am to 9pm, and more than 10,000 visitors are expected to attend the biggest coffee festival in Malaysia's Sabah State," he remarked.
Raw material suppliers operating in the food and beverage sector from various regions have also registered themselves as participants to offer their products, including coffee planters and other coffee makers.
The exhibition was officially opened on Friday by Panglima Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, Sabah Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Industrial Development, accompanied by BCA Chairman Liew.
The Indonesian Consulate General in Kota Kinabalu had cooperated with three brands of Indonesian coffee, namely Kopi Kapal Api from Jakarta, Madbottle Coffee from Solo and Gerobak Kopi from Nunukan.
The Consulate General had also cooperated with local cafes that have been selling and importing Indonesian coffee products 'Wahana', Inch Coffee and Mountain Coffee Roaster Coffee.
During the occasion, participants from Indonesia demonstrated the brewing process of Indonesian coffee beans, as well as demonstrated how people could benefit from the coffee culture with the taste of Indonesia.
Consul General of Indonesia in Kota Kinabalu Akhmad D.H. Irfan said that the taste of Indonesian coffee had become famous in various parts of the world.
Indonesia's is ranked fourth in total coffee production, making up 6.6 percent worldwide and producing 660 thousand tonnes per year, and it is included in the top 10 ranking for the best coffee taste in the world from the Southeast Asia region.
"Besides this, the State of Sabah is directly adjacent to North Kalimantan, and it is quite profitable trade wise, and it is expected to further improve the trade relations in exports, especially of coffee from Indonesia to Sabah," he noted.
Hendro Retno Wulan, Consul of Economics, observed that the import value of Sabah State Coffee from Indonesia in the period between January-June 2017 was ranked fifth in Sabah's non-oil and gas sector.
According to the statistics for Sabah, the amount of trade is around Rp14 billion per month or 27.12 million Malaysian ringgits during the first half of 2017, which indicated that Indonesian coffee had earned a special place in the Sabah State.
Haji Muhammad Amir, owner of Nunukan Coffee Cart, said that he was quite happy to be able to participate in the exhibition.
"We hope that in the future coffee trade between the two regions will be bigger, especially with the opening of a trading port in Sabah," he stated.
