North Bali (Galungan)
HEQA
In the north of Bali, far from the beaches and the constant flow of international travelers, the island begins to reveal its original rhythm. Here, in the rural highlands where rice terraces cling to volcanic slopes, a coffee culture grows that is as distinctive as the island itself. Bali, shaped by its Hindu traditions within a predominantly Muslim nation, carries a cultural heritage formed through centuries of rituals, temple architecture, and communal village structures. This unique identity – open, spiritual, and collective — forms the ground on which the idea behind our partners at HEQA has taken root.
“Not magic but microbes” is HEQA’s guiding principle, and it describes precisely what happens behind the doors of their new processing station. The project was founded by Jeremy Nathaniel, born in 2001, a man who, despite his young age, possesses remarkable clarity. During his university years, he began exploring coffee, comparing processes, and asking questions others were not yet asking. In 2022, he founded Kopi Fabriek in the Netherlands with the intention of making Indonesian coffee more visible in Europe. Today, barely three years later, he pursues an even larger vision: to build a domestic market for specialty Canephora in Indonesia and to raise awareness of the quality of this species, one that remains underestimated, even within Indonesia. For just as in Europe, Arabica continues to reign as king in the Indonesian specialty coffee world. Jeremy, however, shares our conviction that Canephora holds a treasure that — when cultivated and processed with intention — can write a new chapter in coffee history. It is here that his vision meets our mission at cumpa: to make Canephora more visible, to share knowledge, and to strengthen producers who work scientifically and set new standards.
In late 2024, supported by a local investor, the new HEQA processing station and dry mill were established. Positioned strategically between the growing regions of northern Bali, it sits within a landscape defined by an exceptionally climate-resilient approach: at 750–1000 meters, Robusta trees are grafted onto Excelsa rootstock, a measure that pairs the deep-rooting drought tolerance of Excelsa (Coffea dewevrei) with the resilience and yield potential of Coffea canephora. Higher up, at 1200–1400 meters, lie the Arabica farms where varieties such as Cobra and Yellow Caturra are cultivated. The farms are two to four hours away — a key reason why the processing station was deliberately placed where it stands: in the middle, where transport, selection, and fermentation interlock seamlessly.
The heart of HEQA beats in the laboratory
A PhD microbiologist leads the fermentation research, isolating local yeasts and bacteria and working with Mosto derived from the surrounding environment. In this way, they create processes grounded not in trends, but in microbial reality. Fifty percent of the production capacity is dedicated to Robusta, thirty percent to Arabica, and the remaining twenty percent to experimental lots — all with the goal of producing around 1,200 tons of precisely processed coffee annually, placing Bali firmly on the map of scientifically driven coffee production. Drying capacity is still partially limited, but expansion is underway, and the team’s momentum is unmistakable.
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