A couple of weeks ago, Jakarta's governor stood up at a convention center full of coffee people and said the quiet part out loud. "We're fully dedicated to pushing Jakarta as the primary hub for Indonesia's coffee industry," Pramono Anung told the crowd at the opening of the 2026 Indonesia Coffee Expo.1
It is a bold thing to say about a city that did not invent coffee, does not grow coffee, and is mostly known for traffic. But stick with us, because the case is actually pretty convincing.
A Room Full of the Whole Supply Chain
ICX is not some brand new thing cooked up for a press photo. This was its third edition, after stops in Surabaya and Medan, and the Jakarta leg pulled in more than 75 coffee brands and over 120 booths, plus regional barista competitions and panel talks.1
Daryanto Witarsa, who leads the Specialty Coffee Association of Indonesia, called it a "homegrown platform," the kind of event where a farmer from Sumatra, a barista from South Jakarta, and a buyer flying in from overseas end up in the same hallway.1
That is genuinely rare. Most of the coffee world's big industry events happen somewhere else, and Indonesia growing enough of its own gravity to host one is worth noticing.
Why a City of 193,000 Coffee Hustlers Matters
Here is the part that actually backs up the governor's confidence. Jakarta alone has nearly 193,000 people and businesses working in coffee, across cafes, roasters, restaurants, and retail.1
The city generates 16.32 percent of the entire country's GDP, with inflation sitting steady at 2.5 percent, which is the kind of boring sounding economic stability that actually lets an industry grow instead of just survive.1 You do not get almost 200,000 coffee businesses by accident. You get them because something about how the city drinks coffee changed.
That Something Is Grab and Go
And it really did change. Pramono put his finger on exactly what shifted, saying younger consumers have "made a new culture centered around the 'grab and go' concept" that shows up everywhere from public parks to coworking lobbies.1
If you want proof this was not just a government talking point, look at what actually happened a few years earlier.
Kopi Kenangan started in 2017 and, by the end of 2021, had become Indonesia's fastest growing coffee chain by valuation, with 610 outlets, over a million app downloads, and more than 237 million US dollars raised.2 Janji Jiwa hit around 800 franchised stores in roughly the same stretch, and Kedai Kopi Kulo crossed 250.2
These were not cafes you sat in. Most had no WiFi, barely any seating, and a cup ran about 18,000 to 22,000 rupiah, roughly half what you would pay at an international chain.2 It was fast, cheap, and everywhere, which is exactly what a generation glued to delivery apps wanted.
The Beans Were Never the Problem
Here is the thing people outside Indonesia tend to miss. The demand side is loud and recent, but the supply side has quietly been strong the whole time.
Pramono made this point himself, naming Gayo, Luwak, and Toraja as the regional beans giving Indonesia its edge, and comparing them to a Tanzanian coffee he had tried that leaned on just one variety, calling it "a world away from our local offerings."1 He is not exaggerating for effect.
Indonesia is the world's fourth largest coffee producer, expected to put out around 12.5 million 60 kilogram bags in the 2025 to 2026 season, about 7 percent of everything the planet grows, according to United States Department of Agriculture figures.3 Few coffee growing countries can go from Sumatra's earthy depth to Bali's brightness to Sulawesi's body without ever leaving their own map.
Where This Is Actually Headed
So what happens next. Pramono is not stopping at a domestic expo. He pushed SCAI to bring the international World of Coffee event back to Jakarta, naming May 2029 as the target and promising "full support, including policy assistance and other facilitations" from the city government.1
Landing that bid is not guaranteed. But a city with this many coffee businesses, this much GDP weight, and beans this genuinely good has a real case to make, and it is not one built on hype alone.
Sources: Facts and quotes in this article are drawn from the sources below, checked live before publishing. Cup Taste is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Jakarta provincial government, the Specialty Coffee Association of Indonesia, Kopi Kenangan, Kopi Janji Jiwa, Kedai Kopi Kulo, or Indonesia Specialty Coffee. This article is for informational purposes.
1 Berita Jakarta. "Jakarta Pushed to Become National Coffee Industry Hub," https://m.beritajakarta.id/en/read/155218/jakarta-pushed-to-become-national-coffee-industry-hub
2 KrAsia. "Opportunities Are Brewing in Indonesia's Grab and Go Coffee Scene," https://kr-asia.com/opportunities-are-brewing-in-indonesias-grab-and-go-coffee-scene
3 Indonesia Specialty Coffee. "Indonesia Coffee Production 2026: Understanding the Global Market," citing USDA Foreign Agricultural Service data, https://specialtycoffee.id/articles/indonesia-coffee-production-2026-global-market