MAHDI USATI

Mahdi Usati, owner and head of coffee processing at Mahdi Coffee House & Chairman of the Gayo Cuppers Team, is one of the most prominent coffee experts in Indonesia. The Gayo Cuppers Team has become a premier educator of coffee professionals in Indonesia, providing training for tasks along the supply stream from quality assessment to barista skills and services to producers that help to verify their coffee quality. As a coffee processor, Mahdi has demonstrated an unparalleled commitment to quality and level of investment in his processing partners. In a market where links between farmers and processors are weak, with very little vertical coordination because downstream actors don’t trust their suppliers to maintain their relationships, Mahdi has chosen to develop strong relationships with farmer groups and village-level collectors to ensure that they produce coffee to his specifications to ensure his ability to produce high-quality coffee using traditional processing methods.