Wiliam and I finally got to sit down together and have a conversation about coffee. The Indonesian coffee world is small in that everyone knows the big players and Wiliam is a big player. So I had heard of Wiliam long before we ever met, which was at a SET training, I believe, at 5758 coffee lab in Bandung.
Wiliam has a lot of experience in many different sectors of the coffee industry, both as an employee and an employer and in this interview he shares some of the wisdom he’s gained over the years.
A select portion:
Wiliam: That is what I feel. The farmer is very happy with a very good price of roasting machine. They can sell roasted beans. The economy has changed for them.
Michael: Yeah, and that gets them more profit, if they can actually sell roasted coffee.
Wiliam: Yeah. But still they have to spread out; what kind of quality they want to sell as roasted one. Because there is a segmented, in here lah, what we call the passar [market].
The full audio and transcript is available or you can watch the interview on my YouTube channel:
The links below will take you directly to the chapter in YouTube:
0:00 Intro
0:43 Who is Wiliam Edison
4:05 Indonesian coffee scene before the third wave hit, to now
5:58 Roasting machines for farmers
7:30 WE Coffee is more than roasting machines
9:09 Developing a local market
13:58 WE x Suji Mini Roaster and future models
15:34 Starting a roastery with a 1kg roaster
17:29 Corona virus impact
23:40 Roasting and barista training coming to Bali