What is The Cooperativa Café Timor?

Cooperativa Café Timor (CCT) was founded in the wake of the destruction that was left behind in East Timor (Timor-Leste) after it gained independence from Indonesia in 1999. In 2000, a group of farmers, in an attempt to successfully market their coffee, united to form the CCT.

Today, the organisation has over 24,000 members from sixteen base cooperatives and 800 small-scale farmer groups.

Having just completed a visit to the crew at the CCT in 2026, we plan to update this blog and present you with a lot more information. Please check out our YouTube video, talking to the team at the Maubisse District where some of the best coffee in the world is grown!.

With additional revenue generated from partnership sales, the co-op has implemented the following programs and services: 

• A healthcare program that includes nine stationery health clinics and 24 mobile health clinics. The clinics see an average of 18,000 patients per month. Services are provided free of charge to all co-op members. 
• A business skills development program that provides members with training in bookkeeping, management, English language and computer skills. 
• A wholesale purchasing co-op that benefits the local community by providing consumer goods at reasonable prices to small retail outlets in rural areas. By pruning the trees so they stay at human height, they are able to provide a bigger yield through:
  • Being ‘reachable’ buy humans meaning less equipment, easier to manage and inspect, less risk (ie: falling and ladders) and faster picking processes
  • Being denser and therefore providing more coffee cherries per branch (think about like when you prune a rose bush)A rehabilitation program - this  has helped farmers increase their yield triple fold in 3-4 years. 

• Aside from being more ‘fruitful’ in every sense of the word, the tress that are supervised and cared for by CCT are completely organic, and utterly beautiful to look at. The leaves are strong, brightly colored and the stems are abundant with soon to flourish cherries.

This project has assisted so many members and their families. Equipment upgrades and purchases since establishment include six de-pulping machines and eight fermentation vats.

When choosing coffee from Timor, make sure you choose beans that are CCT Certified and Organic. Read more about the importance of Organic beans in our previous blogs.

Kimberley Coffee Company proudly uses coffee beans from the CCT in it's stunning, award winning blend MINTAKA. 

Please stay tuned as we update more on the incredible work the CCT is doing in Timor-Leste.