North Sulawesi Cooperative and SME Office Prepares Programs to Support Coffee SMEs

Manado – The coffee business in North Sulawesi (Sulut) continues to show positive growth as public interest in coffee culture rises and more local coffee shops emerge. The Provincial Government of North Sulawesi is taking a strategic role in strengthening the capacity of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the coffee sector, particularly through improving human resources.

Head of the Human Resources and Business Restructuring Division at the North Sulawesi Cooperative and SME Office, Alexander Rompies, stated that support for coffee SMEs has actually been implemented for several years through various training programs.

“We have organized barista training programs several times at the Cooperative Training Center. These activities were carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs of the Republic of Indonesia, which at that time was still part of a single ministry,” he explained.

He added that the training sessions brought in professional tutors and baristas from Jakarta to provide direct guidance to participants. This initiative was one of the early steps taken by the regional government to build a more professional coffee business ecosystem in North Sulawesi.

“At that time we invited tutors and baristas from Jakarta. It was the beginning of our support for coffee shops and coffee SMEs in the region,” he said.

The commitment does not stop there. This year, the North Sulawesi Cooperative and SME Office plans to organize several training programs specifically aimed at coffee SMEs.

As part of the main duties of his division, Rompies emphasized that they will introduce more targeted entrepreneurship training programs.

“We are continuing to implement human resource development programs. This year we plan to hold training sessions for SMEs, especially in the coffee sector. We also have several entrepreneurship training programs, and one of the batches will specifically target coffee SMEs,” he explained.

This initiative is expected to encourage the growth of more coffee entrepreneurs who are not only creative in concept but also possess managerial skills, barista expertise, and strong competitiveness in the rapidly growing local coffee industry.

With continuous training support from the government, coffee SMEs in North Sulawesi are expected to keep growing and become an important driver of the region’s creative economy.