Margareta Astaman_Java Fresh
Strengthening ecosystem resilience through sustainable polyculture farming practices and improving financial & well-being conditions of agricultural communities in rural Areas in Indonesia
"‘Java Fresh’ is Indonesia’s female-led exotic fruit exporter, penetrating 23 countries worldwide since 2014, creating changes in the lives of smallholder farmers and underprivileged women in rural areas. ‘Java Fresh’ is implementing research and technology as well as empowering micro-farmers and women-packers with adequate skills and tools needed, to be able to gain economies of scale from their harvest through a sustainable and fair economic system."
Asia Beautiful Fellowship program helps to alleviate the climate crisis by finding social entrepreneurs with effective solutions in Asian developing countries and supporting them in various ways to make the impact they create sustainably.
To learn more about Asia Beautiful Fellow, including its business background, selection criteria, and support offerings, please click the link below!
"The people who have lived in harmony with the forest are suffering the most."
In Indonesia, a common practice is to clear forests by cutting and burning them to plant monocrops like palm oil and rubber. It causes carbon emissions to increase significantly, soil to become weaker, and floods and droughts to become severe due to water shortages. The damage primarily affects the native farmers, who have lived in harmony with the forest.
Margareta, the second fellow of the 4th cohort of Asian Beautiful Fellows, is struggling to solve this problem. Margareta promotes sustainable farming, enabling smallholder farmers to earn a living without harming the forest, and creates a path for forests and farmers to coexist. She makes numerous efforts to improve the lives of farmers while also reducing deforestation and restoring the soil and ecosystem.
Now, let’s take a look at Margareta’s story of making changes for the forest and the people in Indonesia!
What is Java Fresh?
Co-founder of Java Fresh, Margareta Astaman
ⓒBeautiful Store Foundation, Java Fresh
Established in 2014, Java Fresh is an Indonesian supplier of high-quality exotic fruits that guarantees a stable income for rural communities while preserving the forest ecosystem.
As a reporter visiting dense tropical rainforests, Margareta witnessed firsthand how forests were being cultivated in an unsustainable manner. She realized that it leads to floods, landslides, and air pollution, which eventually harm people who live in forests.
Unfortunately, many smallholder farmers still abandon traditional farming methods and adopt monoculture due to financial difficulties. Even though they work extremely hard on their farm, the profit from fruit sales stays low; as a result, they choose monoculture or logging, where they can earn money rapidly.
Margareta co-founded Java Fresh with the belief that they themselves, and not someone else, had to be the ones to make a difference.
Then, let’s see the details that Margareta has focused on!
The problems that Java Fresh is eager to tackle
The devastated Indonesian mountain due to the palm oil plantation ⓒMongabay, “Palm oil deforestation makes comeback in Indonesia”
Hundreds of thousands of hectares of forests disappear annually in Indonesia. Most of them are due to monoculture plantations, such as those for palm oil and rubber. Monoculture plantations now occupy 32% of Jambi Province, one of Indonesia's most heavily forested areas. In Jambi Province, areas covered only by trees have decreased by more than 16,700 hectares over the last two decades. This is an area nearly 1.3 times the size of Incheon Airport. As heavily forested areas like Jambi Province are critical habitats for biodiversity, these plantations pose a serious threat to the forest ecosystem(World Bank, 2020).
When forests disappear, what remains is an increase in carbon emissions and devastated soil. Soil without forests cannot retain water, leading to frequent floods and droughts, as well as villages breaking down due to landslides and forest fires. To make matters worse, people’s health is also at risk due to air pollution. This damage affects native farmers the most, who have lived with the forests.
However, there is no choice for farmers in this situation. 93% of Indonesian farmers earn their livelihood from small plots of land of less than 1 hectare(World Bank, 2020). Due to low productivity and unstable prices, many smallholder farmers can no longer sustainably manage the forest. Instead, they choose monoculture, which they believe is supported by the government and offers high income in a short period. They cut trees and opt for monoculture to generate income in a short period. The more frequently this cycle is repeated, the weaker the ecosystem becomes, and the harder farmers' lives become.
Margareta would like to cut the very vicious circle. With traditional polyculture farming, she aims to create a path to cultivate higher-quality crops and secure better prices, enabling farmers to make a living while preserving the forests.
Java Fresh set up diverse implementation solutions to help smallholder farmers achieve a more stable income while saving the forests, including quality-based pricing, agricultural education, and an eco-friendly distribution structure.
The activities Java Fresh does
Java Fresh fosters a sustainable agricultural ecosystem that conserves forests while generating a stable income through collaboration with smallholder farmers across Indonesia. Primarily, Java Fresh helps farmers cultivate various tropical fruits like mangosteen, salak (snake fruit), and rambutan using polyculture farming. It then strictly manages their quality and exports them as premium fruits.
Gathering soil sample for R&D
ⓒBeautiful Store Foundation
① Quality-based agricultural product export and global market connection
With the motto “All Year, All Natural”, Java Fresh constructs a B2B partnership with a worldwide importer to supply fresh fruits throughout the year—currently, Java Fresh exports tropical fruits to 23 countries in the world. The fruits cultivated by farmers are selected based on the Global G.A.P. standard and are priced fairly by grade, guaranteeing farmers significantly better profits.
② Support for sustainable polyculture-based technology and education
(L) Orchard running through polyculture farming (R) Hole in the orchard where farmers make organic compost ⓒBeautiful Store Foundation
Java Fresh supports polyculture farming, which helps the ecosystem recover, rather than monocrop-focused plantation farming that harms the ecosystem.
Java Fresh educates farmers on pre-harvest R&D results, as well as cultivation technology, soil management, and the use of organic compost. Through this, farmers can improve both productivity and quality more sustainably and establish a stable foothold in the global market.
③ Packing process with local women employees and empowering education support
Local women who clean mangosteens ⓒBeautiful Store Foundation
Java Fresh operates six facilities in Indonesian rural areas to pack and produce products, prioritizing local women for employment opportunities.
In rural Indonesia, women often have limited opportunities to access education or secure employment. Therefore, Java Fresh provides employment opportunities for women living near its production facilities and offers various empowering education programs.
It provides helpful education programs that contribute to women’s well-being, such as health and nutrition, dental hygiene, and financial literacy, as well as job-specific skills. Beyond providing a simple workplace, Java Fresh helps local women independently participate in the local economy.
Packed mangosteen boxes ⓒBeautiful Store Foundation
④ Eco-friendly distribution system and technological development
As tropical fruits have a short shelf life, they usually rely on air shipping. Java Fresh invests in post-harvest R&D technology to address this issue. Currently, research is underway to develop technology that extends the period for maintaining the freshness of mangosteen. This enables them to use marine transport, which lowers distribution costs and ultimately reduces carbon emissions.
⑤ Establishing ethical and stable trade
Java Fresh has transformed its transactions with farmers, which has successfully improved the quality of the fruits they harvest.
In Indonesia, there is an ‘Ijon’, a middleman-focused pre-payment system. Middlemen do not purchase fruit by inspecting its quality individually; instead, they buy the entire tree in advance. As a result, farmers would often neglect trees after the sale. Therefore, the quality of the fruits deteriorates. Java Fresh created a win-win structure for all parties by collaborating with these middlemen and adopting a pricing system based on the fruit's quality grade. It motivates farmers to grow higher-quality crops and provides them with stable living conditions.
Java Fresh has passed the ‘Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit(SMETA)’, a global standard to improve ethical practice in the whole supply chain. It promotes healthy environments for farmers and Java Fresh workers by adhering to ethical criteria throughout the entire process, encompassing labor, health, and business management.
Java Fresh is not only a fruit exporting business, but a partner designing both farmers’ lives and nature’s sustainability.
Creating a realistic alternative to live in harmony with forest protection — that is precisely what Margareta and Java Fresh steadily and passionately practice all over Indonesia.
People working with Margareta
① Cooperative farmer, Pak Lim
ⓒBeautifulStore
I cultivate mangosteen, mahogany, kaffir lime, banana, and several other fruits. Since establishing a relationship with Java Fresh, my income has increased, and my life has improved to the point where I was able to purchase a new mangosteen farm. In the past, I couldn't help but neglect my trees as I didn’t have enough money to manage the land. My family used to separate into other regions to find employment and earn a living. Thanks to Java Fresh's help in growing high-quality fruits, my income has increased, and I have also had more time with my family.
② Package facility employee, Mrs. Taryani
ⓒBeautifulStore
I have been responsible for mangosteen packaging at Java Fresh's packing house for 10 years. Before working at Java Fresh, I couldn’t make my voice heard at home because I was just a housewife. However, I’m now having a much stronger voice after generating a stable income, and it is really fulfilling to be able to help my household. Java Fresh lets us keep empowering ourselves by supporting us in various ways. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to learn about safety, nutrition, and financial management through external activities and business workshops—all things I had never experienced before—and to meet a diverse group of people. These are all things I couldn’t experience without Java Fresh.
③ Lead Researcher at Java Fresh Research and Development, Hilda
ⓒBeautifulStore
As the head of R&D at Java Fresh, I conduct research to maintain the freshness of mangosteen. Maintaining the freshness of the fruit is a very significant help for farmers. From pre- and post-harvest research to soil research, I’m conducting various research projects. Even though it is not on a colossal scale, the aim of continuing these various R&D efforts is to educate farmers and ultimately improve their lives. Additionally, I am involved in a project to recycle low-quality mangosteen into compost. I wish Java Fresh to continue its goal of enhancing the lives of smallholder farmers with educational support, so that they can help save the environment during the climate crisis and achieve economic stability.
④ Co-founder, Swasti
Margareta and I are high school colleagues who cofounded Java Fresh to help farmers and save forests, as we directly felt the harm to forests becoming more severe while traveling together. As co-founders, we sometimes have different opinions, but we try to separate work-related decisions from personal emotions. As we trust each other deeply, we have operated Java Fresh very well for the last decade. One of her biggest strengths is her communication skills. When she meets people with diverse backgrounds and cultures in business, she flexibly leads the conversation streams while respecting their differences. It is incredible how she persuades people from diverse backgrounds with her vision and leads them toward a common goal.
Future Plan of Java Fresh
Margareta plans to create a structure that enables many more farmers and the local community to make a living while conserving the forest.
✅ Cooperation with 3,800 smallholder farmers by 2027
By implementing an education program for smallholder farmers on modern farming methods, pest management, and post-harvest management, Java Fresh aims to ensure its products meet global quality standards.
✅ Providing a new workplace for marginalized women
By establishing new packaging facilities in rural areas, Java Fresh aims to create up to 300 new jobs, particularly for marginalized rural women. It also aims to provide education to acquire the necessary skills for quality management and packaging.
✅ Expanding cooperative regions in Indonesia
Java Fresh currently collaborates with smallholder farmers in six regions and plans to expand its operations to the Aceh and Sulawesi regions. Through these efforts, Java Fresh will evolve into a signature global brand for sustainable tropical fruit, expanding beyond the traditional fruit export business.
Margareta says:
“We are struggling for our crucial nature and local people living in that nature to make a sustainable and flourishing future.”
How did you like the story of Margareta, the second participant of the 4th Asian Beautiful Fellowship?
Margareta continues to listen to various voices in the field and find solutions that enable many people and communities to improve their lives. By promoting education, establishing market connections, and providing sustainable agricultural technology to support women's employment, she will extend positive change from the forest to the village and the entire city.
Java Fresh strives to deliver the fruits that the forests and farmers have protected together to more people.
BeautifulStore walks alongside social entrepreneurs in Asia, such as Margareta, who are dedicated to addressing environmental issues. We look forward to seeing the incredible work they will accomplish during their two-year journey with BeautifulStore! 😊
Support Margareta and Java Fresh for their journey toward a world where the forest and people smile together!
Look forward to the story of the third participant in the Asia Beautiful Fellowship before long!
BeautifulStore will continue to collaborate with and support local residents and partners for ‘beautiful change’ in the world, and we ask for your support for self-reliance and sustainable development in the region. Thank you very much.
Asia Beautiful Fellowship program helps to alleviate the climate crisis by finding social entrepreneurs
with effective solutions in Asian developing countries and supporting them in various ways
to make the impact they create sustainably.
To learn more about Asia Beautiful Fellow, including its business background, selection criteria,
and support offerings, please click the link below!
"The people who have lived in harmony with the forest are suffering the most."
In Indonesia, a common practice is to clear forests by cutting and burning them to plant monocrops like palm oil and rubber. It causes carbon emissions to increase significantly, soil to become weaker, and floods and droughts to become severe due to water shortages. The damage primarily affects the native farmers, who have lived in harmony with the forest.
Margareta, the second fellow of the 4th cohort of Asian Beautiful Fellows, is struggling to solve this problem. Margareta promotes sustainable farming, enabling smallholder farmers to earn a living without harming the forest, and creates a path for forests and farmers to coexist. She makes numerous efforts to improve the lives of farmers while also reducing deforestation and restoring the soil and ecosystem.
Now, let’s take a look at Margareta’s story of making changes for the forest and the people in Indonesia!
Established in 2014, Java Fresh is an Indonesian supplier of high-quality exotic fruits that guarantees a stable income for rural communities while preserving the forest ecosystem.
As a reporter visiting dense tropical rainforests, Margareta witnessed firsthand how forests were being cultivated in an unsustainable manner. She realized that it leads to floods, landslides, and air pollution, which eventually harm people who live in forests.
Unfortunately, many smallholder farmers still abandon traditional farming methods and adopt monoculture due to financial difficulties. Even though they work extremely hard on their farm, the profit from fruit sales stays low; as a result, they choose monoculture or logging, where they can earn money rapidly.
Margareta co-founded Java Fresh with the belief that they themselves, and not someone else, had to be the ones to make a difference.
Then, let’s see the details that Margareta has focused on!
Hundreds of thousands of hectares of forests disappear annually in Indonesia. Most of them are due to monoculture plantations, such as those for palm oil and rubber. Monoculture plantations now occupy 32% of Jambi Province, one of Indonesia's most heavily forested areas. In Jambi Province, areas covered only by trees have decreased by more than 16,700 hectares over the last two decades. This is an area nearly 1.3 times the size of Incheon Airport. As heavily forested areas like Jambi Province are critical habitats for biodiversity, these plantations pose a serious threat to the forest ecosystem(World Bank, 2020).
When forests disappear, what remains is an increase in carbon emissions and devastated soil. Soil without forests cannot retain water, leading to frequent floods and droughts, as well as villages breaking down due to landslides and forest fires. To make matters worse, people’s health is also at risk due to air pollution. This damage affects native farmers the most, who have lived with the forests.
However, there is no choice for farmers in this situation. 93% of Indonesian farmers earn their livelihood from small plots of land of less than 1 hectare(World Bank, 2020). Due to low productivity and unstable prices, many smallholder farmers can no longer sustainably manage the forest. Instead, they choose monoculture, which they believe is supported by the government and offers high income in a short period. They cut trees and opt for monoculture to generate income in a short period. The more frequently this cycle is repeated, the weaker the ecosystem becomes, and the harder farmers' lives become.
Margareta would like to cut the very vicious circle. With traditional polyculture farming, she aims to create a path to cultivate higher-quality crops and secure better prices, enabling farmers to make a living while preserving the forests.
Java Fresh set up diverse implementation solutions to help smallholder farmers achieve a more stable income while saving the forests, including quality-based pricing, agricultural education, and an eco-friendly distribution structure.
With the motto “All Year, All Natural”, Java Fresh constructs a B2B partnership with a worldwide importer to supply fresh fruits throughout the year—currently, Java Fresh exports tropical fruits to 23 countries in the world. The fruits cultivated by farmers are selected based on the Global G.A.P. standard and are priced fairly by grade, guaranteeing farmers significantly better profits.
Java Fresh supports polyculture farming, which helps the ecosystem recover, rather than monocrop-focused plantation farming that harms the ecosystem.
Java Fresh educates farmers on pre-harvest R&D results, as well as cultivation technology, soil management, and the use of organic compost. Through this, farmers can improve both productivity and quality more sustainably and establish a stable foothold in the global market.
Java Fresh operates six facilities in Indonesian rural areas to pack and produce products, prioritizing local women for employment opportunities.
In rural Indonesia, women often have limited opportunities to access education or secure employment. Therefore, Java Fresh provides employment opportunities for women living near its production facilities and offers various empowering education programs.
It provides helpful education programs that contribute to women’s well-being, such as health and nutrition, dental hygiene, and financial literacy, as well as job-specific skills. Beyond providing a simple workplace, Java Fresh helps local women independently participate in the local economy.
As tropical fruits have a short shelf life, they usually rely on air shipping. Java Fresh invests in post-harvest R&D technology to address this issue.
Currently, research is underway to develop technology that extends the period for maintaining the freshness of mangosteen. This enables them to use marine transport, which lowers distribution costs and ultimately reduces carbon emissions.
Java Fresh has transformed its transactions with farmers, which has successfully improved the quality of the fruits they harvest.
In Indonesia, there is an ‘Ijon’, a middleman-focused pre-payment system. Middlemen do not purchase fruit by inspecting its quality individually; instead, they buy the entire tree in advance. As a result, farmers would often neglect trees after the sale. Therefore, the quality of the fruits deteriorates.
Java Fresh created a win-win structure for all parties by collaborating with these middlemen and adopting a pricing system based on the fruit's quality grade. It motivates farmers to grow higher-quality crops and provides them with stable living conditions.
Java Fresh has passed the ‘Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit(SMETA)’, a global standard to improve ethical practice in the whole supply chain. It promotes healthy environments for farmers and Java Fresh workers by adhering to ethical criteria throughout the entire process, encompassing labor, health, and business management.
Java Fresh is not only a fruit exporting business, but a partner designing both farmers’ lives and nature’s sustainability.
Creating a realistic alternative to live in harmony with forest protection — that is precisely what Margareta and Java Fresh steadily and passionately practice all over Indonesia.
I cultivate mangosteen, mahogany, kaffir lime, banana, and several other fruits. Since establishing a relationship with Java Fresh, my income has increased, and my life has improved to the point where I was able to purchase a new mangosteen farm. In the past, I couldn't help but neglect my trees as I didn’t have enough money to manage the land. My family used to separate into other regions to find employment and earn a living. Thanks to Java Fresh's help in growing high-quality fruits, my income has increased, and I have also had more time with my family.
I have been responsible for mangosteen packaging at Java Fresh's packing house for 10 years. Before working at Java Fresh, I couldn’t make my voice heard at home because I was just a housewife. However, I’m now having a much stronger voice after generating a stable income, and it is really fulfilling to be able to help my household.
Java Fresh lets us keep empowering ourselves by supporting us in various ways. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to learn about safety, nutrition, and financial management through external activities and business workshops—all things I had never experienced before—and to meet a diverse group of people. These are all things I couldn’t experience without Java Fresh.
As the head of R&D at Java Fresh, I conduct research to maintain the freshness of mangosteen. Maintaining the freshness of the fruit is a very significant help for farmers. From pre- and post-harvest research to soil research, I’m conducting various research projects. Even though it is not on a colossal scale, the aim of continuing these various R&D efforts is to educate farmers and ultimately improve their lives. Additionally, I am involved in a project to recycle low-quality mangosteen into compost. I wish Java Fresh to continue its goal of enhancing the lives of smallholder farmers with educational support, so that they can help save the environment during the climate crisis and achieve economic stability.
Margareta and I are high school colleagues who cofounded Java Fresh to help farmers and save forests, as we directly felt the harm to forests becoming more severe while traveling together. As co-founders, we sometimes have different opinions, but we try to separate work-related decisions from personal emotions. As we trust each other deeply, we have operated Java Fresh very well for the last decade. One of her biggest strengths is her communication skills. When she meets people with diverse backgrounds and cultures in business, she flexibly leads the conversation streams while respecting their differences. It is incredible how she persuades people from diverse backgrounds with her vision and leads them toward a common goal.
✅ Cooperation with 3,800 smallholder farmers by 2027
By implementing an education program for smallholder farmers on modern farming methods, pest management, and post-harvest management, Java Fresh aims to ensure its products meet global quality standards.
✅ Providing a new workplace for marginalized women
By establishing new packaging facilities in rural areas, Java Fresh aims to create up to 300 new jobs, particularly for marginalized rural women.
It also aims to provide education to acquire the necessary skills for quality management and packaging.
✅ Expanding cooperative regions in Indonesia
Java Fresh currently collaborates with smallholder farmers in six regions and plans to expand its operations to the Aceh and Sulawesi regions.
Through these efforts, Java Fresh will evolve into a signature global brand for sustainable tropical fruit, expanding beyond the traditional fruit export business.
“We are struggling for our crucial nature and local people living in that nature to make a sustainable and flourishing future.”
How did you like the story of Margareta, the second participant of the 4th Asian Beautiful Fellowship?
Margareta continues to listen to various voices in the field and find solutions that enable many people and communities to improve their lives. By promoting education, establishing market connections, and providing sustainable agricultural technology to support women's employment, she will extend positive change from the forest to the village and the entire city.
Java Fresh strives to deliver the fruits that the forests and farmers have protected together to more people.
Support Margareta and Java Fresh for their journey toward a world where the forest and people smile together!
Look forward to the story of the third participant in the Asia Beautiful Fellowship before long!
BeautifulStore will continue to collaborate with and support local residents and partners
for ‘beautiful change’ in the world, and we ask for your support for
self-reliance and sustainable development in the region.
Thank you very much.
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Copyright (C)Beautiful Store. All rights reserved.
Copyright (C)Beautiful Store. All rights reserved.
