Lisa & Leo’s Organic® Coffee was established in 2010 in Simalungun, North Sumatra, but conceived long before that. Lisa’s lifelong dream of having a coffee farm turned into an ambition to start a company and grow a business based on personal values that would guide every aspect of the work, the land development and the products produced from the land. Leo’s background in engineering fuelled his passion for coffee processing innovation. Today, we are Back Bay Estate. Read our timeline below which highlights our journey as a small business with big ambitions and dreams.

Q Arabica Graders Since 2012 The international coffee community recognizes the Coffee Quality Institute License as qualification for grading coffee from around the world. In our pursuit of better coffee quality, we have both earned this license and continue to calibrate every 3 years to hold current status.

Quality Processing Professionals 2019 The industry standard for processing specialty coffee is tough. To maintain our standing as Specialty Coffee Producers, we both successfully completed the training and exams and now offer this Course as part of our Education curriculum. Leo is now an Instructor for the Coffee Quality Institute. Go to CQI QP Level 2 Certificate Course to learn more.

Making a difference from the ground up is our goal. Establishing the region of Simalungun, North Sumatra as a coffee destination is our dream. Read more about our company and our projects on one of several instagram accounts.

TIMELINE | LLO | BACK BAY ESTATE | SIAMANG FOREST PROJECT

2010 > From the Beginning To achieve a sustainable business model that is fair to everyone in our supply chain, Farm Adoption Programs were developed and implemented with a bottom up approach by Lisa. Families expressing a desire to partner with L&L Organic and transition into fully organic farm practices are where we began. The long term goal of the program is for families to become independent from the program and begin processing their own crops for market.

2015 > Back Bay Estate and Farm was started on 6 hectares of fallow land that had been untouched for more than 30 years. Lisa has spent the last nine years developing the property and the footprint for a Multi Variety Arabica and mixed variety Tree Crop Estate. She sourced all varieties and propagated cherry to seed; seeds to seedlings; seedlings to plants. Integrated companion plantings of shade trees, ground covers and flowering plants that support the health, development and productivity of arabicas while creating a biodiverse ecosystem for plants, animals and people to thrive in. Go to Back Bay Estate for more details.

2016> Siamang Forest Project The Back Bay Estate includes 20 hectares of a tropical forest corridor running through Pematang Purba. Lisa decided to reforest the hectares of this corridor with native saplings that wildlife require as a food source. This 20 hectares section is part of our farm / estate. Wildlife Conservation is important. We are hopeful the corridor will become a protected wildlife habitat for all the primates and other small animals and birds that rely on the forest for their survival. Learn more at Siamang Forest Project

2016 > Eco Tourism day trips and cabin rentals on our Simalungun farm offer a chance to Rest, Reconnect and Recharge in the stunningly beautiful Sumatra Highlands. Affordable and Unforgettable. Go to ECO Tourism for more information.

2016 > Back Bay Roasters, a boutique roastery offering arabicas grown and processed on our farm. Available as roasted to order individual retail or bulk wholesale cafe orders. Visit the  Shop to order, we ship anywhere in Indonesia and select countries across Asia. 

2017 > Consulting Services for New Arabica Farm Start Ups or Crop Rehabilitation. Soil analysis, land preparation, planting footprints, seeds and seedlings. Lisa has a background in biology and has studied soil biology in USA. She has fifteen years of experience in coffee Go to Soil & Farm Consultations to learn more.

2017 > Back Bay Processing Facilities were completed in late 2017 for wet milling and dry milling cherry sourced from local farmers. Leo’s design and fit out won him honorable mention from SCA in 2018. He now offers consultation services on Facility Design and Fit Out. Go to Services for more information.

2018> Consulting Services for Coffee Processing Facilities. Design, Equipment, Training packages available. Leo has more than ten years of experience in facility design. To learn more go to Services

2018 > Coffee Processing Education Courses for coffee professionals throughout the coffee industry who want to expand their knowledge of the technical side of processing from cherry to green bean.  Leo has more than ten years experience in coffee processing. To learn more go to Education

2019 > Online Shop A line of our own Organically Grown products are now available for purchase.  Green or roasted arabica beans, seeds and seedlings for eight arabica varieties, leguminous shade trees, ground covers, erosion protection plants, flowering plants, fruit trees. For international sales online, we offer PayPal invoicing in USD. We ship anywhere in Indonesia and select countries in Asia, Australia and North America. Go to Shop

2023 > Wholesale Nurseries that offer seeds and seedlings for all eight arabica varieties grown on Back Bay Estate. Visit Back Bay Estate Varieties for more information on each Back Bay Estate certified arabica variety. The Nurseries also offer leguminous shade trees, leguminous ground covers, companion flowering plants to attract pollinators to coffee gardens, erosion containment plants to protect valuable soils in sloped coffee gardens. Go to Shop to purchase.

I have offered seeds and seedlings as private sales for years. Many of the varieties on Back Bay were bred to resist the extreme wet and dry weather patterns brought on by climate change. I hope the new wholesale nursery will assist coffee farmers in future proofing their crops to maintain profitable yields and consistent quality. Shop

2021 > Avocado Orchard In an effort to diversify the farm production, an area of the property was planted with this healthy and delicious fruit tree. Harvests are underway already from the mature mini orchard planted with the coffee back in 2015. Eco Stay guests enjoy this fruit along with the organic guava, pineapples and bananas grown on the farm.

2021 > Macadamia Orchard This wonderfully delicious nut is part of a reforestation project for Sumatra that started back in 2019. The success of the program has encouraged other orchards in the island. We look forward to our first harvest in 2025/2026. 

2020 > Merantau Coffee Roasters, USA  The Merantau Coffee Roasters is located in Sylva, NC and ships roasted to order Back Bay Estate beans anywhere in the USA. Wade is an SCA Certified Roasting Professional. To order roasted arabica, or green bean spot sales, contact Wade Matthews @ (303) 257-0750 directly on WhatsApp.