About

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, located at 1400 masl near Toba Lake. Read our timeline below which highlights our journey as a small business with big ambitions and dreams.

Lisa Matthews Began her career in coffee in 2006 working with small holder coffee farmers in Zambia and Zimbabwe, Africa as a healthcare professional. The desire to change careers was inspired by her Dad, who pursued his career change dreams later in life. Vision and ambition came together, but not in Africa. The decision to move to Indonesia was based on a new relationship with Leo. Today, Lisa has succeeded in establishing a biodynamic and organic, multi variety arabica coffee farm in Sumatra and created several product brands that are part of the Back Bay Estate business umbrella. Lisa has a background of studies in biology and business administration and soil microbiology. She has 15 years experience farming and processing arabica coffee and other tree crops in Sumatra. CQI licensed and certified Q Arabica Grader since 2012, and QP Level 2 Professional since 2019.

Leo Wiriadjaja Began his career in the coffee industry in 2010 when he made the decision to change careers from US Postal Service in USA and join Lisa in a move to the island of Sumatra in his native country of Indonesia. He decided to focus his work in Sumatra on coffee processing methods and theories that had the reputation for being inconsistent, to see how he could use his background in automation to improve the quality of wet hulled process green coffee. Leo’s journey led him to study coffee fermentation further and to develop his own methods and theories for processing cherry to green bean. A CQI licensed and Certified Q Arabica Grader and QP level 3 Processor. Leo is now an Instructor for the Coffee Quality Institute.

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. Located at 1400 masl near Lake Toba. 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 fifteen years of experience farming arabica in Sumatra and 30 years experience in business administration. Go to Services

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.

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

2017 > Fruit Orchards In an effort to diversify the farm production, an area of the property was planted with blocks of organic avocado trees, guava trees, pineapples and bananas trees.

2018 > Workshops Increase your knowledge and apply what you learn to improve your business returns. We offer two series of educational workshops. Join one or more of ten different one day Workshops offered biannually.

2019 > Online Shop A line of our own Organically Grown green or roasted arabica beans and seeds or seedlings of all eight arabica varieties. Go to Shop for product information and availability.

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.

2020 > 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. 

2023 > Wholesale Nurseries that offer seeds and seedlings for all eight Back Bay Estate Varieties . 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. Go to Shop

Establishing wildlife habitat protection and helping farmers with biodiversity and ecosystem sustainability is our mission. Offering high quality arabica products that are sustainably produced throughout their product lifecycle is our business.