IT ALL BEGAN WITH PASSION
Nyoman Sudana
Nyoman was born into a family of rice farmers, but as the youngest amongst his 12 siblings, he was led by his thirst for adventure. At a young age, he had already set his eyes on helping the world to experience the best the land of Bali had to offer. He started traveling across Indonesia to source prime cows and worked under a Dutch businessman to export these cows to neighbouring countries.
One night 55 years ago, the Indonesian youngster stayed up late, watching over the cows waiting to be loaded onto a ship for Hong Kong. His boss, walked over and handed him a warm drink to help him to stay awake. That drink was Nyoman Sudana’s first ever cup of coffee and as he savoured its flavours, little did he imagine himself to one day become the founder of the world renowned Bali Beans Coffee!
Seeing how much Nyoman had enjoyed his first cup of coffee his boss began to regularly hand the Balinese youngster cups of the hot drink made out of the most exquisite beans he had collected from various parts of the world during his travels. Stirred by the intense taste, variations in flavours plus visits to various farms across Indonesia, Nyoman began to take a keen interest and it soon became clear he had found his great passion – Coffee!
With his newfound knowledge and understanding of the beans, Nyoman set himself a goal to produce authentic, organic coffee in the rich soils of his Bali homeland and share it with others around the globe. However, his intense desire alone wasn’t enough to help him convince his parents to turn their family owned rice fields in to coffee plantations; he needed the backing of love!
LOVE MEET PASSION
Wayan Sari
During the 1970’s young Wayan Sari started her working life as a Jewellery saleswomen which involved travelling across Bali to meet potential new customers. On one of her journeys Wayan decided to stop over in Lawak Village selling her stock and by chance she ended up walking into the house of the Sudana family. Upon entry to the house, she was immediately confronted by a striking young gentleman called Nyoman who didn’t take long to offer her a cup of coffee made from the beans collected during his travels. Seeing how much Wayan enjoyed the coffee, Nyoman invited her again the next day for another cup so that he could see her again.
The magic of the coffee beans clearly worked as the youngsters continued to share more cups together resulting in them both falling deeply in love with each other. It didn’t take long before Nyoman successfully proposed to Wayan and convinced her to move to Lawak Village so they could marry.
The newly married young couple understood the potential of coffee following their various discussions and they quickly recognised the opportunity their ancestral rice fields presented. These fields were enriched like none other by the volcanic soil of the Kintamani Highlands and they were both certain this was the perfect environment to produce their own premium coffee.
Nyoman and Wayan planted their first coffee trees together in 1981 and waited 4 years for their first harvest, which coincided with the arrival of their daughter, Ayu Sudana. A double celebration in 1985! Year after year the Sudana family plantation yielded excellent harvests, and there was no looking back. Their collective knowledge of sales and understanding of farmland elevated coffee farming in the region to unprecedented standards with the Kintamani Highlands soon becoming recognised as the crown jewel of Bali. Inspired by their joint enthusiasm and the rich nature of Bali, the Sudana couple, for many decades have been sharing their love for coffee with the rest of the world!
CO-FOUNDER & MANAGING PARTNER
Ayu Sudana
Surely it’s no coincidence that the Managing Partner of Bali Beans was born the same year the family plantation got its first coffee harvest!
As a child, Ayu’s world revolved around coffee. Along with books, each morning Ayu packed a change of clothes, so she could get to the plantation directly after school to help her parents pick ripe coffee cherries. On weekends, Ayu was there at the plantations well before anyone else, so she could get her hands on the fresh wild Luwak droppings (Luwak Coffee). The earlier she got there the more beans she could gather, which resulted in the potential for more pocket money!
As years went by, Ayu’s parents started trusting her with the day-to-day supervision of the plantations. She was a natural and as she spent more time with the Bali Beans farmers and workers, she learned her wisdom, experienced their passion for life and understood the traditional organic Balinese farming values.
The immersive coffee farming grounding gained during her childhood, combined with her father’s passion for travel and her mother’s concern for environmental conservation are the values which currently drive Ayu’s dreams to get premium Balinese coffee to all corners of the world, in the most sustainable way possible!
