Kopi Tutur Rasa: Cafe Run by Tuli Baristas Opens in Surabaya

On 29 August 2024, Kopi Tutur Rasa officially opened with 8 Tuli (Deaf) baristas, who will work part-time and spread across 4 hotels from September to December 2024: namely, Midtown Hotel Surabaya, Hotel Midtown Residence Surabaya, Crown Prince Hotel Surabaya and Verwood Hotel & Serviced Residence Surabaya.

The launch event took place in the Hotel Midtown Residence Surabaya lobby, featuring the introduction of the 8 Tuli baristas in aprons and with name pins: Rio, Dayyan, Akbar, Wijaya, Devi, Anya & Della. A ceremony was held there to distribute certificates of participation in and passing of training classes, as part of welcoming the baristas in joining the big Midtown Hotels Indonesia family.

Mr. Anthony Clark, Deputy Consulate General of Australia in Surabaya, was the first VIP guest to have the opportunity to enjoy coffee made by a Tuli barista, Devi in this case. To which, he was highly impressed by the presence of Tuli baristas, followed by other Tuli baristas showcasing their skills in blending coffee to invited guests.

Kopi Tutur Rasa was born as a Midtown Connect training program to produce reliable new baristas, seeing as the world of coffee is increasingly blooming with many flavors, prices, places and ways of selling that can be used as new jobs. The Kopi Tutur Rasa program is inseparable from the contributions of extraordinary parties, such as Pak Wawan from TIBA (Tim Asesibilitas Bisindo Surabaya), Kak Abhi from TATULI (Cerita Teman Tuli), MilkLab and Monin.

In particular, Kroesel Coffee Academy's Mr. Gantok debriefed the Tuli baristas on coffee and its history from how it was grounded from coffee beans. On the other hand, Midtown Hotels Indonesia's Corporate Human Resource Manager Ms. Elisha guided them on service: how to behave professionally, dress neatly, preen without exaggeration, and to give a friendly expression with a sincere smile to all guests.

“The presence of Midtown Connect was launched as a program to build a good ecosystem not only in the internal area of hotel management but also externally with the surrounding community, such as with those with Tuli disabilities,” explained Donny Manuarva, Corporate General Manager of Midtown Hotels Indonesia.

Hotel guests who have booked rooms on the website and directly booked a walk-in to the hotel automatically get the benefit of choosing 1 item on the Kopi Tutur Rasa menu. Through initiatives like this, the hope is that it can foster confidence in Tuli baristas, help them gain real work experience, and build an ecosystem of inclusion and equality.

For more information, those interested can check their website at midtown.id and their Instagram page at @midtownid, or contact them at +6231 99 44 1985 and info@midtownindonesia.com.