Welcome
W
e are proud to bring you this compilation of articles from some of the brightest and most influential leaders in Coffee. As our industry moves into 2011, we carry the legacy of 2010, a year that demonstrated just how dynamic, and volatile, coffee can be.
Kerri and I are privileged to watch the sweep of events during 2010 and, in small ways, to also play a part. We exist in a global village predicated on mutual understanding. The challenges of agriculture in underdeveloped countries does not exist exclusively from the challenges of the specialty roasters and retailers. We are all locked together in a circle of dependency. In this publication, we present you with views from many different perspectives, each with unique and very personal opinions on the course of our industry. Taken as a complete piece, these articles will provide you with a broad view of the direction and purpose of the coffee industry during 2010. We hope you enjoy, and we look forward to next year.
Miles Small
Editor, CoffeeTalk Magazine
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January 2010
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October 2010 Vol. XXIII No. 10
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Locked Out?
Roasters and the K-Cup Phenomenon
November 2010 Vol. XXIII No. 11
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The Lowdown on Private Labeling Retailer options for private labeling
Coffee Fest Seattle Preview
The “Chain of Custody” By Timothy Castle
The Pod, People A sneek peek at Uncommon Grounds, 2nd Edition
Alchemy of an Espresso Cocktail. Thinking About Tomorrow ...Today
This Month:
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10 14 16 22
Retailer Profile And the survey says… Judy Ganes-Chase Coffee Fest Seattle listings
This Month: 14 20 22 24 26
Retailer Profile Judy Ganes-Chase And the survey says… NAMA Coffee Show Listings Coffee Fest Seattle listings
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August 2010
1
www.CoffeeTalk.com
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September 2010 Vol. XXIII No. 9
April 2010
This Month: 7 12 14 18 18
The Great Coffee Debate Cupping as a Sales Tool Retailer Profile- Café Grumpy Judy Ganes-Chase Mintel Reports
Contents
14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 48
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The State of the Industry – SCAA
by Ric Reinhart
Maintaining High Quality in Uncertain Times by Alexander Katona-Carroll
Determining the Quality of Coffee by Dan Cox
Is Fair Trade Relevant in a High ‘C’ Market?
by Paul Rice
Have ‘Green’ Consumables Reached a ‘Tipping Point’ in the Coffee Sector? by Sally Potter
Have We Reached the ‘Fourth Wave’ of Coffee? by Rocky Rhodes
A Cuppa and Yogi Berra by Donald Schoenholt
Africa and the Supply Chain by Phyllis Johnson
How quality coffee is generating development in rural Guatemala. by Ricardo Villanueva Carrera
Domestic Organic Coffee Market Keeps on Growing by Sandra Marquardt
Maintaining High Quality in Uncertain Times by Roger Stewart
NCA – State of the Industry
by Robert F. Nelson
Bringing Quality to Life
by Rick Peyser
Grounds for Health by August Burns
A Steaming Hot Cup of Innovation: The ‘Secret’ Behind Gold Standard Coffee
by Kevin Curtis
Choosing the Right Conveyor for Coffee
by Tim Larsen
Raising the Bar on Decaf
by David Kastle
Contents
50 52 54 56 58
Tips and Trends in Thermometers and Timers by Shawn DiGruccio
Matching Trend Data to Proper Equipment Purchases by Margaret Heery
Taking Control of Your Brand Through Remote Management! by Jerry Leeman
The Value of Coffee by Geoff Watts
The Existing and Future Science and Technology of Large-Scale Batch Roasting by Tom Mitchell
Who We are Owners CEO/Publisher/Advertising Director Kerri Goodman-Small, ext 1 206.795.4471 kerri@coffeetalk.com Editor-in-Chief Miles Small, ext 2 miles@coffeetalk.com
Design
Print Design Marcus Fellbaum, ext 5 marcus@coffeetalk.com Web Design Justin Goodman, ext 6 justin@coffeetalk.com
Administrative
Administrative Assistants Claire Vallin claire@coffeetalk.com Phaedrea Powell-Zecher phaedra@coffeetalk.com Katie Bakker katie@coffeetalk.com
Mailing Info
Mail: HNCT, LLC, 25525 77th Ave SW Vashon, WA 98070 Phone: 206.686.7378 Fax: 866.373.0392 Web: www.coffeetalk.com
Disclaimer CoffeeTalk does not assume the responsibility for validity of claims made for advertised products and services. We reserve the right to reject any advertising. Although we support 6
copyrights and trademarks, we generally do not include copyright and trademark symbols in our news stories and columns. Circulation: CoffeeTalk (ISSN 1084-2551) is mailed monthly (10 times per year) with combined June/July and November/December issues, also bonus mailing/distribution for Education Guides and foodservice/hospitality and coffee conventions/shows throughout the year. Postmaster: Send address changes to HNCT, LLC, 25525 77th Ave SW, Vashon, WA 98070 Subscription: The cost of a subscription in the U.S. is $47.50 per year; in Canada, the cost is $72.00. Free to qualified industry professionals. Non-qualified requests may be rejected. Publisher reserves the right to limit the number of free subscriptions. For subscription inquiries, please call 206.686.7378 x1 or subscribe online at www.CoffeeTalk.com. Copyright Š 2010, HNCT, LLC, All Rights Reserved
Kerri Goodman-Small & Miles Small
Editor’s Prologue by Miles Small, Editor- CoffeeTalk Magazine
T
he quintessential question that pervades this document and truly the future of specialty coffee is supply. The scarcity of specialty coffee is changing the buyer/seller balance in ways that are not yet fully realized and the impact will determine the reputations and even the existence of brands across the coffee consuming world.
What there is not, is enough good coffee, the stuff upon which we have all predicated our businesses. The result of this scarcity is predictably skyrocketing prices. Premiums for coffee are going higher as sellers respond to the “sellers” market. Within this “sellers” market lies the key fundamental change that has emerged.
Scarcity of supply is proving serendipitous. As growers worldwide realize high prices for their coffees, small roasters and retailers are suffering from escalating prices that are out-stripping their financial resources. This coming year will see many roasters, including some well known ones, disappearing.
The “Seller’s Market”
We have written quite a lot over the last 2 years about the coming crisis in supply. In fact, if you look at our editorial arc, you will see that supply and scarcity’s potential ramifications is pretty much all we focused on since the initial speculation bubble burst in February, 2008. Now, at the end of 2010 we are confronted with the inevitable realities.
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Many say that there is plenty of coffee and they are right. The reality is that there is plenty of poor quality coffee that is well below minimum standards for specialty. This coffee is selling at the currently very high “C” price – over $2 per pound for lousy unroasted coffee FOB – imagine that.
Not since the collapse of the International Coffee Agreement has so much pricing authority resided in the supply side of the value chain. Growers and exporters are in control of the flow and price of coffee out of origin. As the current scarcity of superior coffees deepens, the differentials paid to growers over the “C” price will continue to rise. This is incredibly good news for growers that have suffered through so many lean years. However, one of the primary reasons for the scarcity is the terrible weather in coffee growing regions. Mother Nature has not been kind to growers, especially in Central and South American Pacific nations. Unseasonable rains at precisely the wrong times have dramatically reduced the harvest. Those beans that are harvested are smaller resulting in more coffee cherries needing to be picked to produce a pound of green coffee. Pickers are paid based on pounds of cherries they pick so the growers have to pay higher labor costs than
normal but the beans inside the cherries are small so the growers realized less yield per pound of cherries. Therefore, the relative cost of labor per pound of green coffee has gone very high. Glacial flows on the Andes Mountains and on Kilimanjaro are shrinking at an alarming rate reducing the amount of harvestable fresh water for irrigation and consumption for the high plateau countries of Bolivia and Peru, as well as the entire African rift basin. On top of these difficulties, torrential rain struck the pacific coast of Latin America in the middle of harvest and literally knocked the ripe cherries off the trees. The high prices growers are receiving for their coffee is tempered by the reduced yields many growers around the globe are experiencing.
What does the “Seller’s Market” result in for consuming countries? The most obvious answer is that the price of specialty coffee goes up and consumers retreat to alternatives but, in the case of specialty coffees, that model doesn’t seem to hold true. While pricing for coffee has increased there is no, as of yet, backlash from consumers. There are a number of reasons for this, but one tantalizing idea is that espresso based beverages are primarily not coffee, but milk – a much more
Editor’s Prologue
reasonably priced and flexibly sourced commodity. The 10 or so grams of coffee are minor contributors to the cost of an espresso-based beverage. (which for clarity is any beverage that has added elements like milk and syrup with the espresso shots) For example, there are 46 ten gram shots in a pound of roasted coffee, in a perfect world; if that coffee last year wholesaled for $7 and today wholesales for $12, the cost of that shot went from 15.2¢ to 26¢ - not a particularly significant impact compared to the total cost of the beverage. Of course, the impact for a purveyor that sells primarily brewed coffee (or ground coffee for brewing like the OCS industry) the impact is substantially higher. Cafes are more likely to lose customers to localized unemployment rates than to the price of coffee. The greatest domestic impact in the rising costs of coffee is with roasters. Small roasters, and some not so small roasters will not survive this extended period of expensive coffee. Roasters that entered business during the last few years have not experienced the harsh reality of little or no stock, tight cash, and restrictive credit. Roasters have enjoyed an extended period of buyer advantage. Large profit margins from inexpensive coffee have fueled growth and extravagance that will not be sustainable within this high price coffee world. Demand continues to drive roasters to perform, delivering quality and consistency within an environment of scarce supply, no reserve inventories, and tight money supply. Importers are less eager to extend credit terms and those terms that are extended will be expensive. This combination is a hostile environment for any small business but more so in a capital/inventory intensive business such as coffee roasting.
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Roasters and retailers must act immediately to increase consumer prices, if they have not already. The only sustainable model for surviving this long period of high prices for coffee is price increases that accurately reflect the cost of business. Noble hopes of keeping the price at 2010 prices may result in losing your business
and certainly will not be remembered gratefully by your customers.
The conception of the Global “Second Window” The world is quickly moving toward a new way to trade specialty coffee. I cannot say that this idea has been born yet but the seeds have certainly been planted. Several profound elements have come together to make a new paradigm for transacting specialty coffee possible. Advances in communication, global infrastructure, buyer and seller interaction, and financial tools have made far-off countries seem not so exotic and forbidding, engaging in financial transactions with small businesses continents away is as simple as picking up a cell phone. The developing Global database being designed through the SCAA brings key transaction data to both buyers and sellers of green coffee. It is only a matter of time until these tools evolve into a new exchange for coffee based solely on the financial requirements of the sellers and the buyers. With the emergence of this “second window” for trading specialty coffee, the whims of speculation and reactive pricing inherent in the “C” price will be removed. Growers and buyers will arrive at an agreement as to the price based on costs and requirements. When I try to imagine what this might look like, I think of an EBay like auction where sellers will establish minimum bid requirements (reserves) and buyers will bid for purchase of the lot. I know that this is simplistic, but the final product may very well be as simple as that.
Sponsors Index
12
Company
Phone Web
Page
Georgia Pacific-Dixie
866.435.5647
www.gppro.com
3
Stalkmarket Products
503.295.4977
www.stalkmarketproducts.com
5
Coffee Holding Company
800.458.2233
www.coffeeholding.com
7
Santa Elena Estate
800.701.5211
www.atlascoffee.com
9
BriteVision
877.479.7777
www.britevision.com
11
WMF of America, Inc.
888.496.3435
www.wmfamericas.com
13
Café de Costa Rica
506.2243.7863
www.cafedecostarica.com
15
Java Jacket
800.208.4128
www.javajacket.com
17
Coffee Enterprises
800.375.3398
www.coffee-ent.com
19
Probat Burns, Inc.
901.363.5331
www.probatburns.com
21
TekPakSolutions
416.505.3839
www.tekpaksolutions.com
23
Pod Pack International
225.752.1160
www.podpack.com
25
Coffee Fest
800.232.0083
www.coffeefest.com
27
Club Coffee L.P.
800.387.4367
www.clubcoffee.ca
29
ANACAFE/Guatemalan Coffees
800.759.1365
www.guatemalancoffees.com
31
SCAA
562.624.4100
www.scaa.org
33
Café Femenino Foundation
800.791.1181
www.cafefemininofoundation.org
35
Grounds for Health
802.241.4146
www.groundsforhealth.org
37
Display Cafe Ltd.
905.799.8197
www.innovatedproductsmfg.com
39
LBP
800.545.6200
www.lbpmfg.com
41
Wilbur Curtis
800.421.6150
www.wilburcurtis.com
43
Cablevey Conveyors
641.673.8451
www.cablevey.com
45
Knutsen Coffees, Ltd.
800.231.7764
www.knutsencoffees.com
47
Swiss Water Decaffeinated
800.668.9981
www.swisswater.com
49
Component Design Northwest, Inc. (CDN)
800.338.5594
www.cdn-timeandtemp.com
51
Bunn-O-Matic Corporation
800.637.8606
www.bunn.com
53
Perk Dynamics, Inc.
919.851.3221
www.perkdynamics.com
55
Gaviña Gourmet Coffee
800.428.4627
www.gavina.com
57
Scolari Engineering S.p.A.
856.988.5533
www.scolarieng.com
59
WMF
2000S
espresso wakes up the world
The new WMF 2000S, a combination one and two step bean-to-cup Espresso machine solution Less space (12� wide), Lower Cost, Better Efficiency, Available with multiple options for any espresso application. WMF Americas 12.10
Phone: 800-966-3009
coffee@wmfamericas.com
http://www.wmfamericas.com
The State of the Industry - SCAA by By Ric Rhinehart, Executive Director, The Specialty Coffee Association
O
ne of the commonly held truths in the coffee world is that coffee is an inelastic product. That is, if prices go up consumption does not go down, and conversely, (and fairly obviously) when prices go down consumption does not go up. This widely accepted truth has lead to another widely accepted corollary that coffee is recession resistant. Both of these truths have been tested again over the last two years. Beginning with the global financial crisis that manifested itself in the fourth quarter of 2008 and continuing through dramatic coffee market increases of the last 12 months, we have had a chance to observe the market response to both reduced disposable income and increased price. The good news is that both of these truths seem to be proving themselves once again in spite of the double whammy of recession and increasing prices. The NCA National Coffee Drinking Trends surveys of both 2009 and 2010 revealed a very minor softening in the consumption of coffee, primarily in the area of number of cups consumed per day. In general coffee drinkers in 2008 remained coffee drinkers in 2009 and 2010, with just under 60% of all adults drinking coffee daily. These drinkers are consuming just over 3 cups per day, a slight decline since
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2008. This is extraordinarily good news in terms of once again confirming coffee’s relative resistance to both recession and price increase. Another interesting revelation over the past two years has been the coffee drinker’s response to recession where their coffee habits are concerned. First quarter 2009 data revealed that many consumers reported changing their consumption venue from out of the home to in the home in a fairly substantial way. This is consistent with the same store sales reports of most of the major publicly traded coffee retailers. This trend continued through 2009, but seems to have stabilized in 2010 and roughly 85% of consumers report drinking coffee at home and just over 25% report drinking coffee out of the home. This venue shifting has some implications for the specialty coffee sector as much of the decline in the out of home consumption numbers has come from large and small retailers of prepared specialty coffee beverages. Retailers reported flat to declining sales in the SCAA Sector reports of 2009, but in 2010 the numbers have been more optimistic, with consumers returning to some of their prior drinking habits and frequenting coffee houses once again. One of the great unanswered questions in this scenario is to what degree specialty coffee consumers have carried their brand preferences home with them as they shifted from prepared beverage consumption to in home consumption. SCAA sector reports indicate for many retailers, whole bean sales are up. We also get a fair amount of anecdotal reporting that indicates that much of what we suspect about quality coffee is true. Specifically, once consumers start drinking better coffee they seldom are motivated to trade down in quality. Grocery store sales of some traditional specialty players like Peet’s Coffee and Tea have been very strong, reinforcing the idea that the specialty coffee consumer looking to economize is likely to take on the chore of preparation rather than seek a lower priced prepared beverage venue.
Retailers reported strong sales in the fourth quarter of 2009 and again in the 3rd quarter of 2010, and it is easy to envision a renewed opportunity for specialty retailers to provide customers with both training and equipment for brewing great coffee at home. This opportunity is one that has been largely ignored over the past few years but that has manifested itself again in recent months and that many specialty retailers have once again focused on. The recent popularity of cup at a time preparation in leading specialty retail stores has been a great launch point for the sale of both whole bean coffee and customer friendly brewing equipment. All in all the prospects for the near term future of the specialty coffee retailer continue to be fairly positive, with most successful operators carefully watching their expenses and remaining conservative in their financial outlook. Watch outs include additional recessionary movement in the broad economy as well as rising costs and subsequent price pressure on the supply side. The likely key to success continues to be a focus on the qualities that make specialty coffee special –great tasting coffee that ties the consumer and producer together in a meaningful way.
Ric Rhinehart is currently serving as the Executive Director of the Specialty Coffee Association of America. Prior to taking on this position he was the President of a Los Angeles, California based roaster and retailer. Mr. Rhinehart has over the past twenty years held executive positions in several coffee & tea firms.
In Costa Rica, we don’t grow coffee; we grow families that thrive in the sowing and the harvest, we cultivate the fair dealing between producers and mills and carefully tend to the prosperity of our coffee growing regions. In Costa Rica, we do not simply grow coffee, we grow an absolute social commitment.
www.cafedecostarica.com
Maintaining High Quality in Uncertain Times by Alexandra Katona-Carroll, Coffee Quality Institute
I
t’s no surprise that the main topic of discussion, wherever my work takes me, is world coffee prices; more specifically, the C market. Naturally, these discussions tend to be much different at origin than in consuming countries as there is much excitement about the opportunity that lies ahead for coffee producing regions, which is certainly something to celebrate - especially after the recent and devastating coffee crisis. As James Hoffman noted in a recent blog post, “Great coffee is going to get a lot more expensive. This is, from an ethical point of view, no bad thing.” We can all agree on that. But with coffee prices at a thirteen-year high, and with economists predicting that prices will continue to rise over the next three years, I find myself asking the question, “What is the future of high quality coffee?” While the coffee crisis may seem like a distant memory, it was just a few years ago that the industry was asking this very same question about the effect of sustained low prices on coffee quality. Back then the concern was that producers, facing potential prices that were well below the cost of production, would cut back on the time intensive and costly measures that are required to achieve a high quality coffee. Now the problem is the mirror opposite, as farmers can already get phenomenal prices without expending the time and effort that a quality coffee demands. But as I dig deeper into this question, the real issue becomes much more complicated. When coffee prices rise in such a dramatic way, producers are faced with tough choices, such as whether to honor a lower price contract or sell their coffee for much more on the open market. And with these already high prices expected to continue to increase, what’s the incentive to go on expending the time, resources and effort required to produce high quality coffee?
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If history is any guide, it is safe to assume that this period of high prices cannot be sustained over time, so it’s up to the specialty industry to start moving away from the C market, since it is after all, for commercial grade coffee. Colleen Anunu, Director of Coffee for Gimme! Coffee, noted, “I see the future of Specialty coffee to be much more substantial, based on the fundamentals of production costs, better farm management practices, qualitative pricing based on consensus based cup scores, etc. Companies are already doing this, I’m already doing this, but I think it
needs to happen in much higher quantities if we, as an industry, are going to protect the future of Specialty….” We, the specialty industry, are all concerned that the availability of specialty coffee could become increasingly limited for a number of reasons, including land use pressures, globalization and climate change, and it will undoubtedly affect everyone in the supply chain. However, we recognize that the demand for specialty coffee is increasing around the world, especially for the major producing countries. I went to the coffee encyclopedia, also known as Ted Lingle, to hear his thoughts. Ted remarked, “There is a very old axiom in the coffee industry that goes, ‘In a rising market, deliveries will always be late and slightly below the specified grade, whereas in a falling market, deliveries will always be early and slightly above the specified grade.’ We actually experienced a $3.00/ lb market briefly at the end of the 1970’s. What happened then was a shift in consumer attitudes, where consumers decided that if they were going to pay more than $5.00/lb on canned coffees, they would just as soon pay $10.00 for whole bean (specialty) coffee that was really good. My expectation for the current market situation is that the true specialty roasters will continue to seek out 80+ coffees that taste great and consumers will vote with their dollars in support of this effort to find really great coffees, because even at $15.00/ lb, coffee will remain one of the world’s cheapest beverages.” It is in the entire industry’s interest to continue to build strong relationships across the supply chain, while at the same time encourage producers to explore new opportunities for development. The industry continues to discuss issues such as “los meses flacos” (off season) and pre-harvest financing, and the current state (and near future) seems like the ideal moment to make significant advancements to address them. Increased access to capital (via higher prices) creates an incredible window for producers; it provides the opportunity to invest in better farm management practices, apply more sound financial principles to their business, and explore new markets. For us as an industry, we should do everything we can to support this process for sustained growth and increased standards of living. We, at the Coffee Quality Institute, are looking critically at our current programs, specifically the Q, and making some rather
significant adjustments in the upcoming year to address these key issues. Some of our advancements include an updated and enhanced database and an improved certification model. CQI is also exploring a new supply chain certification option, where we would be able to more effectively utilize the 1,200+ Licensed Q Graders around the world to make our system more user-friendly, but more importantly, to separate and promote high quality coffees based on our common language of quality. Additionally, we are leading the way in developing new standards and protocols for Fine Robustas, as we believe there is an opportunity for these producers to provide an increasingly better quality product and raise the overall value for this often-underappreciated product. While I worry, like everyone else, about the upcoming years, I truly see this as a growing opportunity for the specialty coffee industry and as a way of harnessing our ability to sustain high quality coffees and improve livelihoods for producers worldwide. I would like to applaud the industry’s ongoing efforts to maintain and increase quality over the years, and I look forward to ongoing collaboration and addressing the challenges of the market in the near future.
Alexandra Katona-Carroll is the programs manager for CQI and is responsible for the new database along with program development for the Q Coffee System. †Alexandra?s interest in coffee was sparked at her Alma matter, the University of Michigan, when she worked with a cooperative in Chiapas. She?s currently a member of SCAA?s Sustainability Council and is fluent in Spanish.
Determining the Quality of Coffee by Dan Cox, President of Coffee Analysts
A
s consumers began moving up the quality ladder from non-identifiable blends of commercial grade coffees to premium coffees and then ascending to specialty estate coffees, the search began for “high quality.” What does that mean? And how is it measured? The SCAA, established in 1982, kicked off the inception of the specialty coffee era. With this new focus came the informal tagline “Kick the Can,” thus inferring all coffee sold in cans was of inferior grade, using evil tasting combinations of Robusta and Arabica beans. At the same time, the light began to shine on 100% Arabicas, touted as gourmet coffee. This term has since been shelved, possibly in order to avoid the perception of higher price, and has been replaced by the term “Specialty Coffee.” Depending on how many people you ask, getting a majority of consumers to define the term “specialty” remains inconclusive. Using Ted Lingle’s wonderfully simplistic definition “No defects, tastes great,” one can proceed to lengthy descriptions of “specialty,” but often the descriptors that are used become marketing and buzz fodder. Where to begin? A reasonable place to start is with a few general characteristics and then drill down to specifics. Species of Coffee: Although there are hundreds of species of coffee (yes, that many), two are commercially traded: Arabica, with about 70% of the world’s production and Robusta, following at about 30%. The differences are discernable and well known, but many feel that by just using 100% Arabica beans, life is good taste-wise. Not true. Within the Arabica species there are numerous grades, each determined by the botanical variety, growing microclimates, altitude, and processing conditions - each of which influence the taste in the cup. There are lots of subpar and crappy Arabicas. As a footnote, there is a new movement afoot to try and create a category of specialty Robustas. In theory this could be equated to the various classifications of the Arabicas, but for me, why bother? Financially I understand that even Robusta farmers deserve the opportunity to distinguish their better grades of coffees, but I feel Americans are just starting to become comfortable with the term Arabica and this new category of “Specialty Robustas” is going to confuse the average consumer. After the general category of coffee species, life becomes a tad more difficult in determining the definition of quality as it relates to coffee. Some major parameters to keep in mind are taste, price, availability and quantity required. Just about every roaster and retailer professes to provide the highest quality and best tasting coffees but when questioned in depth the response gets a bit murky. Let’s start with taste.
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Taste: There are two ways to start to describe taste: what’s NOT supposed to be in the cup, and then what IS supposed to be in the cup. The Not’s are pretty easy, defined by faults and degrees of taints.
The definition of what IS supposed to be in the cup becomes difficult and remains in the realm of the roaster to describe. Candidly, the vast majorities of coffee descriptions are arbitrary and often border on mystical, having little to do with the actual taste as perceived by the consumer, but there is some great copy being bantered around. The problem is that most roasters become defensive when defining their coffees and feel compelled to elaborate on their coffee’s qualities or tend to generalize. Writing coffee descriptor copy is not easy. Telling a consumer that this specific coffee, especially single origin estate coffee, is sound or usual good quality (UGQ) just doesn’t make it seem special enough to command a high price; hence the flowery language. In the end, what should be defined goes into the following categories: Fragrance, aroma, and flavor, or, essentially - what does it smell and taste like? Fragrance, the smell of the dry roasted coffee either in whole bean or ground form, and aroma of coffee, the smell once brewed, are essential characteristics of pleasure in the cup. Usually the fresher the coffee, the more intensive or available these scents become. The flavor of the coffee is determined by both smell and taste, activities that includes acidity, body, mouth feel and finish. In general, the better coffees have more flavor components and are usually more complex. They constantly develop as they go through temperature ranges from being brewed hot to cooling in the cup. And there is also one trump card that needs to be Regardless of the variety, the played...freshness. growing conditions, the degree of roast, the serving methodology, scarcity, etc. - if the coffee isn’t fresh, it probably can’t be special. Price: This is where the second part of the quality equation comes into play. The question “How good is this coffee?” gets broken into two parts: stand-alone coffee and how each particular coffee compares to other coffees. Can one coffee really be worth five times as much as another coffee? In many ways, price will always be connected to two variables: what the consumer is willing to pay, as well as the limit of that coffee’s production. Many consumers feel that if a certain minimum price is not being offered, the product may be perceived as low quality. Go figure. Don’t take for granted that a preset scale equals high quality, for example Kenyan AA, SHG, etc. Quantity: The last part of this equation is relatively easy to determine. Depending on real production numbers, a coffee may achieve high quality status based on small quantities grown. This must be equated with taste, however, as there are lots of small quantities of crappy coffee being grown and sold i.e. Kopi Luwak, affectionately termed by George Howell as “from assholes for assholes.” If price is the determining factor in whether to purchase or not, well, caveat emptor. So how does a roaster or retailer assure that the coffee being purchased is the quality they’re paying for?
Quality has to be related to adherence to a set of standards. Without standards set in place, quality can become just a personal preference with no meaning. The best of any product category not only has a set of standards, the standards are also very strict and are usually not easily achievable. This is where the definition of quality really begins, as it’s important to identify and then achieve consistency. These standards for coffee should include physical descriptors as well as identifiable sensory aspects that most coffee experts can agree upon. First we need to ask the importer or the roaster for their quality specifications. Each coffee should have its own spec. The coffee specification should include physical attributes as well as sensory descriptions. To create a coffee specification is to combine the physical qualities of the coffee with the sensorial qualities found in the cup. Although this sounds difficult, once the methodology has been determined, it can become less arduous and almost routine. A typical coffee specification can be developed using a team of tasters who are trained in this function. Without a precise coffee specification, however, determining a quality standard is almost impossible. The ultimate spec is to create a spider diagraph, which should be updated yearly with differences between crop cycles being evaluated. Unfortunately very few roasters choose to utilize these tools as they take time and expertise to assemble. If this procedure is too complicated or not achievable due to a roaster or café’s size and ability to evaluate a coffee thoroughly, then Plan B should be implemented. Plan B means creating an in-house team that tastes each new coffee when it arrives and then takes detailed notes on the sensory aspect of the coffee. If the coffee doesn’t taste “in spec,” a conversation between roaster and retailer should be conducted immediately. Having a trained team to confirm discrepancies is much more appropriate than a single person making all the decisions. Score sheets should be archived for future comparison when new crop coffees arrive. If Plan B isn’t feasible, then forming a relationship with an outside company that does this on a regular basis is the next best option. Visit with them, check out their sensory staff and their physical labs and judge their capabilities prior to forming a business relationship. Roasters are in the business of selling coffee to retailers and retailers are in the business of selling to consumers. Sophisticated consumers have come to expect consistency and flavor in their cups. Maintaining these taste standards takes some education at first and then becomes integral to the core business…which is selling a great tasting cup or pound of coffee. For over three decades, Dan has been involved in virtually all aspects of the coffee industry. He has an international reputation for being a source of information on consumer trends, pricing, marketing, and product handling. He is one of a few authorities on coffee legal matters, and is an expert legal consultant for coffee lawsuits.
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Is Fair Trade Relevant in a High “C” Market?
O
ver the years, we’ve created a strong association between Fair Trade and better prices for farmers. Most of us remember the 1999-2005 global coffee crisis, when prices slumped to historic lows and farmers struggled to survive. Fair Trade helped over a million farmers put food on the table during that crisis. But in today’s high “C” market, it’s only natural to ask if Fair Trade is still relevant.
Our rigorous environmental standards protect water resources and adjacent forests, restrict the use of hazardous pesticides and other agrochemicals, promote organic farming, and help reduce carbon emissions that lead to climate change. Farmers must comply with these core standards to get certified and then implement progress requirements every year in order to get recertified.
It is, of course, because Fair Trade is about so much more than price. Fair Trade is a comprehensive approach to sustainable development that supports farmers with quality improvement, environmental stewardship, business capacity training, access to credit, and community development funds to help improve lives. Moreover, consumers are increasingly looking for the credibility of third-party certification to provide assurance that their coffee was ethically and sustainably sourced. Let me briefly illustrate each of these powerful aspects of the Fair Trade model.
Access to Credit Expanding access to affordable credit is another fundamental objective of the Fair Trade movement. Without adequate access to credit, farmers are more vulnerable to middlemen and cooperatives are unable to compete effectively with larger traders. Financial partners such as Root Capital, Calvert and other friendly multi-national lenders are an extremely important part of the Fair Trade ecosystem. They are working with cooperatives in Kenya, Sumatra, Guatemala, Columbia, Nicaragua and many other coffee regions to bring both short-term commercial credit and longterm investment capital to resourced-constrained communities. Last year, we estimate that these financial intermediaries and our partner coffee importers extended over $30 million in credit and pre-financing to Fair Trade cooperatives around the world.
Market Access Market access and supply chain stability are core objectives of Fair Trade. We constantly recruit, train and certify new producer groups, expanding benefits to more farming communities each year. Since 2005, the number of Fair Trade coffee producer groups has more than doubled, up from 87 to 183. During the first half of 2010 alone, we certified 15 producer organizations in coffee, driven in part by new cooperatives from Indonesia. But market access is a two-way street: importers and roasters frequently enlist our support to help them identify and partner with high-quality Fair Trade farmers in particular origins. And to strengthen long-term commercial relationships, several NGO partners in our global community have developed management training programs to help cooperative managers develop the business acumen to reliably and consistently supply roasters with the high-quality coffee they demand. Quality Training In the U.S. market, the Fair Trade movement has aligned closely with the specialty coffee industry to help cooperative farmers raise the quality of their coffees. Our organization, for example, has managed or funded quality improvement training programs at origin for the last decade. We are particularly proud of our Brazilian program which, in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development and an NGO called SEBRAE-MG, has invested over $2 million in infrastructure, training and technical assistance to help nearly 6,000 famers from Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo. Participating farmers have learned to improve the quality of their beans, which has enabled them to negotiate better prices and long-term stable contracts, and generate more Fair Trade premiums to invest in their communities. Our program’s annual coffee cupping competition has sparked tremendous enthusiasm and pride among the Brazilian cooperatives and their members while creating important new commercial opportunities in the specialty coffee industry for these communities.
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by Paul Rice, President & CEO, Fair Trade USA
Environmental Stewardship In a high-price market, farmers may be tempted to cut corners to maximize yields and income. Fair Trade encourages farmers to take a longterm approach to agriculture, embracing sustainable practices that conserve natural resources.
Community Development Another core benefit of Fair Trade is the development premium that buyers are required to pay to certified farmers. This premium is currently set at 10 cents per pound (green) and goes directly back to the growing communities to invest in education, healthcare, clean water, job training, micro loans and other social services not provided by local governments. Over time, these development premiums have an enormous impact on the quality of life in these communities. Since 1998, Fair Trade certification has helped the U.S. coffee industry deliver more than $34 million in premiums to hardworking coffee farmers, including $11 million in 2009 alone. Case Study of Fair Trade Impact: Rwanda More than a decade after the genocide, Rwandan farmers still struggle to earn a decent living. In 2007, Fair Trade USA joined with the Stichting Het Groene Woudt, a leading Dutch foundation, to empower seven cooperatives that support more than 100,000 people, to build thriving international coffee enterprises and link to the U.S. market. The three-year program helped the cooperative members develop their organizational capacity, strengthen internal transparency and democratic governance, and improve their management skills. These cooperatives then invested in improving their coffee quality by building new cupping labs and learning how to cup from international experts. (One of the participating groups, COOPAC, won the 2010 Rwanda Cup of Excellence.) They also constructed water recycling systems and implemented low-water milling machinery to reduce their environmental impact. And through our market linkage program, Fair Trade USA was able to introduce the cooperatives to new buyers in the United States and Europe who were eager to buy their higher-quality coffees. As part of the program, Fair Trade USA worked with local women’s associations to offer empowerment training and promote women’s businesses. At the SCAA show in 2008, we
introduced leaders of the Hinga Kawa women’s association to Café Femenino. Since that time, Café Femenino has raised money for pigs and goats to support the women of Hinga Kawa and collaborated to train the women in financial literacy and bookkeeping. In Rwanda, Fair Trade certification has translated into schools, clean water wells, and long-term economic security. According to Christine Condo, executive director of the Rwanda Economic Development Initiative, “In Africa, it’s very difficult for villagers to attend school, but since these cooperatives became Fair Trade, the majority of members, over 90 percent, can send their children to school.” Consumer Trust I’m not alone in saying that Fair Trade is relevant in today’s business climate. According to a recent Globescan study, consumers continue to have high expectations of companies dealing with the developing world as 83 percent say companies should apply internationally accepted labor and environmental standards and 80 percent say companies should contribute to community development. For companies making claims about social sustainability, it’s important to note that more than half of U.S. consumers see thirdparty certification as the best way to verify those claims. Today, more than one third of Americans are familiar with Fair Trade, and about half (35 million adults) buy Fair Trade Certified products. In Europe, where the movement has been around since the 1950s, those numbers are much higher. At the end of the day, the relevance and future of Fair Trade is lies in the hands of the consumer. For those of us in the global coffee community who aspire to a sustainable future for hardworking farmers, U.S. businesses and the planet, our best hope lies in our collaborative efforts to awaken the sleeping giant—the American consumer—to the power we have to change the world by making every purchase matter, including our daily cup of coffee.
Paul Rice is President and CEO of Fair Trade USA, the leading third party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States. Mr. Rice has been a Fair Trade advocate and social entrepreneur for more than 20 years and pioneered Fair Trade certification in the United States in 1998.
Have ‘Green’ Consumables Reached a `Tipping Point’ in the Coffee Sector? by Sally Potter, Vice President, PR Post
T
here are a number of positive trends propelling growth in the specialty coffee sector; more product differentiation with new flavors and dietary supplements, and growing consumer interest in ethical `Fair Trade’ blends. These trends, happily for the future of the sector, are attracting the attention of a young target demographic rediscovering coffee as a beverage and willing to pay the premium price to drink it.
environmentally friendly sector, considerable progress has been made on the greening of single-use or disposable coffee cups, lids, sleeves, stir sticks, and utensils with functional solutions using paper or PLA made from corn (also known as poly lactic acid). These solutions offer a viable, compostable alternative. PLA, is seen as an environmentally-friendly substitute for petroleum-based plastics; however,
But one trend that has not been as evident is sector interest in sustainable packaging, even though there is no shortage of marketers promoting their version of environmentally friendly or biodegradable products. In the specialty coffee sector, taste and freshness have been king. Packaging- the materials and methods – has tended to take a back seat to the roasting process. In a 2007 survey of two thousand package suppliers and brand owners, only 21 percent indicated that sustainability was very important in coffee packaging decisions; 36 percent said somewhat important. That attitude could be about to change. The tipping point or trigger is the emergence of new material technologies. One in particular could establish a new green standard for all coffee packaging. It is a plastic organic additive technology that could resolve many of the end-of-life issues that persistently dog the coffee-drinking experience, yet deliver on critical performance characteristics. Sustainable packaging is now starting to capture serious attention in the sector for a couple of reasons. One, is that packaging’s look and feel is increasingly being seen as a statement of commitment to freshness and quality and as an important part of the premium brand experience. Second, there have been significant advances in material technology that are enabling the greening of consumables in the sector.
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On the technology front toward a more
to traditional foil or laminated coffee bags. Until recently, there had been little progress. That has now changed. TekPak Solutions Inc. of Ontario, Canada has introduced a new green line of high and medium barrier organic packaging designed for the coffee market. It is available as rollstock for fill/seal bags or standup pouches. The new technology has the potential to become the new green standard for coffee packaging. Omni-Degradables are traditional plastics that have been engineered using an organic additive to biodegrade in backyard compost, landfill, and if littered, will biodegrade in rivers, lakes and oceans. The additive makes the plastic molecules attractive to the microbes found in landfills, composters, soil or water. TekPak is particularly proud to be one of the first out of the gate with a foil replacement film. It has similar barrier properties to regular film, but is totally biodegradable. According to Robert Pocius, CEO of TekPak, Omni-Degradables provide a better option for coffee makers because the products perform superbly on barrier protection and match the performance characteristics and benefits of traditional plastics. The only difference is that now the packaging has a limited end-of-life span programmed to achieve complete organic decay when exposed to the microbes in soil or water.
there are some issues which have limited its widespread adoption. One of the most significant is that PLA is not backyard compostable, and can only be composted in commercial composting facilities. Given that there are only 144 commercial composters across the country serving 30,000 communities, the compostability of PLA becomes almost an irrelevant environmental benefit. The latest breakthrough technology offers new options for roasters and retailers, struggling to market an environmentally friendly flexible packaging that offers strong barrier protection similar
“The time has come to bring this kind of innovation to market,” says Pocius of TekPak. “Hopefully, this technology is the tipping point for a new wave in sustainable packaging. The product has been designed to address the shortcomings of PLA, and should receive broader roaster and retailer acceptance. Our new line is low cost, completely shelf-stable, easily manufactured requiring no new special machining, and can be backyard composted. ” Circling back to the original question posed by Coffee Talk on whether sustainable packaging has reached a `tipping point’ to broader industry acceptance in the specialty coffee market, the answer is a clear “yes”.
Have we reached the ‘Fourth Wave’ of coffee? by Rocky Rhodes
B
eing from Southern California, the idea of catching some coffee waves was gnarly brah! Then I found out it was a theoretical way of describing what has been, and what might be coming in specialty coffee. In this state of the industry article the question to attempt to answer is, ‘What is, and are we in, a 4th wave of specialty coffee.’ In order to answer that, let us take a look back and see what the waves have been. Then we will see if we are just enjoying nuance of the 3rd wave or venturing into uncharted coffee waters. I must confess, I never knew there were waves. At least I did not know the industry changes I was experiencing had labels. After some research I found that a friend of mine who I respect very much, Trish Rothgeb, has been credited with making waves. I guess it is more accurate to say she labeled the movements in coffee into waves to define what had transitioned so far and to forecast what might be on its way for our industry. I knew she was smart. That is why she is one of my favorite people in the industry. According to Trish, the waves worked like this (and I am paraphrasing): First Wave: Industrial revolution made coffee a household item. Not flavorful but household. Second Wave: Specialty coffee chains change the way we think about and enjoy coffee. It creates the concept that coffee has flavor and one should enjoy it. Third Wave: Artisans craft coffee in search of quality and regional differentiation. The importance of seed to cup is realized. Information transfer in an effort to improve quality commences. All members of the chain improve their practices from farmer to barista in order to enhance the coffee experience.
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So what is the argument that we might be in a Fourth Wave? In a single word, ‘Technology’. A handful of companies are
on the bleeding edge of innovation trying to give coffee houses, and baristas in particular the tools to control cup quality to their own exacting specifications. As we all know in the industry, every variable must be controlled if you want to consistently produce a perfect brew. It also requires the responsibility of the person to manage the variables. There have been enhancements to roaster data tracking and control systems. There have been enhancements to the extraction equipment. There have been enhancements to the pressing of coffee. There is resurgence and enhancements in single cup brewing. All of these try to help the individual do their job better.
Personally I think that as the demand for specialty coffee continues to increase, the next cultural shift will happen within the supply chain from farm to importer. How we get coffee from dirt to dock is really inefficient and has room for massive quality improvements. This might also include a whole new methodology for price discovery of green like real time auctions instead of the ‘C’ market. That would be a dramatic cultural shift! I think I will go press some fresh roasted Panama coffee from a farm I know that has changed their growing practices to improve quality and contemplate the question further.
So back to the question, ‘Are we in a 4th wave?” I have decided that the proper person to answer this should be Trish. So I asked, and this is what she said: “To me, the waves represent major cultural shifts in the way that the trade and consumer approaches coffee. When we see that again, then maybe we can call out a 4th wave. Still technology continues to be embraced by all waves. The 3rd Wave loves messing around with any apparatuswhether it’s from the beginning of the last century, or what we see launching on the show floor tomorrow.” And there you have it; a fourth wave must be more than nuanced technology. Such technology can assist in perfecting the execution of a shot of espresso or brewed extraction. The end cup alone is not the end of the third wave. Quality will be something that increases as each member of the supply chain becomes better at what they do. Information must still transfer along the path from producer to barista. When will the end of the third wave be reached? “If you take a good look, you’ll see that all the waves are experiencing growth. No one has been made extinct in this diverse marketplace” says Trish. So a third wave does not end because a 4th wave begins. It makes one ponder what cultural shifts are coming that will transform the industry.
Rocky Rhodes founded Rocky Roaster LLC in 1997, and recently formed the International Coffee Consulting Group. Rocky sits on the Roasters Guild Executive Council, and Roasters Guild Certification Task Force. Rocky is a Q-Grader and has participated as a trainer for CQI in both Long Beach and Jakarta, Indonesia.
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A Cuppa and Yogi Berra
T
he Java market in Amsterdam jumped almost 60% between 1810 and 1811. In 2010, two centuries later, Arabica futures on ICE Futures USA did about the same. Those who live in a world where coffee is of more than passing importance, learn early to believe in the words of the Bronx philosopher, Laurence Peter Berra, “Its Déjà vu all over again.” The market rose in 2010, and with it, the premiums on better grade Arabicas at a time when the specialty coffee specific economy had been shaken by the general economic decline. Consumers are buying down, just when specialty coffee prices are rising. There is disinflation: you can get a great deal on a used car, and a house, but out of home coffee has become a luxury, with a latte a day on the way to work costing about $750 a year. The number of people who can afford the luxury of a daily latte has fallen. On the wholesale front, restaurateurs may face criticism for downgrading their wine list, but they can downgrade the quality of coffee and it will go unnoticed by many. And retailers that buy beans in bulk for resale talk quality while squeezing their suppliers to deliver at a lower price. The small independent roaster and retailer are living through hard times. Some retailers are closing. There is talk of consolidation in the wholesale roasting business. Still, others are managing to grow their businesses, and as in all times a few thrive. Single service coffeemakers continue to be the delivery system getting all the buzz, and many brands are hawking their singleserve home brewers. The sexiest models are under the Bugatti, and Lamborghini brands, with interesting entries by Shao-Lun, and Bosch. Senseo, Cuisinart, Nespresso, Keurig, and others continue to put forward new single-serve models each year. Also in the single-serve category Starbucks has launched additional flavored varieties of it’s VIA instant coffee product. Folgers and Nestle (Tasters Choice) have introduced single-serve instant products now. Maxwell House who was a leader in instant single-serve packets for food-service Sanka in the 1960’s has also introduced single serve instant products as retail items. Earlier in 2010, Bunn introduced the Trifecta, single serve variety-variable coffeemaker for professional use, and fighting the trend in single serve home brewers Bunno-matic Corporation has also introduced a new Phase Brew home coffeemaker, winner of a Gold Cup, classification by SCAA, which at $99-$159 is the first serious US challenge to the Technivorm automatic filter brewers imported from The Netherlands, by Boyd Coffee, Portland OR.
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by Donald N. Schoenholt Perhaps the 2010 development that may portend more for the American cup than any other is that Keurig, the single-serve capsule brewing system that crossed over from being the coffee served at luxury car dealers, to the home, has now jumped to the restaurant counter. Boston Market will be offering Keurig cup coffee, from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters in their 490 US outlets during 2011. Many will watch this effort with interest. Maxwell House and Folgers announced coffee price increases in 2010. In September Starbucks with its 13,000 locations announced that it would raise coffee prices selectively. Caribou, with over 400 locations was quoted by the AP as saying they had enough coffee at old prices to hold the chain until the second quarter of 2011. It is reported that Peets with just under 200 locations has raised prices 10c per cup. Green coffee resources are changing. American and African sources for coffee are suffering from significant increases in rainfall over traditional levels. Kenya’s crop is expected to be short, with one Kenya expert, saying that the yield may be off as much as 25%. Quality is also suffering, yet prices are historically high. It has been written that Brazil’s Arabica crop may be off 20%, and Colombia has also seen significant crop reductions, with Bloomberg speculating that Colombia’s crop may fall as much as 7.6%. China, where the first creditable Tea reference is dated to 350AD, has been a coffee consumer for a generation. She is also emerging as a coffee grower and exporter, with Chinese farmers and outside coffee investors, notably Nestle, and Starbucks, juicing up interest in Yunnan beans. Yunnan exports were valued at $85.9 in the first 9 months of 2010, up about 31% over the same period in 2009. Nestle is producing primarily for a domestic Chinese market that has been projected to hit $3.6 billion in 2011 by Euromonitor International. Starbucks celebrated its first ten years in China with the introduction of South of the Clouds blend in 2010, a blend of Yunnan and other Asian beans. Globus Coffee LLC, globuscoffeellc.com, a trader in high-end exotic green coffees offers China Yunnan to specialty roasters. Vietnam, who emerged as the largest Robusta coffee exporter in Asia in the 1990s, has set her sites on growing more Arabica; now only 18% of her production. In retailing, Stumptown, the coffee darling of Portland OR, and New York’s media elite, has opened a new shop, Brew Bar, in Brooklyn NY. Rohan Marley has partnered with cooking.com to re-launch the Marley Coffee effort, named for Rohan’s father, Jamaican Reggae singer Bob Marley.
A question for the New Year is whether coffee blended alcoholic beverages as Big Shot Espresso Stout, Twisted Vine Brewing Co., Boulder CO, Mikkeller Black Hole Stout, Copenhagen Denmark, and Southern Tier Jah-va Imperial Coffee Stout, Southern Tier Brewing Co., Lakewood NY will become collateral damage as federal agencies, pushed by Congress, may ban alcoholic drinks that contain caffeine. Rumor of the year; Starbucks is having marriage remorse over their twelve year deal with Kraft that has Kraft distributing Starbucks coffee to retailers. The scuttlebutt is that Starbucks may buy Peets (with a market cap of just north of $500-million) as a way to enter the retail business without outside support. At year-end Julia Roberts captivated a TV audience by flashing her glorious smile for Lavazza in an ad. She was reportedly paid $1.5 million for the silent grin. Even in hard times, I think her smile is worth every penny. In the Everything Old is New Again Department, The first Choc Full o Nuts coffee shop to open in New York since the Mayoralty of Edward I. Koch, opened its door in September. A retro-mugful there is $1.95. And speaking of Déjà vu, which is French, Alphonse Karr, editor of Le Figaro, in Paris, in the mid-nineteenth century knew how to throw a quip. He was no Yogi Berra, you understand, Still M. Karr was pretty good when he said, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”, loosely translated as “The more things change the more they stay the same.” That fellow knew what he was talking about.
SCAA Lifetime Achievement Laureate, and Roasters Guild founder, Donald Schoenholt, has been a roaster and blender of fine coffees, and a keen observer of the trade he loves for almost 50 years. Mr. Schoenholt can be found at coffeeman@gilliescoffee.com
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Africa and the Supply Chain by Phyllis Johnson What is the potential for African coffees to fill supply gaps and the challenges that are faced when increasing and delivering higher volumes?
A
frica, with the support of the global coffee community, can indeed fill the supply gap that our industry faces. Studies show that coffee production in Africa has steadily declined from a yearly average of 17 million bags between 1994 and 2000, to 14 million bags between 2001 and 2009. Estimated production for 2010 is approximately 14 million bags (Source: J. Ganes Consulting). However, coffee lends itself as the greatest opportunity for many African countries to advance their economies. Coffee is an important contributor to foreign exchange earnings throughout a number of African countries including, Burundi, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Rwanda. The supply gap is a great opportunity for African coffee producing countries to regain and exceed their volume levels achieved between 1994 and 2000. On a recent visit to East Africa and Central America, I found the most glaring opportunity for Africa is to increase productivity. H.E. Ambassador Madame Josefa Sacko, Secretary General of InterAfrican Coffee, expressed that African coffee growers need to be more productive, increasing output from the current average that fluctuates between 440 pounds and 1,100 lbs per hectare. Africa significantly lags other producers such as Brazil and Colombia where yields can average up to 2000 pounds per hectare. An increase in productivity would likely yield and an increase in quality since a healthy coffee tree would not only produce more coffee, but better quality coffee. Why not fill the supply gap in productivity while encouraging participation of African women throughout the coffee trade? It is really a twofold opportunity. The first is undoubtedly defined by the growing deficit that exists between supply and demand. The second and not so well-known gap lies between women engaged in production and harvest compared to those involved in decision making roles. Based on limited studies we know women make up the majority labor force in coffee production with little land
Figure 1 - Janet Chemonges harvesting her coffee cherries
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ownership and few women are in decisionmaking roles. According to an International Trade Center report1 on women in coffee, “Women’s ownership in coffee production is modest at all levels. Ownership is difficult to describe for several reasons, such as the sometimes unclear distinction between ownership and user-rights, and co-ownership for married couples. Although there are significant variations, on average women own around 15% of the land, traded produce and companies related to coffee. Women in rural coffee growing regions throughout Africa are keen to expand their knowledge.”
work using the best examples of success as a basis for moving forward and as a basis for improvement.
For example, Janet Chemonges a small coffee farmer in Kapchorwa Uganda felt that coffee could provide a better livelihood for her and her six children. Janet attended the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) workshop in Kampala Uganda in 2009. When Janet mentioned her production yield during the workshop, I recall many of the participant’s reaction of surprise to what they considered an extremely low yield. Janet’s priority was to learn how to improve her quality and productivity and locate a sustainable market for her coffee. Since the workshop, Janet went on to organize a small group of women farmers in Kapchorwa Uganda. Through the Chebonet Women’s Coffee Development Association, she has brought technical training to the group. Additionally, a portion of her small farm is used as a demonstration plot for other farmers in her area to learn about best practices thereby increasing both quality and productivity.
What excites me most about our industry is the continuous need to find solutions to old and new situations. We know that women do more with their income to support family and community development. If we address the supply gap dilemma by not only viewing it as a single problem, but view it also through the lens of gender, we create a greater opportunity for women growers, the supply chain, the community chain, and the family chain at large.
In 2000, the United Nations established the Millennium Development Goals for 2015. Women are mentioned separately in only three of the eight development goals, which address eradication of extreme poverty; gender equality concerns; and maternal health. These goals position us to move in the right direction. Women of African countries directly and significantly benefit from these goals.
International Trade Forum http://www.tradeforum.org/news/fullstory. php/aid/1367/Women_in_Coffee_.html
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Janet is a great example of a women grower who has seen an increase in productivity and quality as well as being elevated to a leadership and decision making role by the formation of this group. Over the past several years, projects to improve productivity and quality have been ongoing. Amanda Satterly, Coffee Initiative M&E Manager of TechnoServe/Tanzania, explained that TechnoServe has effective programs to increase farmer incomes through improving quality and productivity. TechnoServe is able to reach thousands of small-scale farmers through a cost effective training program. Leaders within small coffee communities support villages to build training networks within the region minimizing the need and cost for farmers to travel. Many of these projects are successful in leveraging partnerships between the public and private sectors. Coffee buyers may chose to become involved during the early stages of improving product quality, monitoring the coffee quality as it improves over time. Now is the time to continue this
Phyllis Johnson is president of BD Imports, Inc., an importer of exceptional quality coffees from Africa, her company was founded in 1999. She spends most of her time developing relationships at origin and building relationships with the company’s customer base.
How Quality Coffee is Generating Development in Rural Guatemala by Ricardo Villanueva Carrera, Chairman of Anacafé – Guatemalan National Coffee Association
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uatemala, as a coffee producing country, has often struggled with how to best provide opportunity for those working in coffee. But the problems have been complex and far reaching. After all, much of what gives Guatemala its beauty: rugged mountainous terrain, twenty-four cultural ethnicities and languages, is also the challenge. One-size-fits all solutions fail, services like education and health are difficult to distribute, and opportunity is found mainly in the few, centralized urban centers, not on the mountain sides. For decades, many attempts at resolving this situation have failed. Neither the quota system for coffee, nor revolutions, nor political movements have brought sustainable development. So what is finally bringing some positive social change about? Amazingly, the market! It has turned workers into small stakeholders paving the way for profound and lasting social change. From worker to producer Traditionally most of Guatemala’s coffee has been cultivated on large, single-owner farms spread across the Pacific lowlands. This coffee, mostly classified as Prime, and ExtraPrime was picked by thousands of workers who would migrate from the Highlands for the season. With the surge of Vietnamese coffee into the market, prices dropped abruptly and change came about. Large-scale farms in Guatemala abandoned coffee and converted to other products like sugar, forestry, and rubber. Coffee owners of traditional farms all but disappeared as their lands were taken over by financial institutions, or they diversified into other crops. At the same time, the budding specialty coffee industry took off as consumers began to demand higher quality coffee. Guatemala faced both a crisis and an opportunity. This time, however, there would be some unlikely beneficiaries of the turmoil: small growers producing in eight coffee regions with exceptional cup profiles.
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Up the Mountain Side Many coffee workers who had traditionally migrated to large-scale farms for work also had small plots of coffee on their land, at high altitude, for personal consumption or for additional income. With the market-driven shift towards distinct, SHB type coffees, small growers began to increase their production. Some joined together in cooperatives, small grower associations and exporting groups, but the vast majority remained independent and still sell their coffee every afternoon in the village square.
Today, a good part of Guatemalan coffee is cultivated by small-scale producers. This fact has resulted in tremendous social change. Thousands who thought of themselves as merely day laborers are now entrepreneurs, selling their coffee to buyers from all over the world. Now coffee is no longer a job; it is an opportunity that allows the small producer to successfully participate in the globalised market place. Already, there is a marked change. As Arcadio Galindo, director of the Asociación Chajulense in Chajul, El Quiche, recalls, “If it were not for the coffee, this town would be abandoned.” What began with only twelve growers now extends to over 3,300 members in 57 communities, dotting the surrounding hills in green. More importantly, however, profits from coffee sales are now invested locally, whether on a new dry mill, a women’s weaving cooperative, or as seed money for micro lending. All in all, generating increased trade and opportunity in this region. Direct trade Many small-scale growers choose to sell directly rather than through co-ops. For example, in the San Marcos region, Agapito Orozco is the proud owner of El Consuelo, “the Comfort”, a 10-hectare lot of coffee planted with elegant, tree-sized arabicas and bourbons. Agapito sells his coffee himself. When asked about how much he will sell this year, he pulls out a cell phone and asks his son Ovido in the village to check the market for him “I think it will still go up more,” he says thoughtfully. While being his own boss has given Agapito a lot of control, it does not eliminate the risks he might face such as fluctuating market prices, weather, and other factors that can wreak havoc on his cash flow. But he smiles, his coffee is now more than an income; it is an inheritance for his grandchildren. Providing support along the way To support the growing group of small growers, Anacafé, the Guatemalan National Coffee Association, has developed extensive technical guidance in the fields, training sessions on quality practices, and conducting workshops that reach over 48,000 growers each year. After more than six years of coordinated work, the results are new coffee growers with the highest agricultural skills. And to help not just grow great coffee but sell it better, Anacafé has developed a new web based tool called the Coffee Search System, which will allow buyers to find their favorite
coffees using a plethora of search options and GIS and Google Earth technology. This will bring opportunity a little closer to new entrepreneurs. Anacafé also works to improve the welfare of coffee farming communities. Working through its foundation, FUNCAFE, Anacafé has provided health services, educational programs and nutritional aid to thousands of Guatemalans since 1994, providing much needed support in rural areas. Many social and educational projects are executed through Anacafe´s platform by international agencies such as USAID and the Spanish Cooperation among others; all of them internationally audited. To solve the complex issues surrounding underdevelopment, it is important to understand the underlying problems and find solutions that promote accountability alongside opportunity. Thousands of coffee growers in rural Guatemala show that enterprise-based solutions can be a vehicle to innovation, social change and ultimately improvement in the standard of living. This approach might not solve all social problems, but it does go a long way toward empowering individuals. They are entrusted with the opportunity to change their own future.
Mr. Ricardo Villanueva Carrera was elected on November 2009 as Chairman of the Guatemalan National Coffee Association – Anacafé- . He was member of the Board of Directors of Anacafé from 1994 to 1996 and was reelected on 2004. As Chairman, he is focused in the implementation of the Coffee Sector Competitiveness Plan, basing his priorities on sustainability and coffee quality.
Domestic Organic Coffee Market Keeps on Growing by Sandra Marquardt
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efying the recession, the organic coffee market continues to grow faster than the conventional coffee sector. Indeed, the North American organic coffee market topped 1.4 billion dollars in 2009, according to data leading market analyst Daniele Giovannucci released at the fifth annual tasting event hosted by the Organic Coffee Collaboration*, a project of the Organic Trade Association (OTA), in June, 2010. Even in a recession, Giovannucci found that organic coffee continued its reign as the single most valuable organic product imported into North America. According to Giovannucci’s North American Organic Coffee Industry Report 2010, more than 93 million pounds of organic coffee were imported into the United States and Canada in 2009. Giovannucci noted that the 4.1 percent growth of the organic coffee market this past year is an important achievement for a higher priced product during a recession and when much of the conventional coffee industry has been stagnant. The average annual growth rate of 21 percent for organic coffee documented by Giovannucci in the five years from 2004 to 2009 dwarfs the estimated one percent annual growth of the conventional coffee industry. OTA’s Executive Director Christine Bushway doesn’t think it’s surprising that demand for organic coffee is growing. “Consumers are increasingly knowledgeable about the attributes of organic coffee—its benefits not only to the environment and health but also to the livelihoods of the farmers who produce it,” she says. The market increase also only makes sense. Data from the Organic Trade Association’s 2010 Organic Industry Survey indicate that U.S. sales of organic products, including food and non-food, reached $26.6 billion by the end of 2009, growing an impressive 5.1 percent over 2008 sales, compared to 1.5 percent for conventional industry’s sales growth.
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One of the primary reasons for growth in the organic coffee market is that the coffee
has become the beverage of choice in food service establishments, ranging from highway convenience stores to fast-food chains. It is also offered in college dining halls, the National Zoo and Smithsonian cafeterias, destination spas, and some of the nation’s finest restaurants. The greater availability comes as consumers increasingly adopt all things “green,” and roasters work with restaurateurs to create special blends for a wide variety of demanding palates. In an increasing number of cases, restaurants are offering organic coffees on menus akin to wine lists. They also are becoming the choice of college-branded coffee offerings. In other cases, the roaster or retailer has decided to use organic coffee to increase the quality of its offerings without telling consumers. Consumers are also increasingly turning to organic coffee as it has become synonymous with quality. According to the results of Cup of Excellence cuppings, coordinated by the U.S.-based Alliance for Coffee Excellence, organic coffees were from several of the winning farms in five countries in 2009: Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. In fact, the highest ranking attained all year was for organic coffee from the Bolivian farm Agrotakesi SA, earning 93.96 points, more than a full point above the next highest ranking coffee that year.
continues to grow, it’s likely we will see continued growth in the organic coffee market in 2011. Cheers! *The Collaboration features leading firms representing the entire post-harvest supply chain. Participants include Beantrees Organic Coffee Company (Sacramento, CA), Caffe Ibis (Logan, UT), Chiapas Farms (Austin, TX), Elan Organic Coffee (San Diego, CA), Control Union Certifications (Plantation, FL) , Equator Coffees & Teas (San Rafael, CA), Golden Valley Farms Coffee Roasters (West Chester, PA), Green Mountain Coffee (Waterbury, VT), S&D Coffee (Concord, NC), Sun Coffee Roasters (Plainville, CT), and Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company (Burnaby, BC, Canada. These participants represent the full organic coffee supply chain spectrum, from sourcing coffees at origin to roasting, decaffeinating, and brewing them. For more information on the Organic Coffee Collaboration, a project of the Organic Trade Association, see http:// www.ota.com/organic_and_you/coffee_ collaboration.html. Sandra Marquardt is president of On the Mark Public Relations and coordinator of the Organic Coffee Collaboration, a project of the Organic Trade Association.
As we head into 2010, and the market interest in “all things sustainable”
Sandra Marquardt is president of On the Mark Public Relations and the coordinator of the Organic Coffee Collaboration, a project of the Organic Trade Association.
Maintaining High Quality in Uncertain Times by Roger Stewart, Director, NAMA Coffee & Water Service
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ike the increase in green coffee prices, it is imperative that the coffee service operator continues to increase her/his knowledge of the marketplace and be cognizant of their customers’ consumption and buying habits. The office consumer of coffee today has a better understanding of quality coffee thanks to national and local coffee houses; consequently the demand for better coffee in the workplace has increased. The rise in unemployment has caused a reduction in the number of workers in offices and B&I locations resulting in lower profit margins for the coffee service operator. The combination of a reduced workforce resulting in fewer cups of coffee being consumed each day and employers wanting to reduce expenses has forced many operators to make cost saving initiatives to hold the line on profits. The consumers in the workplace have grown accustom to better coffee at home and in the office so the operator must focus on introducing higher fractional pack weights and higher quality coffee to maintain reasonable profit margins. In a study done by Harris Interactive for NAMA the average time it takes an office worker to leave the office to get a cup of coffee more than doubles what it takes to get a cup of “free” coffee provided by their employer. If the employee drinks the “free” coffee in the office, they are away from their desk an average of 4.6 minutes. If they leave the office, they are gone an average of 14.9 minutes. The coffee service operator has a compelling story to tell why their service can have a positive impact on office workers and managers.
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Coffee operators need to educate their customers that a quality cup of coffee in the office boosts morale, employees remain at their desk longer in turn increasing productivity and that a premium cup of coffee is an inexpensive benefit when compared to other company benefits. Everyone in the office charged with making buying decisions regarding coffee service must understand that the cost of a premium cup of coffee is not a budget buster.
In a follow up study with office decision makers regarding coffee service, Harris Interactive finds that employees are happier in offices where coffee is provided and 67% of office managers surveyed agree that a coffee service saves them time. The proactive coffee service operator educates his or herself first so they become the coffee professional; plus they enhance their product by offering higher quality single origin coffees or blends as well as adding fair trade or organic coffees. Also adding more product depth to their allied offerings increases the delivery ticket and your company’s importance to that office customer. Unlike the coffee houses, the coffee service operator receives and delivers the product in a master case that can consist of 42 specific weight fractional packs. Not all operators have enough volume to warrant the branding and packaging of custom private label coffee from a coffee roaster. As you begin the process of educating yourself it can be important for you to understand the type of grind in the package, the thickness of the film surrounding the coffee you sell, and possibly the origins of the coffees inside. The level of knowledge and professionalism the operator has about coffee and the world of coffee can make the buyers decision easier. The intrinsic value the operator adds can equal a higher cost per cup. The single most important item a coffee service operator must offer is “service”. Service should not be taken for granted because often times the term is included in the name of the company. Coffee operators across the country have access to quality coffee, not all are willing to pay extra for that quality, but it is available. To create a solid value added package the operator must have a quality coffee program including water filtration and service levels that differentiates one from other operators. In order to have a good business plan, one must constantly review and update their service levels so the customers see and feel the value of their coffee service with each call.
NAMA recognizes that operators need education and their Quality Coffee Certification Program is one of the most recognized coffee programs in the industry. In the past 11-years over 1,000 participants have completed QCCP. It is an intensive 2-day workshop that takes the operator from “The Bean to the Cup” using guided coffee tastings during the presentation of single origin and blended coffees. Operators gain a better understanding of tasting and brewing a premium cup of coffee for their customers. When operators complete QCCP they have the option of taking their knowledge and professionalism to the next level. They exam can become a Certified Coffee Specialist (CCS), there is an online exam to pass in order to receive the CCS designation. CCS and QCCP are marks of distinction in the coffee service industry.
Roger Stewart, NCE5, CCS Director of Coffee and Water Service. Joined NAMA in 2003. Previously was V P of operations for USRefresh, a division of US Office Products. He lived in Seattle, WA, working at Starbucks Corporate office as Director of Special Markets and later was President of AAA Coffee Service with branches in Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, and two locations in Southern California.
NCA – State of the Industry by Robert F. Nelson, President, National Coffee Association
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010 has been a year of jumping some troublesome regulatory hurdles. Touching on fundamental concepts like food safety, traceability, and health-related labeling, a spate of federal and state initiatives posed significant challenges across the coffee community, from tree to cup. Bills have passed in the House and Senate that could become new food safety legislation making the most sweeping change in federal oversight by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since the 1930s. Key provisions include FDA authority to recall food when there is a risk of contamination, upending the current voluntary recall system, and a required food tracing system to facilitate isolating the source of potential contamination. Also, importers would be responsible for ensuring the safety of food they import. If enacted into law, the food safety legislation would requirethat records be kept throughout the supply chain – one level up and one level down – and that the FDA could order a recall on the basis of unsatisfactory records. What is not in the legislation is a proposed amendment that would have required trace back to the first intermediary in the chain and record keeping going all the way back to the farm . The National Coffee Association successfully led the fight to keep this burdensome trace back/record keeping language out of the Senate version, resulting in a bill with a limited exemption to trace back and record keeping requirements for commingled commodities like coffee. . Numerous visits to Capitol Hill by the NCA ultimately kept out the amendment language and preserved this critical exemption, as well as eliminated other burdensome provisions.
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The sweeping changes put in place by this year’s health care reform bill include an obscure provision that would create a federal-level mandate to post the calorie values of foods in retail establishments with 20 or more locations. It also enables any retailer to opt in voluntarily to avoid stricter regulations, such as menu labeling requirements, on the state or local level, which the provision explicitly supersedes. Under draft guidance issued by the FDA to implement the provision, retailers could face an unworkable need to list calorie counts on menu boards for the limitless number of custom coffee creations made for customers. However, the draft includes an exemption for “custom orders” made with ingredients not listed on the menu board, distinguishing them from “variable menu items” – where variations are pre-measured available options – whose calorie counts would need to be posted individually. In other words, where possible additives are posted on a menu or menu board – such as milk, flavor
or topping options – the final product would be considered a “variable order.” That would mean tallying the calorie totals for each custom order that contained ingredients that were posted on the menu board. NCA filed formal comments with the FDA to argue that custom coffee drinks that contain ingredients that are listed on a menu board are “custom items” rather the “variable menu items,” and so should enjoy the “custom order” exemption. In the comments, NCA made two strong arguments for preserving the exception for coffees. While some available ingredients in custom-ordered coffee drinks are listed on menu boards or menus, coffee’s thousands of possible permutations make each coffee a unique drink rather than a “variable” menu item with measurable recipe options. Also, since coffee cups have a set volume, adding one ingredient means displacing one or more others, adding or reducing calorie content in infinite quantities in the final product, therefore making it unfeasible to pre-determine calorie counts for all of the custom options. In California, many foods continue to come under the scrutiny of the state’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, better known as Proposition 65. The law requires consumer warnings for compounds shown to cause cancer or reproductive harm. The 800-substance list includes acrylamide, a naturally occurring browning byproduct in foods containing certain sugars and amino acids, including grains, potatoes and coffee. Fast-food restaurants already post “Prop 65” cancer warnings for French fries, as do supermarkets in their fresh fish aisles. Lawsuits have been filed to require similar warnings for potato chips and ready-to-drink coffee. NCA continues to monitor both scientific and legal developments through its professional staff and many volunteer committees. This year, NCA submitted formal comments on behalf of the U.S. industry in response to an FDA inquiry on reducing acrylamide levels in food. Despite the fact that levels in brewed coffee are undetectable, reducing acrylamide in roasted coffee has been unworkable because of the impact on flavor profiles. Other foods have had some success in reducing levels of the substance, though, leaving coffee vulnerable to continued scrutiny. NCA continues to work with coffee and food industry colleagues in the U.S. and Europe on voluntary measures to help producers and processors find ways to lower acrylamide levels. The issue, moreover, is not limited to California companies since Prop 65 regulations apply to coffee sold in
the state regardless of port of entry or where it was roasted or processed. In another issue in California, the state’s Labor Board has proposed a regulation that would deem diacetyl, a substance used in some coffee flavorings, as a potential workplace safety hazard. California State Standard 5197 is still under consideration, but would require a host of worker protection measures where there is potential exposure at an airborne concentration of 1% or more. While no specific mention is made of shops that roast their own coffee in-store, there is the potential that the regulation would also be applied to in-store environments, impacting local coffee roasters and cafés Going forward, NCA anticipates an environment with increasing government oversight and regulation and a corresponding uptick in state and local issues that will need to be addressed to protect the industry’s best interests. As we’ve shown in 2010, though, the industry is equipped to confront challenges, both old and new. NCA remains on top of scientific and regulatory developments, and will continue to work hard to inform, protect and fight to preserve the well-being of the industry across the spectrum from tree to cup.
Robert F. Nelson is President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Coffee Association of U.S.A. In addition to his NCA duties, he is a member of the Private Sector Consultative Board and the official U.S. delegation at the International Coffee Organization, as well as Harvard University’s Institute of Politics Global Food Policy Advisory Board.
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Bringing Quality to Life by Rick Peyser
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hile our industry continues to champion and benefit from efforts to improve the quality of coffee in the cup, the time is long overdue for an expanded definition of quality, with a single-minded focus on helping coffee farming families improve their quality of life. These are the people who grow the coffee that provide each of us with a standard of living, often beyond their reach and imagination. I am writing this article on my way home from a week in the Caranavi area of Bolivia. Fifty years ago, this area was all jungle until the Bolivian government instituted land reform and encouraged migration from the highlands of the altiplano to Las Yungas, as the area is known. As such, Caranavi has become a melting pot of Aymara, Quechua, among other groups, and has become the coffee epicenter of Bolivia. Farmers here are increasingly focused on quality, and participate in the Cup of Excellence competitions, which have helped promote coffee quality. As an industry, we have long believed that coffee quality is the key to higher prices and better lives for farmers. While there are pockets of prosperity in our global supply
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chain that may be attributed to improvements in the quality of coffee, this area, like many others, remains severely challenged in nearly every metric used to measure quality of life, despite improved coffee quality, technical assistance, benefits of various certifications, and many excellent development efforts. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 42.2% of all Bolivians still live on under $2 per day. The World Bank reports that 65% of the Bolivian population lives in poverty, with 40% living in extreme poverty. According to the Caranavi Municipal Development Plan, the under five years mortality rate in the area is a startling 70%. Maternal mortality is 48 out of every 1,000 births, while overall life expectancy is 59 years. Over sixty percent of the rural population has no access to clean water, and approximately 85% of the population consumes less than 2,200 calories per day. Child malnutrition exceeds 47%, with a high degree of stunting. And so on…. Individual farmers, local, and national governments share responsibility to engage in these issues, however resources are
severely limited. As the leading advocates for coffee quality and sustainability, we have a tremendous opportunity and reason to reassert our leadership in both areas as we look to the future. While we need to continue to emphasize coffee quality and grow our businesses, we also need to take a long-term view on our industry’s sustainability, starting at its roots. The harsh conditions in and around Caranavi, and in much of the coffeegrowing world, threaten the future of our industry. Every day young people are leaving coffee areas and heading to urban centers in search of greater opportunities. Can you blame them? Why should they stay? To struggle to send their children to school? To walk hours to the nearest health clinic, and back when sick? To have no choice other than to drink parasite infested water? To go months every year unable to maintain their normal diet? As much as our industry is threatened by global climate change, it is also threatened by our limited definition of quality – quality in the cup. There are many non-profit organizations within our industry that are making a positive difference for coffee farming families. Let’s give them greater support to bring quality to life!
Rick Peyser has been with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters for over 21 years. He is a past President of the Specialty Coffee Association of America, and currently serves on the Coffee Kids™ Board of Directors, the Coffeelands Landmine Victims’ Trust Advisory Board, and the Fair Trade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) Board of Directors, which sets the international standards for Fair Trade that benefit over 1,000,000 small-scale farmers around the world..
Display Café, LTD moletic@innovatedproductsmfg.com • Fax: (905) 799-3725 Fill in 97 on Reader Service Form or visit www.OneRs.hotims.com/14674-97
Grounds for Health at its 15th year by August Burns
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or Grounds for Health, 2011 marks our 15th anniversary working together with coffee farming communities to bring low-cost, high quality cervical cancer prevention programs to their families. We have a lot to celebrate, but we wanted to share with you the inspiration for our work; the unstoppable spirit of our partners at origin whose dreams can be turned into reality with the right kind of support.
first doctor we partnered with in Pochutla, where in his newly renovated center he can treat all women who need further care. In interviews with our partners, they clearly gave credit for this success to our early collaboration, which they described as a
the premium they receive from their Fair Trade coffee to hire a doctor who travels throughout their communities and focuses on preventive health care. In addition to continuing with Pap screening, they hold regular vaccine clinics and screening for diabetes and hypertension.
Cervical
One of Grounds for Health’s deepest values is that of sustainability. We join each cancer is the #1 cause partner not with the intention to pour energy into a clinic and leave, but instead of cancer death for women in low-resource We believe that the current growth of the to work side-by-side to ensure that our settings. There is no direct connection between coffee coffee industry means now is a time of partners will have the knowledge and unprecedented opportunity. It is only resources necessary to continue high and cervical cancer; these women simply do not have access when people are able to move beyond quality, effective health programs for the day-to-day struggle to meet their years to come. It is this model that has to adequate screening and treatment facilities. basic needs, that they are able to create earned us the honor of being named a a bigger vision for themselves and their Grounds for Health partners with coffee communities, other NGO, finalist for the 2011 SCAA Sustainability communities, and are able to capitalize Award. on the support we, as external partners, local health ministries and coffee businesses to develop long term are able to give them. People around the We now know that GFH’s role within solutions to this problem through our comprehensive, highly world seek a better life for themselves and these close collaborations is just the seed their families. Combine this with some for change and that communities then take sustainable approach. To learn more, please visit our even basic technical and financial support, that inspiration and grow it to meet their and magic can happen. needs and improve their lives. website at www.groundsforhealth.org. We recently visited our partner SOPPEXCCA, in Jinotega, Nicaragua where we have just finished a three-year collaboration. There, our partnership has helped to develop the co-op’s capacity to manage health programs, a network of community health promoters, and a well-trained cadre of doctors and nurses to provide early screening and treatment skills locally. We have also equipped three clinics to provide life-saving treatment of pre-cancer. After years of this capacity building, we were delighted to hear our partners readily identify the next steps THEY wanted to pursue: starting a pilot program to integrate the Grounds for Health model into their existing community health services for long-term success.
catalyst for change. But it is their hard work and dedication that has steadily built on that success these many years later. Further down the road in Veracruz, Mexico, we were met by some of our heroes in this fight. The dynamic leadership of the Huatusco co-op embraced our partnership early on, and after years of working together they decided that they wanted to do even more. Since our program left, they have chosen to invest
Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world. Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has. -Margaret Meade August Burns, PA, MPH, CM Ms. Burns is an expert in women’s health, and has worked in more than a dozen countries. She is co-author of Where Women Have No Doctor, a health guide for women in low-resource settings, now translated into over 30 languages and used around the world.
We also recently revisited our original program sites to learn more about what happens three to five years after GFH leaves and we were thrilled by what we found.
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In Potchutla, Mexico, our original cooperative partner La Trinidad proudly showed us the well functioning community health center where women can now regularly receive Pap smears. This did not exist before GFH started. Women who test positive are referred to Dr. Valenzuela, the
Fatima Ismael, President of SOPPEXCCA Café Co-op, has shown extraordinary leadership on securing health care for her community.
Huatusco coffee cooperative leadership, outside their offices
A Steaming Hot Cup of Innovation: The ‘Secret’ Behind Gold Standard Coffee by Kevin Curtis, Executive VP, Marketing, Wilbur Curtis Company
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ven amid economic uncertainty, we in the coffee business can take solace in some very heartening truths. While the Great Recession has caused a huge reduction in the number of retailers, restaurants and other foodservice operations, consumer demand for a memorable cup of coffee remains high. In fact, statistics prove that Americans are still willing to pay more to enjoy it, which is perhaps why specialty coffee now accounts for one third of the nation’s $40 billion coffee industry. Innovation has played a key role in empowering the foodservice industry to deliver that experience to more people than ever, and make us all better at what we do through SCAA Gold Cup brewing standards. As proud industry pioneers since 1941, we at the Wilbur Curtis Company have been compelled, inspired and privileged to be part of that, notably contributing with our revolutionary GEMINI satellite system and digital brewing controls. Yet when I say ‘innovation’ I’m not just talking about equipment, but something that runs far deeper. I mean being willing to transform your enterprise to address market changes, economic realities and the demands of the specialty coffee drinker.
Embracing change—from the bottom of the cup on up
Now approaching our 70th anniversary, Curtis has weathered and actually thrived through the ups and downs in the business for one reason: our tolerance and real enthusiasm for change. Charged by that corporate culture, we’ve always seen people as the bedrock of innovation, and have quite simply strived to create a company of coffee fanatics. In fact, we have a lot of people of staff who are true coffee connoisseurs. And because we see them as vanguards for change, we avidly support SCAA Gold Cup certification training for our sales force.
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Turning to manufacturing, it’s always easy to talk products, and I’m usually the first to do so, touting the fact that our machines
have custom Gold Cup brew optimization programs built in. But here again, the innovation story involves more. At Curtis, we see a Gold Cup brew as the top of a production ladder with many rungs. The first is a deep understanding of the art of coffee brewing; and others include key elements such as ISO certification and lean manufacturing techniques.
to keep infusing it with fresh blood to stay on course. My young nephew, Brant Curtis, has been that firebrand for us. For example, he was a key stakeholder in the unveiling of our IntelliFresh™ (IF) technology, which locks freshness settings into the satellite providing the optimum freshly brewed/freshly held experience.
My brother Michael has been instrumental in imposing much of that discipline, helping us become ISO 9001-certified, while instituting 6S and lean manufacturing regimes that not only reduce waste and inefficiency, but also seek to unleash employee creativity so vital to positive change.
Particularly amid economic pressures, success in the foodservice business is dependent upon a big mixed bag of variables. But technology—especially when leavened by passion and innovation—has and always will help simplify the one thing every restaurateur knows will consistently drive business: a perfectly hot, greattasting cup of gold standard coffee.
Seeking to simplify a sensational brew
Just as crucial as lean manufacturing is lean design. Here, oddly enough, the goal is to create Gold Cup brewing equipment that offers advanced engineering but simplicity of training, operation and maintenance, all with one thing in mind: to empower an often entry-level workforce to easily dispense great coffee round the clock. Turning to the point of service, the challenge has always been how to brew, serve and keep large volumes of coffee while preserving excellent freshness and flavor. Otherwise, you’re just pouring the proverbial ‘cup of joe.’ We addressed that in the early eighties with our GEMINI® system— a hybrid between an urn and decanter brewer. Rather than ‘cooking’ coffee on a burner, the GEMINI® uses gentle heat and a unique double-wall construction to help retain optimal coffee temperature longer. Continuing along this path of simplification, in 1996 we were the first to debut digital brewing machines, giving servers more precise control over critical factors such as time, temperature and volume. Then, in 2001, we followed up with our Generation Three™ (G3) series, providing one-touch pre-set recipes based on coffee type, grind and weight. Once you commit your company to the pursuit of innovation it’s equally important
Chasing success, going for gold
After 70 years of innovations, we’re proud to say one thing has remained the same. Your Loyalty.
G3 Digital Bulk Iced Tea Brewer with Narrow Form Tea Servers
G3 Digital ThermoPro with Advanced Thermal Servers
G3 Digital GEMINI with IntelliFresh Holding Technology
Log on and see what’s ahead in brewing systems for the next 70 years.
www.wilburcurtis.com
Choosing the right conveyor for coffee by Tim Larsen, Cablevey Conveyors
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he coffee “industry” is large and in constant flux. One “State of the Industry” article regarding coffee processing each year cannot possibly capture all the current best practices within a roasting facility. Also, describing a particular roasting process doesn’t necessarily tell you the story of how well the coffee is processed. This short article has been written to introduce you to some ideas about processing specialty coffee as your company begins to grow and needs conveying equipment.
Choosing the right conveyor for coffee
As roasters progress from small to larger scale operations, they need to consider many different technologies to meet both their immediate and future needs. Many people also find that the requirements of today have become more stringent than they were before. The higher standards resulting from roasting and packaging Specialty Coffee and forthcoming traceability requirements are making factors such as the level of bean breakage, cross contamination, product loss, product segregation and foreign material contamination more and more important. If you buy the best coffee, wouldn’t you want to treat
it the best way you can? Conveyors within the coffee roasting industry fall into two basic categories: 1. Pneumatics (using air to convey the coffee) which include a. Vacuum dilute phase conveyors b. Pressure dilute phase conveyors c. Vacuum dense phase conveyors d. Pressure dense phase conveyors 2. Mechanical (using a mechanical device to convey the coffee) which include a. Bucket elevators b. Drag chain conveyors c. Augers d. Flat belt conveyors e. Aero-mechanical f. Tubular drag conveyors with a cable and disc g. Tubular drag conveyors with a chain and disc There are many reasons why a roasterie would choose a particular conveyor. Certain demands including the type of coffee they are using, the physical constraints of the facility and even an individual’s personal experience can mean one roasterie will choose a different conveyor from another. This article is an attempt to review the conveyors on the market and help roasters to make informed decisions. At the end of the article, there is a score rating on a number of categories based on the author’s perception. The reader can weight these scores to their preference and determine the best conveyor for them. Categories considered were: 1. Coffee protection – level of how gently the coffee is transported. This affects bean breakage level and ground coffee segregation. The higher the number the higher the level of protection. 2. Protection from foreign materials - the higher the number the higher the level of protection.
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3. Protection from cross contamination – this is important not only when running organic coffee and decaf in the same lines as regular coffee, but when running one batch after another and ensuring traceability is sound. 4. Level of internal cleanliness/ability to clean – the higher the number the cleaner the system is or the easier it is to clean 5. Layout configuration flexibility – the higher the number the better the system is at meeting different layout configurations. 6. Cost to purchase – the higher the number the lower the cost to purchase the system is. 7. Cost to operate and maintain – the higher the number the lower the cost to operate and maintain the system.
Pneumatic Conveyors
One often finds pneumatic conveyors in small roasteries and in large roasting facilities. A vacuum dilute phase conveyor, for instance, is often the first conveyor that roasteries purchase due to the fact a small venturi system is inexpensive to buy. In many situations a pneumatic system is also relatively cheap for industrial roasting facilities to purchase as their flexible nature allows them to reach many destinations with one system. The differences between dilute and dense phase generally come down to how gently the coffee is conveyed. Nevertheless, all pneumatic conveyors treat the coffee violently in some form or other. Sometimes this is only in the purge cycles that are required to ensure batches are separated. Sometimes the damage occurs through the entire transfer. Part of the fundamental nature of pneumatic conveyors is that it aerates the coffee. The implication is that it creates the need
Choosing the right conveyor for dust control (either through filter bags or a dust collector). There is also the belief that aeration removes volatiles from the coffee. Attempts have been made to recirculate the conveyed gases in the endeavor to minimize the volatiles lost. However, it still is considered best to avoid the aeration of coffee whenever possible. Pneumatic conveyors are also among the least efficient conveyors available. The energy required to pick the coffee up from a stationary position and transport it using air is quite high. However, pneumatic conveyors do have their benefits. Among them is their ability to be configured in many different layouts and their ability to convey coffee at very high rates.
Mechanical Conveyors
Within this category there are many different types of technologies and here are brief summaries of their benefits and challenges Bucket Elevators – These have long been used in coffee roasteries due to their low purchased cost and low level of bean breakage. However, their limitations come in their lack of flexibility in layouts when long horizontal distances are required. Also they tend to have cleanliness issues when the interior walls of the outer shell and the underside of the buckets buildup with coffee dust over time resulting in potential for contamination in the form of stale coffee buildup. Drag Chain Conveyors – These have also long been used for ground coffee. The application for whole bean coffee is not common due to the high level of bean
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breakage from the chain. They have a higher level of layout flexibility, but their main drawback is the level of product retention within the conveyor. This is difficult to remove and can result in cross contamination from batch to batch. Augers – These are used for ground and whole bean coffee. Typically the distances for whole bean are small as the bean breakage can be significant. Also the internal cleanliness can be an issue resulting in a cross contamination risk and the need to disassemble on a regular basis to clean. Flat Belt Conveyors – These can treat the coffee quite gently, but in order to protect against foreign materials the conveyor needs to be covered. This will result in the buildup of coffee dust on the interior of the wall leading to an increased risk of cross contamination. Also the layout flexibility is severely limited.
The coffee protection level is high and the energy required to operate is low due to the lower weight of the cable. Tubular Drag with a chain and disc – These operate similar to the Tubular Drag with cable except they are based on the heavier chain. Consequently the energy consumption is higher and the coffee protection is lower due to the moving links. Below is the summary table of the different conveyor technologies with the ratings from the author. The perspective of this article is solely from the author who is an engineer that has been responsible for the design and building of over 300 million pounds per year in roasting and packaging capacity. The author is sharing his perspective with the objective of sharing best practices to all coffee roasters.
Aeromechanical Conveyors – These have limited exposure within coffee roasteries as the coffee experiences similar treatment to dilute phase pneumatic conveying. They operate by running a cable and disc at high speeds to aerate the coffee and draw it along with the discs. While the aeration is less than pneumatics, it nevertheless results in the need for dust control and the potential loss of volatiles. The flexibility of the systems’ layouts are moderate. Tubular Drag with a cable and disc – These also use a cable and disc, but operate significantly slower with the discs pushing the coffee towards its destination. The coffee is treated gently without aeration and no build-up within the inside walls as it continually cleans itself with each revolution.
Coffee protection
Flexibility in layout configuration
Protection from foreign materials
Protection from cross contamination
Level of internal cleanliness
Cost to purchase
Cost to operate and maintain
Vacuum dilute phase conveyors
2
8
9
7
7
9
2
Pressure dilute phase conveyors
2
8
9
9
9
7
2
Vacuum dense phase conveyors
5
8
9
9
9
7
3
Pressure dense phase conveyors
6
8
9
9
9
6
3
Bucket elevators
9
3
9
7
5
9
5
Drag chain conveyors
7
6
9
5
4
8
5
Augers
6
3
9
5
4
9
5
Flat belt conveyors
9
1
7
9
5
9
6
Aero-mechanical conveyors
3
6
9
9
8
6
5
Tubular drag conveyors with a cable and disc
9
7
9
9
9
7
7
Tubular drag conveyors with a chain and disc
7
8
9
9
9
6
5
Raising the Bar on Decaf
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by David Kastle, Vice President, Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company
et’s take it from the beginning: why drink coffee? There are more efficient stimulant delivery systems (nicotine patches, energy drinks, pricking yourself with a pin). There are plenty of other things to drink at social gatherings (tea, beer, glög). Ask yourself – fifteen centuries ago, how bored was Kaldi when he decided to eat the berries that made his goats insane? Coffee is an anomaly – at least, up until the creation of absinthe – something with no redeeming value other than it kept you up later than you probably should be. Don’t kid yourself that flavor was the driving force for consumption. Spices were added to food as a preservative and to mask putrescence, and perfumes were used to cover up more personal aromatic challenges. Sorry - I got distracted. Back to coffee.
Alright, the point of coffee, at least for a long, long time, was the stimulation resultant from the caffeine. But then a funny thing happened, not that long ago: technology stepped into the picture and coffee got better. Roasting equipment became more sophisticated, allowing for better control of the roasting environment, consistent and reproducible results, and the ability to craft-roast single origins and refine blends. Brewing evolved from boiled grounds to siphons to boiled grounds again (sigh, the percolator) to Melitta pour-overs. The espresso machine was a revolutionary device when it was introduced a century ago. Evaluation of green coffee progressed from eyeballing beans for physical defects, to the adoption of cupping as the standard for importers and roasters. Coffee has come a long way from goat-licked fruit… no longer just hot and black. It is flavor, a series of flavors, the fragrance of freshly roasted and newly-ground seeds that yield aromas that promise a dense matrix of oral gratification. Good stuff. Coffee is no longer just fuel for the trip – it is the destination itself. With the allure of the cup surpassing caffeine injection as the motivator for a cup of coffee, decaffeinated coffee must rise to the challenge.
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Decaf has been around for just over one hundred years, when Ludwig Roselius perfected his method using benzene, an aromatic and stunningly carcinogenic coal-tar derivative (this particular chemical has long since been abandoned for decaffeination but lived on as a paint stripper, spot remover, and gasoline component, and was used in the manufacture of napalm). These days, the chemicals of choice are the solvents methylene chloride (also used as a paint stripper and in Christmas tree bubble lights) and synthetic ethyl acetate (a varnish remover also used to
clean circuit boards). While this first decaf may have tasted awful and posed a health risk for consumer and producer alike, at least it was coffee, not toasted grain. Needless to say, it set a very low bar for decaf coffee quality. That bar remained low for a long, long time. Decaf was a can on the supermarket shelf at a time when price, not quality, dictated sales. The first water-process decaffeination was introduced in the 1930’s, but – then as now – it cost more than the chemical processes. So here’s the conundrum: decaffeination is an added expense – how do you mitigate it? By using the cheapest process, as well as the cheapest coffee you can find! Consumers came to decaf at a time when overall coffee quality was poor. This made the step down in cup quality less noticeable, but it was still there…. Cue further technological development: roaster profiling systems, better automatic brewers, quality home espresso machines, widespread use of Chemex and press-pots, the Clover, the Hario V60, Nel-Drip, and the proportional-integral-derivative controller (okay, the PID) for commercial espresso machines. Don’t ignore the quantum leap in barista skill! At origin we’ve seen the promotion of Q-grading, the adoption of alternative processing methods, varietals planted for flavor rather than yield…. Consumers are now much more sophisticated when it comes to coffee, thanks to awareness of origin characteristics, micro-regional variations, the dramatic impact of roast level, difference in roast style from vendor to vendor…. The bar has been raised: coffee drinkers expect that their coffee should taste good if not great. Mediocrity is no longer acceptable.
- usually to get a good night’s sleep - that decaf is compared to what they’ve become accustomed to drinking.
Back up a few paragraphs. Cheap decaf is the product of cheap coffee and cheap processing, with flavor losing out over cost. But wait! With the rise of specialty coffee, consumers have made it clear that they are willing to pay more for a better product. This becomes the opportunity to raise the bar again – this time for decaf. Pick better coffees, and use a better process, one that does not impact the flavor and other characteristics of the green coffee going in. There is more and more research into the components that make up the cup – the dozens of chlorogenic and amino acids, for example – so choose a process that can demonstrably, repeatedly retain these elements. Explain to your customers the choice you’ve made. Make clear your commitment to quality for your entire product line. Give your decaf as much quality focus as you do your regular coffee. Own your decaf! One last thought: if you are on the front lines, pushing dozens or hundreds of drinks across your counter every day, and you want to offer a decaf of the same quality as the rest of your offerings, consider charging an extra five cents a cup for decaf. Chances are, your customers know the effort you are putting into sourcing excellent coffees – that is why they are walking in your door. Lay it out to them – you could make decaf the same price by lowering the quality, or you can give them something they’ll love. You’ll be amazed at the overwhelmingly positive response.
Sidestep – who drinks decaf? People who like the taste of coffee but, for a variety of reasons, do not want the caffeine. Some only drink decaf (call them dedicated decaf consumers). Some drink regular coffee in the first part of the day but then switch to decaf (dual users). Some mix decaf and regular to get a lowercaffeine beverage (I don’t have a term for this group, but they are very real – just watch LA Story). Well, decaf drinkers –the full-time ones, the dual users, and the half-caff folks – they consider themselves coffee drinkers, period. They all used to drink non-decaffeinated coffee, and a lot of them still do, at least part of the time. When coffee in general wasn’t great, lousy decaf wasn’t so noticeable. Now, however, coffee drinkers are used to a good cup – decent is the new baseline – and it is very hard to step back down in quality once you are used to something good. So when these coffee drinkers move over to decaf
David Kastle, Vice President. As head of coffee trading for SWDCC, David directs purchasing and inventory of all green coffee, oversees quality control of both pre- and post-decaffeinated coffees, and manages sales of decaffeinated coffees to the matrix of coffee importers, brokers and dealers who distribute to specialty coffee roasters worldwide.
®/™ are trademarks of Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company Inc.
Find out at swisswater.com or call 800.668.9981
Fantasy or reality?
Tips and Trends in Thermometers and Timers
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by Shawn DiGruccio, Vice President of Component Design Northwest (CDN)
ith the growing popularity of coffee houses and chains, consumers are becoming more sophisticated about coffee taste, and are demanding a higher-quality brew wherever they go. Whether you operate a gas station, Coffee Café, or a white tablecloth restaurant, customers are now expecting exceptional coffee. Smart foodservice managers know that great coffee means greater customer satisfaction, more traffic, more sales, and more profits. Ensuring that standards for brewing and serving are met on a consistent basis requires a few key tools, such as the proper brewer and a precision grinder. Additionally, to capture and serve the ultimate taste and aroma, the art of coffee requires professionalgrade timers and thermometers. From crop to cup, brew your best using high quality thermometers and timers for quality and consistency in every brew. There are many reasons thermometers and timers are important tools in the Coffee Café: Proper Brew Parameters: Milk steaming is critical for superb latte art and for making delicious cappuccinos and café mochas. Unless barista are using thermometers, consistency is hard to achieve. Some baristas may swear by their own senses when frothing milk, but we all know that accuracy is the key to success when achieving the perfect temperature required. Too hot and the milk loses its natural sweetness. Too cool and customers won’t experience the desired thick, velvety texture of properly steamed and foamed milk. • Foodservice operators should use thermometers to ensure a consistent and quality product. CDN offers a line of ProAccurate® Insta-Read® Beverage & Frothing Thermometers (models IRB220-F, IRB220-F-6.5, IRTL220, IRT220-F) that feature large, easy-to-read dials with the optimal temperature range for creating froth and foam (150-170 degrees F) highlighted to guarantee perfect results. • Timers can be used to monitor drink preparation and extraction times. When making espresso, timing indicates to a barista if the dose, tamp, grind and extraction are proper, or if adjustment is necessary. • Proper brew time ensures ideal extraction time for espresso and brewed coffee. Brewing coffee too quickly results in under-extracted coffee, and brewing too slowly results in a bitter taste. • To ensure quality control, it is important to use thermometers that are quick and easy to recalibrate, giving you the confidence that temperature is measured reliably time and again.
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Consistency and Quality Service: To ensure the best coffee taste, it’s important to serve customers fresh coffee. Experts recommend serving drip brewed within 20 to 30 minutes of brewing and espresso within 10 seconds of brewing. After 10 seconds, the crema on espresso begins to dissipate. • Timers are important for serving fresh coffee and operating an efficient, high-quality beverage station. For instance, timers can be used to alert you to toss drip brewed coffee 20 to 30 minutes after being brewed. • Infrared thermometers and digital thermometers help check water brew temperature in hard to reach places such as brew stream from the espresso machine group head, ensuring food safety. • Infrared thermometers can provide accurate surface measurements of milk, froth or food without touching it. Maximum Food Safety: Aside from beverage making, thermometers are essential to ensure maximum food safety. Storing, cooking, and serving milk and food at proper temperatures is critical to avoiding harmful bacteria that may cause illness. Foodservice operators should use professional-grade thermometers that provide accurate readings to ensure food-safe temperatures. • Whether it is milk for lattes or sandwiches for the lunch crowd, refrigerator thermometers ensure that proper temperatures in cold case and storage are maintained for maximum food safety. • Some thermometer models, such as the CDN Infrared/Thermocouple Probe Thermometer (INTP626X), contain integrated HACCP check lights and icons instantly show if temperatures are within HACCP guidelines for safe food temperatures. • Maximum and Minimum modes, available on some models, make it easy to detect when temperatures fall above or below a selected target. Tips for Choosing and Using Thermometers and Timers: • Select thermometers that can be recalibrated easily. Keep in mind that any thermometer can require recalibration once a week due to high frequency of use. Check your thermometer by placing it in a controlled temperature such as ice water. If the thermometer does not read 32 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s time to recalibrate. • Timers that are loud and easy to use are ideal for foodservice environments. • For easy reference, seek a specialized frothing thermometer that indicates the target temperature
range for perfectly frothed milk. • The ideal foodservice thermometer will be small enough to fit in a pocket, made of high-quality materials, and include a data hold feature and a wide temperature range. • Use a timer to ensure that drip brewed coffee is served within your freshness window. Easy-to-use clip-on timers that can count up and count down are ideal for a foodservice environment. • When monitoring drip coffee, begin timing as soon as brewing is activated. Even though you may not see the coffee drip yet, water has begun to infuse the grounds, so the brewing process has begun. • Choose a waterproof timer for busy, humid foodservice environments. • Use timers for brewing French press or pourovers, and to sound an alert when it is time to dump the coffee in airpots and shuttles. • Bimetal thermometers and rapid-response thermocouple technology offer a high level of speed and accuracy in the coffee environment, quickly and easily measuring internal temperatures in wide temperature ranges. These thermometers are great for frothing and steaming milk for cappuccinos and lattes. *Solid, stainless steel construction ensures durability in a high-use foodservice environment. Premium grade 304 stainless steel is available in many CDN models. • Keep thermometer stems clean and sanitary using quick and easy anti-bacterial thermometer wipes. • Infrared thermometers are ideal for measuring temperature without touching the food or beverage. • Look for thermometers with a variety of stem lengths and lens sizes to meet your requirements. • A shatterproof design helps protect against any mishaps in the kitchen or behind the counter. • Choose thermometers that are NSF approved and made of food-safe ABS plastic. Timers should also be constructed of ABS plastic. • Choose a refrigerator/freezer thermometer to maintain low enough temps for food safety, without wasting energy by keeping temps too low. High-quality thermometers and timers are essential tools that will ensure consistency, quality and maximum food safety in your foodservice environment, which are all important factors to keep today’s sophisticated coffee consumers coming back for more. Shawn DiGruccio, Vice President of CDN, works to expand the company’s horizons with sales, new product development, new markets, training, and marketing and merchandising programs.
Peak of Perfection Brew coffee to the peak of perfection using professional-grade thermometers and timers from CDN. Offering an extensive range of precision timers and specialty frothing thermometers, CDN gives coffee professionals essential tools to deliver the full flavor and aroma of coffee with every cup they serve.
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www.cdn-timeandtemp.com
1-800-338-5594 info@cdn-timeandtemp.com Š 2010 Component Design Northwest, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Matching Trend Data to Proper Equipment Purchases by Margaret Heery, Vice President of Marketing, Bunn-O-Matic Corporation
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he beverage category has never been more dynamic than it is today. Over the past 5 years there have been significant shifts in beverage consumption patterns, preferences, and increased knowledge about the makeup of different beverages. This is especially true regarding coffee. To remain successful in the longterm, manufacturers and restaurateurs need to now consider a multitude of factors including, who is drinking what type coffee, at what time of day, by region of the country, and the preferred type of establishment. Another critical factor deserving of equal attention is knowledge of the proper equipment that meets customer demand and the operational requirements to keep the equipment functioning at an optimal level. Per information provided by The NPD Group’s CREST service, in the USA there were 59 billion visits to restaurants in the USA last year and total beverage servings were 49.6 billion, including tap water and beverage alcohol, for data ending September 2010. Sixteen percent of those beverage servings included coffee. The coffee category fragments into numerous subcategories, with different consumers, at different times of the day and into different regions of the country. A perfect example of this differentiation is iced coffee. Half of all consumption is at the morning meal and consumed mostly by those 18-to-34 years of age. Specialty coffees and iced tea were the winning beverages this past year with the highest increases of purchases over the previous year in foodservice. Most 18-to-34 year olds never became traditional, hot regular, coffee drinkers and instead prefer specialty coffee such as iced coffee, cappuccino, espresso and lattes. Specialty coffee is consumed by younger-aged people who also have a higher incidence of eating and drinking outside of the home. This past year, 84 million more servings of specialty coffee were purchased than the year before. Iced tea, which is consumed mainly by those 35-64 years old, had the leading number of increased servings with 134 million more servings.
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Knowing specialty coffee and iced tea are trending upward is one thing and being able to act upon it is entirely different. First, a good knowledge base about the importance of quality beans and the science of the brewing process is important to creating the ideal coffee-drinking experience. The magic that happens in the coffee funnel or coffee basket relies upon good beans, good water, the grind, bed depth, turbulence, contact time, filtration, the temperature of the water and cleanliness of the brewer and servers. This has been established by the Coffee Brewing Institute and, later, the Coffee Brewing Center of the Pan-American Coffee Bureau and National Coffee Association.
and through branding its image to become a destination known for consistently serving a quality cup of coffee. The trends regarding the many consumption preference changes that are currently occurring are undeniable. However, careful selection of equipment can help meet the demands created by these trends and turn them into an opportunity rather than a threat.
Armed with this knowledge, the restaurateur can then face the many decisions when adding a new piece of equipment. Some of the decisions include: availability of counter space, robust design, ease of use, intuitive on-site programming, or the need for special training, to name a few. Another consideration is for the brewing equipment to be “smart,” meaning it can be easily programmed with recipes and is enabled to automatically manage the brewing process from grinder size to the action in the funnel. Some equipment is available that can brew both high volumes of iced coffee and hot coffee and along with iced tea from the same piece of equipment. This results in increased profitability per square inch of counter space! In addition, as all successful chain restaurants know, the platform upon which to build customer loyalty is based upon the equipment consistently dispensing the same flavor and strength of beverage every day, every hour, to every cup and glass. Five years ago only a limited number of people knew the difference between a cappuccino and a latte or even how to pronounce it. Today these words have become part of the common vernacular. This is also true for tea: now more consumers recognize and have preferences for green tea, black tea, raspberry tea, and many others. A place that is serving coffee is only a place that serves coffee until it becomes more than that through the quality of the drinks it serves, how it meets its customers needs
As Vice President, Strategic Marketing for BUNN, Heery is responsible for providing the company with insight information and marketing trends concerning food service beverages, segments, and channels. She has held various sales and marketing positions at General Mills, Pearlco of Boston, and Kraft Foods
PART NE RIN G FOR A PE RF E C T C U P Call 800.626.2866 to learn how BUNN® is A Partner You Can Count On™ in the journey to a perfect cup.
WWW.BUNN.COM
Taking Control of Your Brand Through Remote Management! by Jerry Leeman, C.E.O. at Perk Dynamics, Inc Quality and consistency are required of all brands to be successful, and when operations are over multiple locations, it is always a challenge to maintain control to deliver the consistent quality customers demand. Slowly but surely, the tools to provide insight and control, even when you are not in the restaurant, are being made available. Computer sensors are showing up in every type of device used in the industry. Deep fryers, refrigerators, freezers, air conditioning, and even coffee machines have sensors and digital data. Perk Dynamics and La Cimbali have partnered to provide a Super Automatic espresso/cappuccino machine that can be monitored remotely and reprogrammed from a central location. Yes, there are many gaps that still need to be filled, but with technology becoming more reliable and inexpensive to implement these sensors can improve overall operation and reduce costs. The big issue is getting the data to a place where it really has value. When the computer industry went to distributed processing in the 80’s using desktop PCs, many moves were made to de-centralize management. What quickly became apparent was that centralized management was still essential to be effective. Although the processing was distributed, the task of managing the network and the support operations and help desk remained more effective centralized. As the hospitality and restaurant industries equipment becomes more intelligent and can provide usage data, messages, alerts and alarms, there will be advantages to having that information available in a central location. Local managers are too busy dealing with staff, customers, and day-to-day operations to have the time or expertise to analyze data being produced by these new intelligent machines. With a reference point of a single location or piece of equipment it is impossible to establish what is normal and what is out of tolerance.
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When you are dealing with mission critical equipment that is in multiple locations, the success of your business depends upon this equipment to be operating at peak performance. By reviewing statistical data
at a central location, computers can be used to identify locations and equipment that are deviating from the tolerances allowed in your operation. Freezers that are not maintaining proper temperatures during the heat of the day may also be using excess energy during evening hours. A cappuccino machine that cannot froth milk to the right temperature during peak business hours may be an indication of a heating coil failure on the horizon. Being able to identify these early indicators and react to them prior to complete equipment failures can mean the difference between profitability and bankruptcy.
Having intelligent equipment will not solve all the F&B problems in the world, but having data that can be turned in to valuable information can help operators run their business with more intelligence. “Not having the information you need when you need it leaves you wanting. Not knowing where to look for that information leaves you powerless. In a society where information is king, none of us can afford that.” Lois Horowitz
While meeting with service maintenance companies earlier this year it became apparent that the lack of remote access to data that is available when a technician is physically onsite, limits the ability to be prepared for possible equipment failures. Having remote access to information can also eliminate unnecessary onsite visits. Understanding that a coffee machine is not brewing a proper espresso because the water pressure coming into the machine has dropped to less than half of what is was upon setup is valuable information. It may provide the technician enough information to eliminate a billable site visit. Combining the water pressure issue with the usage data may indicate that the water filter is long overdue for service. An additional benefit of having centralized data and remote monitoring allows you to identify savings opportunities. With all the attention that has been brought to “Going Green”, the ability to manage and track equipment usage from a central location provides a much better opportunity to identify and implement strategies that can save the company millions of dollars, while being a good corporate citizen. Using web-enabled tools allows a company the benefit of having a person or staff to focus on how to be more efficient in operation and maintenance of equipment. Sean Alexander, Technology Analyst for IHL Services said “Remote Environmental Control and Predictive Maintenance” was a hot topic of discussion for operators at the Murtec conference this year.
Jerry Leeman is the C.E.O. at Perk Dynamics, Inc. Perk Dynamics a software development company that is focused on the development of technology for the hospitality industry. The first set of products released by Perk Dynamics, Inc. in 2010 is a set of applications designed to improve coffee operations in coffee shops, hotels, restaurants and university environments. Prior to joining Perk Dynamics, Inc. in August of 2009 as VP Marketing and Operations, Jerry had been with IBM for 26 years. Jerry retired in Dec. of 2008 from IBM and in January 2009 established his own Executive IT Consulting Group, POS Strategies, Inc™; for the hospitality, restaurant, retail, travel and entertainment industries.
The Value of Coffee by Geoff Watts, Head coffee buyer, Intelligentsia Coffee
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offee has long been grossly undervalued. Centuries ago, coffee was treated like gold—an enchanted substance with healing properties and an almost mysterious appeal. It was cherished, not just by those who worked closely with it but by consumers who were captivated by its power to stimulate and to enliven the senses. In recent history it has seen the brightness of its halo diminished and its reputation tarnished by the proliferation of poor quality beans, a lack of attention to detail in the processes of both roasting and extraction, and a careless approach to its presentation to the consuming public. It’s a vicious circle—the perception of coffee among consumers as a low value and minimally differentiated beverage has in turn placed pressure on farmers to produce coffee at the lowest possible cost in order to stand a chance of profiting from its sale. That’s not conducive to quality, as we know that to create better tasting coffees means higher cost and greater attention to minutia in every step of the production process. Without any clear incentive to make coffees better or reliable mechanisms to reward quality with consistent premiums a slow decline in quality has been the worldwide trend for decades. The coffee industry has not done much to help the situation, preferring to gain advantage by shaving cost and offering coffee for a few pennies less than their competitors rather than looking to compete with quality and charging for it. The scientific community has done coffee few favors in recent memory – throughout the eighties and nineties the media was quick to blame coffee for all sorts of health maladies from cancer to heart disease and a myriad of other ailments. Many of these studies cited in the mainstream press have since turned out to be without merit, yet we’ve seen little by the way of retraction. The average consumer today still considers coffee a bit of a vice, and values it more for its caffeine than for the hundreds of aromatic and other sensory attributes that combine to make it the most complex beverage in existence.
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But, there is a lot to be excited about as we continue forward into this new century. Specialty coffee is going global,
with new markets in Asia and Eastern Europe starting to explode onto the scene. Producing countries, long known for having tragically underdeveloped coffee consuming cultures, are getting serious about promoting internal consumption of higher quality coffees that have historically been reserved exclusively for export. A lot of this is being led by the enthusiastic Barista culture that is disseminating knowledge about good preparation technique at an incredible pace and stimulating new interest among consumers in understanding how fascinating coffee can be. A new industry-led effort called the Global Coffee Quality Research Initiative (GCQRI) is aiming to help us find answers to questions about the mechanisms of quality production that the Specialty coffee community has long agonized over. Whether it succeeds or fails will depend largely on the support of the stakeholders: the roasting companies, trading companies, and producer organizations that have everything to gain by investing in the research necessary to allow us to be more precise and more consistent in the way we handle coffees from farm to table. No one else is going to do this kind of research into the nuance and causality of quality because it simply doesn’t pay. It is bootstrap time within the specialty industry—if we want better coffees it is up to us to invest in their creation. On the coffee and health front there is every reason to be absolutely giddy. At the recent ASIC conference an entire day was devoted to examining the latest research into coffee and its impact on human physiology. The findings are nothing short of inspirational – not only is coffee proving to have far fewer negative health implications than previously believed, it is in fact quickly becoming seen within scientific circles as perhaps the most healthful drink this planet has to offer. The antioxidants, the polyphenols, and perhaps even the caffeine in coffee are somehow collaborating to provide incredible benefits to our bodies. The latest science is demonstrating that coffee may be among the most powerful preventatives against such widespread diseases as Alzheimers, Parkinson’s, type 2 Diabetes, and prostate cancer. The day concluded with the predication that in the
near future coffee may be understood to be not just a health drink but THE health drink. Yet there is much to be done, and it won’t happen by itself. If we want coffee to regain its proper place in the public eye as something to be admired and cherished we need to sort out some of the things that have held it back. We must campaign for coffee, and act as its ambassadors. We must dedicate ourselves to increasing our understanding of the mechanisms of quality through better science and more focused investigation. We must act to educate the public and help to erase the perception that coffee is not good for us. And above all we need to act in concert to expand the currently truncated value scale within which coffee has been compressed. We need to be bold and courageous in sharing our convictions about the value of great coffee by charging the kind of prices that will allow for the entire supply chain to invest in the production of better quality. It pains me to see retailers and wholesalers charging meager premiums for some of the best coffees currently being produced in the world. Eight-to-Ten dollars per lb is not nearly enough to pay for the production of truly exceptional quality coffee… and here I’m talking about Wholesale prices! Until we adjust the way coffee is valued by consumers and establish new benchmarks for pricing there will continue to exist a hard cap on investment in quality production at origin. It is my feeling that even many of the best Specialty coffee companies out there in the US are selling the product short by offering it out at prices only marginally above commercial quality beans. Chasing increased sales by keeping prices lower than they really ought to be is condemning coffee to remain where it is currently—undervalued and underappreciated. If we are truly serious about coffee following the path paved by wine and assuming its rightful place as a legitimate culinary delight it is imperative that we demonstrate courage in setting new standards for pricing and valuation of top quality coffee so that we ensure a progressive increase in the quality of coffee being produced in the coming decades. Geoff Watts, is an owner and the key coffee buyer for Intelligentsia Coffee.
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The Existing and Future Science and Technology of Large-Scale Batch Roasting
T
he history of large scale commercial roasting is relatively short. It was not until the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s that the industrial revolution combined with more developed transportation infrastructure and made large-scale coffee roasting practical. This set off a flurry of industrial design focused on improving the efficiency and quality of commercial roasting machines. Early pioneers in the 1800’s include Alexius van Gulpen (whose company later became Probat), Richard Evans, Wright Gillies, James Carter and Jabez Burns. In the first half of the 1900’s more sophisticated designs were developed by Caasen, Gothot and Michael Sivetz. During the latter half of the 1900’s many other companies sprung up including Scolari Engineering based in Milan, which is now considered to be at the forefront of design and development of large batch roasters designed for gourmet/specialty coffee. It is important to clarify at this point that the difference between “Commercial” roasting and “Artisanal” roasting is primarily a matter of scale in today’s world of modern technology. And it is this technology, substantially driven by the development of the personal computer, which has advanced the state of the art in roasting systems. Scolari Engineering was one of the first roaster manufactures who saw the potential of using the computer to advance the roasting technology to new heights and to set the stage for the larger commercial roasting companies to substantially increase both the efficiency and quality of traditional batch roasting. A key factor in this development has been the advent of sophisticated sensor technology. Historically the primary sensory evaluation of the roasting process was controlled by human sensory capabilities – sight, sound and smell. Today’s modern roasting systems depend on a multitude of sensors to give the roaster direct feedback about every aspect of the roasting process. Some may say that having sensors and computers providing both the input and output of “control and command” of the roasting process is less quality oriented than the traditional roaster using his time honored skills and experience to manage the roast process. As Howard Weiss, owner of Texpak Inc. (Scolari’s US sales arm), said to me recently “Today’s computer driven roasting systems provide the roaster with multiple points of feedback every second in a dynamic and reactive environment. The human sensory capacity cannot come close to this level of feedback and reaction.”
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The primary goal of all of the technological advances in roasting has been driven by the desire for greater efficiency, greater command and control, more consistency and higher
by Tom Mitchell, President of Strategic Coffee Concepts
quality. In addition, the need for higher safety and less pollution has driven technological advances. Over the past two decades we have seen a steady stream of continuous quality improvement available from the time-tested drum roasting design. As Dario Scolari has said “We learn more every day about the dynamics of roasting coffee and our job is to find innovative ways to take what we learn and apply technology to deliver consistent quality roasting control.” In particular, the Scolari roasting system has steadily moved from simple “set point” roasting to far more sophisticated and flexible “slope” roasting, which allows for infinite adjustments to the roast curve and taste profile.
The addition of variable speed motors throughout the roasting system allows for enhanced command and control to numerous mechanical elements (drum speed, air flow, cooling, burner control, etc.) which provide more adjustability to every aspect of the roasting process. The extension of all of these technologies to other production processes (green bean handling, roasted bean handling, grinding and packaging) provides the roaster with complete real time control over every aspect of production. The obvious benefit of enhanced efficiency is complemented to repeatability and consistent quality throughout the manufacturing process.
roasting up to 600 kgs. of coffee per batch on a continuous 24/7 basis. This means that even large commercial roasting companies can upgrade to gourmet/specialty quality roasting while enhancing efficiency. These systems are compatible with a broad spectrum of coffee roasting business strategies. Kurt Eichmeier, owner of the coffee process engineering company PAC Coffee Consulting, has said “The computer controls available today allow all roasting companies to achieve or exceed the quality found at the boutique roasters with all the efficiencies of a commercial roasting plant.” Modern computer controlled roasting systems provide all the benefits of hand roasting but on a much larger scale. The future will see greater quality and consistency coming out of large commercial roasting companies as they convert over to these systems. The result will be better quality coffee, available to a larger number of consumers. The future will see the development of even larger drum style batch roasters, even more sophisticated roaster control systems, greater integration of pollution controls into the whole roasting system and more enhancements to the control of air flow. Scolari Engineering is focused on the continuing advancement of the Science and Technology of coffee roasting
The use of computers also allows for the capture of all of the roasting data and Scolari is the leader in using this data to provide the roaster with continuous quality improvement and consistency in the taste profile of the final product. These modern roaster control systems provide the roaster with maximum flexibility, variability and the capability to easily switch between product profiles with minimum disruption to the steady flow of roasting. Continuous analysis of the roasting data base and the experience of hundreds of installations add to the depth of knowledge available to roasters. All of the above technological advances are also used to manage and control the discharge of pollutants. Using multiple pollution control systems linked directly with the roast controls provides the roaster with a highly sophisticated and effective pollution control capability. Fire safety systems are integrated into the roasting system to provide the roaster with fail-safe fire control. The sophistication of the controlling software provides the roaster with numerous roast control features that prevent accidents, roaster fires and other protections against operator errors. The advent of advanced integrated roast control systems allows companies such as Scolari, to have the ability to offer larger capacity batch roasting systems capable of
Tom Mitchell, President of Strategic Coffee Concepts. Strategic Coffee Concepts and PAC Coffee Consulting recently partnered in the development and implementation of a large scale coffee roasting factory in Asia, and choose a Scolari 240 roaster as the centerpiece of the production system. Tom Mitchell, President Strategic Coffee Concepts, Marysville, WA Strategic Coffee Concepts specializes in strategic business solutions for the coffee industry