Global Coffee Report July 2023

July/August 2023

BLENDING with modernity tradition

Beyers Koffie CEO Cory Bush on leading one of Belgium’s most historic and progressive coffee companies with a strategy and passion for sustainable production

What’s a fair price?

The Fairtrade Minimum Price increases

A Lucky partnership

Brambati S.p.A and Luckin Coffee join forces for a next-level project

Make it count

World Coffee Research launches new Robusta catalogue

It all starts at origin

Coffee traders and manufacturers embrace green bean practices

www.gcrmag.com

WHERE SWISS PRECISION MEETS INDONESIAN FLAVORS

COVER STORY

IN THIS ISSUE

FEATURES

10 CIRCULAR INITIATIVE

Beyers Koffie Group

CEO Cory Bush on his quest to become a leading sustainable roaster

14 THE COMPLETE PICTURE

The Specialty Coffee Association breaks down the beta version of the new Coffee Value Assessment, designed to help measure and facilitate the distribution of coffee

18 A FAIR PRICE

What the Fairtrade Minimum Price increase means for the global coffee industry

42 MAKE IT COUNT

How World Coffee Research’s new open-access Robusta catalogue will support farmers in making informed decisions

44 RICH WITH PASSION

Global Coffee Platform shares the findings from its study on living income in Brazilian coffee production

47 A HYDRATION CRISIS

How irrigated agriculture is a climate change solution to soil sanity

50 ALL FOR ONE IN BANGALORE

The fifth edition of the World Coffee Conference is coming to India

52 RISE TO THE CHALLENGE

The inaugural Richest Barista competition is set to take place at the 10th birthday of the Melbourne International Coffee Expo

TECHNOLOGY PROFILES

23 A SOUTHEAST ASIA COFFEE MECCA

Eversys on the booming region of Southeast Asia where the potential for quality coffee is high

26 A LUCKY PARTNERSHIP

Brambati S.p.A and Luckin Coffee join forces for a next-level project thanks to Brambati’s commitment to technical innovation and flexible solutions

29 A UNIC EXPERIENCE

A deep dive into the technical features of the new Tango XP series and the design identity that embraces quality, serviceability, and customer obsession

GREEN BEAN FEATURES

32 CIRCLE OF TRUST

Condesa Co.Lab on how it enhances the quality of coffee grower’s lives through its partnerships at origin

34 A FORCE FOR CHANGE

Ofi explains how it’s unleashing Zambia’s potential as a coffee producing country, with a focus on innovation and sustainability impact

36 KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

IMA Coffee launches its Green Coffee Academy and all-round training course for coffee professionals

38 HARVEST HOPE

Bicafe’s educational initiative is helping empower Guatemalan producers to become better businesspeople and build long-term sustainable relationships

40 PARTNERS IN PROCESSING

Neuhaus Neotec unites with NKG Kala Hamburg to create a plant for green bean vapour treatment

LAST WORD

58 WATCH THIS SPACE Hublot and Nespresso produce a sustainable timepiece

04 EDITOR’S NOTE

Beyers Koffie CEO Cory Bush on leading one of Belgium’s most historic and progressive coffee companies with a strategy and passion for sustainable production.

“THE STRATEGY IS TO INTEGRATE SUSTAINABILITY MORE INTO OUR OPERATIONS AND MORE INTO OUR PRODUCT BASES WHILE CONTINUING TO BE AN EFFICIENT PRODUCER. BUT IT’S NOT ALWAYS EASY.”

Cory Bush Beyers Koffie CEO

SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT

SOME BRANDS HAVE A knack for reinventing themselves. Take Lego for example. It produced wooden building blocks until 1949 when it transitioned to plastic bricks and a commitment to building only plastic toys from 1960.

In 2003, the iconic company was hurdling towards bankruptcy as a result of disappointing sales and a move away from the product that had made it famous. In 2023, Lego was ranked the most valuable toy brand in the world for the ninth consecutive year. How did it do it? Well, it simply moved with the times. The brand realised its product was still relevant but it had lost touch with society. Instead, it no longer categorised bricks for gender, it introduced braille bricks for kids with vision impairment, female characters joined the range, and the brand invested in colours and content that represented different community groups. Lego isn’t the only brand to have reinvented itself. Netflix moved from mail-order DVDs to a subscription-based streaming model, Apple expanded from computers to devices, Amazon transitioned from selling books to selling everything, and Marvel comic characters merged into a cinematic phenomenon. Evolution is never easy but it’s necessary to stay relevant. Brands that have a rich history, and are still present in today’s competitive landscape, recognise this.

In this edition of Global Coffee Report, I speak with Beyers Koffie CEO Cory Bush about how he’s injected a new energy into a 140-year-old Belgium company that embraces its heritage with a devotion to becoming a sustainable leader. In Bush’s short time at the helm of the company, he has demonstrated a sincere passion

for sustainable initiatives. The company has invested in new roasting technology, packaging materials, and product lines with the environment and consumer’s evolving needs in mind.

Likewise, French manufacturer Unic, under the umbrella of Electrolux Professional Group, has evolved its Tango super automatic machine, first launched in 2000. To create the new machine, the designers undertook an internal evaluation of the company’s principles, and worked with focus groups to best understand how the machine would resonate with users. The final result is a mixture of user feedback – a great example of how a 104-year-old company continues to evolve with creativity, community engagement, and the craft of storytelling.

Evolution is also needed right at the source. This edition, we hear from green bean traders and manufacturers on how they are committed to the treatment of high-quality green bean, and enhancing the lives of producers through partnerships, education, and empowerment.

It’s this ability to stay agile and, dare I say “pivot”, that pushes the industry to be the most progressive and innovative it can. There is no perfect plan, no crystal ball to predict what’s next, or what economic fallout or natural event may test us, but it’s how we respond that matters. In the meantime, we keep trying to stay one step ahead.

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Christine Clancy christine.clancy@primecreative.com.au

EDITOR

Sarah Baker sarah.baker@primecreative.com.au

JOURNALIST

Hayley Ralph hayley.ralph@primecreative.com.au

ART DIRECTOR/DESIGN

Daz Woolley

HEAD OF DESIGN Blake Storey blake.storey@primecreative.com.au

DESIGN PRODUCTION MANAGER

Michelle Weston michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING ACCOUNT MANAGER

Adele Haywood adele.haywood@primecreative.com.au

CLIENT SUCCESS

Ben Griffiths ben.griffiths@primecreative.com.au

PHOTOGRAPHY

Kris Van de Sande, KVdS Media, Eduardo Martino, Didier Gentilhomme, Juan Nicolás Becerra Manrique

CONTRIBUTORS

Gordon Feller

HEAD OFFICE

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ARTICLES

All articles submitted for publication become the property of the publisher. The Editor reserves the right to adjust any article to conform with the magazine format.

COPYRIGHT

Editor, Global Coffee Report

Global Coffee Report is owned and published by Prime Creative Media. All material in Global Coffee Report Magazine is copyright and no part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical including information and retrieval systems) without written permission of the publisher. The Editor welcomes contributions but reserves the right to accept or reject any material. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information Prime Creative Media will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequences arising from reliance on information published. The opinions expressed in Global Coffee Report are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by the publisher unless otherwise stated.

NEWS DRIP BY DRIP

operates 12 washing stations in Burundi, which are used by about 6000 smallholder farmers in the country. The project also carried out a topography study across Burundi in 2021, which identified 20 key water sources near its washing stations. After the outflows underwent protection and sanitation, they now provide access to safer and cleaner drinking water for some 1175 households.

See page 32.

AFRICA

Green bean exporter ofi has more than five-and-a-half million trees producing certified, specialty-grade coffees across its five Zambian estates in Ngoli, Isanya, Kateshi, Luombe and Nsunzu.

Ofi has grown to be the largest employer in the northern province of Zambia, engaging about 3000 people year-round to grow its coffee, which can rise to more than 15,000 people during the harvesting period.

See page 34.

An estimated 70 per cent of land under coffee production belongs to smallholder farmers in climate change hotspots with inherently low adaptive capacity. Work on linking irrigation and energy supply is being taken forward by the CGIAR Nexus Gains Initiative, with support to Eastern and southern Africa, and South and Central Asia.

Nexus Gains is identifying climate smart agriculture practices and clean energy solutions across the coffee value chain, with the potential of solar coffee drying replacing open air drying of coffee beans.

See page 47.

AMERICAS

The Specialty Coffee Association has expanded the 2004 cupping protocol and created a beta version of the Coffee Value Assessment. The new tool is intended to provide a more holistic coffee value assessment system, which provides a full, detailed picture of a specialty coffee and the attributes for which it is valued.

See page 14.

Fairtrade is raising its Minimum Price for coffee, considered the “safety net” for farmers against extreme drops in the market price, to be paid by buyers to producers in order for a product to become certified against the Fairtrade Standards. The new Fairtrade Minimum Price for washed Arabica beans – which represents more than 80 per cent of all Fairtrade coffee sold – is US$1.80 per pound, an increase of 40 cents over the previous price of US$1.40 per pound.

See page 18.

Condesa Co.Lab sources its Burundian coffees from the Akawa Project, an initiative that supports coffee farmers to develop coffee production through sustainable methods. The project

IMA Coffee's new Green Coffee Academy aims to generate knowledge on green coffee, combining three educational programs to offer coffee professionals an understanding of the green coffee supply chain. Its first event was the Coffee Camp in the Finca Rio Colorado plantation in Las Capucas, Honduras, where an Aromateller Expert Full Course was held from 23 February to 6 March 2023. The next Campus event is expected to take place from 23 November to 4 December 2023.

See page 36.

Guatemala has an average differential over the past five years of +50 over the C market, according to green bean exporter Bicafe. For the past 50 years,

$40,000

The cash prize on offer for the Richest Barista competition, the richest cash prize for a barista competition anywhere in the world.

TOMORO Coffee aims to have 100 stores in operation cross Indonesia by the end of June 2023.

The BRS 3193 Robusta varietal has flavour attributes of chocolate, caramel, and almond.

Unleash the raw potential of Zambian coffee

We’re one of the few coffee producers in Zambia that can offer our customers a wide range of specialty coffee beans. Hand-picking ensures that only the ripest cherries are selected, resulting in specialty coffees with a distinctive flavor profile. Our dedicated agronomy and innovation teams have complete control of the pre- and post-harvesting process to produce customized and consistently high-quality lots. In this way, we deliver excellence in every batch tailored to our customer’s needs.

www.ofi.com

Bicafe Executive Director Rodrigo Cordon says the New York C Market has had an average of 140 – 145. Add the differential, and you get a total price close to 190.

Bicafe wants all producers to have a cost of production below 190, and through its Harvest Hope program, it can be thanks to education on correct plant management techniques.

See page 38.

World Coffee Research has released the Robusta Variety Catalog, a new resource to assist Robusta farmers access transparent information on available varieties and how they differ. The catalogue profiles 47 Robusta varieties from origins such as Brazil, India, Indonesia, Uganda, Mexico, and Vietnam. It uses more than 20 variables, such as yield potential, stature, bean size, nutrition requirements, lineage, susceptibility to pests and diseases.

See page 42.

The Global Coffee Platform (GCP) Collective Action Initiative on Social Well-Being has implemented a living income study in the coffee producing regions of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo to discover whether Brazilian coffee farmers earn a living income. According to GCP, the monthly living income for the population of growers with up to 100 hectares was estimated at BRL$23,796 (about US$4725) for the 2020/21 two-year period.

See page 44.

ASIA PACIFIC

The 10th edition of MICE will see the inaugural Richest Barista competition take place over the three days of the expo, from 17 to 19 August at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Baristas will compete for the chance to win a share of the AUD$40,000 (about US$27,000) prize pool in the knock-out style event. See page 52.

For the first time, the International Coffee Organization (ICO) and its members, will host the Word Coffee Conference (WCC) in Bangalore, India, from 25 to 28 September. All 75 ICO member countries will attend the first WCC Asian event, with the conference expected to attract more than 1500 registered delegates and 10,000 business visitors from across the globe.

See page 50.

EUROPE

Beyers Koffie uses more than 140 years of expertise to roast coffee for third parties and private label businesses across the world. The Belgium roaster processes more than 22,000 tonnes of beans per year, and has an annual roasting capacity of about 35,000 tonnes, translating to about three billion cups of coffee each year. With a dedicated focus to become a leading sustainable roaster, Beyers Koffie has converted its entire production of coffee pads to compostable polylactic acid filter paper. It also invested in a new pad and capsule production line to increase capacity by an additional 25 per cent.

See page 10.

Eversys coffee machines have a strong footprint in North Asia, including Korea and Japan, and a growing one in Southeast Asia. It opened a Singapore office in December in 2022 and a showroom in Indonesia just a few months later to support many of the rapidly expanding hospitality businesses and coffee shops.

See page 23.

Brambati S.p.A was commissioned to provide major Chinese chain outlet Luckin Coffee with more than 9000 shops, along with a series of roasting machines and complete plant engineering. The foundation stone for the production site, which involves an investment of US$120 million with

state-of-the-art emission control and energy-saving technologies, was laid on 16 December 2022, with completion scheduled for early 2024.

See page 26.

Since 2019, when Unic joined Electrolux Professional Group, the brand has used the company’s longevity and market experience to enhance the quality of its machines and end cup. This advantage is conveyed in the Tango XP series, which will be presented at Host Milan in October 2023.

See page 29.

Leading supplier of coffee processing machines and plants, Neuhaus

Neotec, in collaboration with sister company, Devex, has fitted out the entire plant of NKG Kala Hamburg, one of Europe’s largest and most modern green coffee warehousing and processing facilities. Built between November 2021 and November 2022, the new facility extends over two levels and is approximately 10 metres high. The lab plant was officially opened to customers in May 2023.

See page 40.

Nespresso and designer watch brand Hublot have created a watch made of recycled Nespresso coffee grounds and capsules. The Big Bang Unico Nespresso Origin, with only 200 pieces manufactured, is valued at US$24,100 each.

See page 58.

70,000 tonnes

The roasting capacity of Luckin Coffee’s new production facility in Shanghai, commissioned for Brambati S.p.A along with complete plant engineering.

Irrigation is seen as a key climate adaptation strategy for coffee plants.

FOCUS ON THE DETAILS

Our unique RFB roasters are equipped with the newest and most innovative roasting technologies. With our exible roasting pro les we give our clients the possibility to optimize every detail of the roasting process for a perfect result.

Image: Kris Van de Sande, KVdS Media

BLENDING with modernity tradition

By Sarah Baker

hile many coffee professionals work their way through employment opportunities from the consuming end of the value chain to the producing end, United Statesborn Cory Bush has done the opposite.

“I started working with farmers directly, then worked my way through various exporters, importers, traders, and now I’m on the manufacturing side of things,” Bush tells Global Coffee Report. “It’s a tired joke I keep telling, but at this point one of the only last things I can do in the industry is work as a barista, which I actually think I would love to do.”

Cory grew up in Washington, DC. He left in 2004 to follow his partner’s job in Tanzania, and tried to pursue a technology job. However, he quickly realised East Africa was “almost the last place in the world to get high-speed internet” and his plan would be tough to execute. Instead, a friend invited him to join international non-profit group TechnoServe, working towards doubling the income of 200,000 farmers across Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania.

“We were working with communities to construct washing stations, create business structures, and accounting systems,” Bush says. “I was thrown into one of the deepest, richest parts of the industry –origin. It was a deep immersion with incredible people and locations. I feel really privileged to have had that opportunity.”

That experience, and many others along the supply chain, would become the catalyst to Beyers Group offering Bush the CEO position of its roasting division in 2022.

“I never thought I’d come to work every day at a factory, but I’ve always been interested in systems, manufacturing and processes, so to take the opportunity to be part of that in the context of coffee, is something I’m energised by and thrive on,” Bush says. “We may be a manufacturing business, but more than many other industries, our product is something really special in the minds of consumers. Coffee is more than a product on a shelf. Yes, we need to make a capsule that performs well and tastes good. You need to work with the variables of manufacturing to create that product. But there’s still this sense of romance and mystery that you don’t get with milk or tomatoes.”

TRUST AT THE SOURCE

Founded in Antwerp in 1880, Beyers Koffie uses more than 140 years of expertise to roast coffee for third parties and private label businesses across Europe and the world, which these days accounts for almost 100 per cent of its business.

Beyers Koffie processes more than 22,000 tonnes of beans per year, and has an annual roasting capacity of about 35,000 tonnes, translating to about three billion cups of coffee each year. Three large commercial roasters operate 24 hours a day at its production facilities in Puurs-Sint-Amands in Belgium, halfway between the Port of Antwerp and the capital city Brussels.

“We’re the largest roaster in Belgium, and one of the largest in Western Europe, certainly in the private label space,” Bush says.

What makes Beyers Koffie unique, apart from its heritage, Bush says, is the company’s position as a wholly owned subsidiary of Sucafina. As one of the largest coffee traders in the world, Sucafina provides Beyers Koffie with the staff and capacity at ground-level to build “deep and thriving supply chains” for its customers.

“We can take a customer idea and create a product using Farmer Connect technology (an IBM-blockchain based end-to-end traceability platform), to trace all the critical environmental social concerns of the product, all the way back to the farmer on behalf of the retailer. We can then tell the story of the farmer and work to strengthen

BEYERS KOFFIE CEO CORY BUSH ON LEADING ONE OF BELGIUM’S MOST HISTORIC AND PROGRESSIVE COFFEE COMPANIES WITH A STRATEGY AND PASSION FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION.

Beyers Koffie’s coffee pads are made of compostable polylactic acid filter paper.

and improve the supply chain at the farm level, community level, and country level,” Bush says. “It creates this bi-directional flow of ideas and information between the end customer, and the farmer. There are not many companies, specifically within the private label world, that can do this in a real, credible way.”

At a personal level, Bush is passionate about sharing his interest in sustainability to improve the quality of Beyers Koffie products brought to market.

“As a company we want to grow, we want to succeed and there’s a tonne of different ways to do that. But for me, my first entry in the coffee world with TechnoServe was working on building sustainability at the farm level. This is an absolute driving passion of mine,” he says.

“We’re in an industry where sustainability can mean many different things to many different people, and they’re all important. It’s really a matter of how do we transform and evolve our business to help ourselves grow, but by doing it responsibly? This is the challenge. How do we do better for our people, the environment, and for everyone in the supply chain? There’s a whole different set of concerns this side of the supply chain.”

Farm level sustainability is important, but efforts at the manufacturing level are equally as crucial. In 2021, Beyers Koffie launched a new brand identity with the motto, ‘Taking Coffee Further’. As such, Beyers Koffie has invested heavily to become a leading sustainable roaster by producing its own green electricity. It also uses energy-efficient roasters with heat recovery and compensates for all CO2 emissions generated via roasting.

Ensuring Beyers Koffie’s packaging is recyclable and compostable is an essential part of its sustainable effort. The roaster has converted its entire production of coffee pads to compostable polylactic acid (PLA) filter paper, made from 100 per cent natural materials, such as corn and/or sugar cane.

“We are one of the leading sustainable compatible pads producers in Europe. This has been very important to us over the years, and we’re seeing resilient demand because it’s one of the least expensive ways to consumer coffee on a per serve basis,” Bush says. “Nespresso compatible is also a very large product group for us. We still produce legacy products, and we’re producing more and more whole bean products as a result of shifting consumer trends.”

To account for expected growth, Beyers Koffie invested in new pad and capsule production lines in October 2022 to increase capacity by an additional 25 per cent. Bush says this is a considerable development, allowing Beyers Koffie to continue to capture market share and grow organically with existing clients.

Beyers Koffie has also shifted to mono materials, reduced foil thickness, and condensed its packaging sizes as much as possible. Bush says the company is constantly looking at new compostable materials, and is working within industry at a national level to enhance greater circular initiatives.

“The recycling industry isn’t making the investment, so we have private label producers and retailers, A-brands, and retailers working together to solve a problem. This is a great example where collaboration can be achieved,” he says.

“This has historically been one of the criticisms of single-serve – that not enough of it gets recycled. We really want to do what we can to boost the recycling rates. Sometimes this means that we as an industry

need to make proactive investments, but that’s just something we think we need to do for to the health of our industry and our environment.”

Last year, Beyers Koffie launched fully home compostable Nespresso-compatible capsules. Bush anticipates uptake will start to accelerate as big brands launch their own compostable solutions this year and next. “It is exciting for us to continuously push the limits of technology in order to create coffee solutions that are good for people and planet,” Bush says.

“Today, there’s not one answer to making packaging more sustainable. There’s lots of potential answers. We continually test, check, evolve, and try new things. It’s really a question of making a handful of smart investments and seeing what pans out. In all cases, we’re a private label roaster that produces on a large scale. We will be doing the things that are required, and more than is required. When you produce on a scale such as we do, small changes have a big impact.”

One growing area of interest for Bush, is decarbonisation. The nature of coffee’s tropicalgrowing climate means it typically has a footprint when distributed to consuming countries, however, Bush says there’s still many packaging options that minimise the carbon footprint within supply chains.

“Decarbonisation touches on supply chain optimisation. Walmart in the US is a great example. It’s a global leader in sustainability. It cares about the environment, but it’s [using decarbonisation] because it helps their business become more efficient and save money as well. There’s a dual purpose. I think decarbonisation helps you solve inefficiencies across your business, whether it’s in transport, packaging, or how coffee is produced,” Bush says.

“We don’t have all the answers. What I realise is the coffee industry and manufacturing industry changes so fast. We have significant European Union legislation on packaging, recyclability, and circularity; new consumer demands, – COVID-19 changed the way people have been consuming coffee in recent years. Times have changed. The strategy is to integrate sustainability more into our operations and more into our product bases while continuing to be an efficient producer. But it’s not always easy.”

Beyond customers looking for sustainable options, Bush says the needs of its private-label customers are split between value, quality, or somewhere in between.

“In general, you have the desire of retailers to be

New pad and capsule production lines will help increase capacity by an additional 25 per cent.

creating own-brand products that are as good or better than certain brands at a lower price. Many retailers have publicly stated goals of increasing their share of own-brand being sold in-store. It’s an interesting challenge and takes some skill,” he says.

“I think the retailers that will thrive in the long run are the ones that find a way to build brand trust and offer good quality and good value to customers. I don’t think it’s going to be the ones that offer the most expensive premium products, nor the ones that offer the cheapest.”

A STRATEGY FORWARD FOCUS

Despite inflation remaining a tricky barrier, Bush says freight and logistic challenges have started to settle down, finally allowing the supply chain

to take a breather. It’s with this open doorway that Beyers Koffie can be more strategic on its growth, looking ahead to geographical expansion in coming years.

“The war Ukraine on continental Europe and generational inflation were two gigantic changes last year, which I’d say were arguably more challenging than COVID-19 from a trading perspective because everything became unpredictable,” Bush says.

“But we think we absolutely have the scope to grow in a lot of different countries across Europe. Some of it we will do organically through our existing operations, some we will do by acquisition.”

Bush says the key for the Belgium roaster moving forward, will be a combination of innovation and evolution, while still respecting its tradition.

“Coffee is an industry which doesn’t stand still for any woman or man. We have to keep moving forward, the rate of change continues to only get faster. We’re still super proud of being a Belgian roaster with tradition, history, and values, which I think we’ve maintained over the years. They’re key to who we are, who we have been, and who we will be,” Bush says, citing the company values of being client centric, adaptable, efficient, entrepreneurial, and having expertise, integrity, and passion.

“I want everyone in the company to be passionate about what they do. This is key to anything. If you’re not passionate, then what do you have?” GCR

“WE’RE IN AN INDUSTRY WHERE SUSTAINABILITY CAN MEAN MANY DIFFERENT THINGS TO MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLE.”

Cory Bush CEO, Beyers Koffie

Image: Kris Van de Sande, KVdS Media

The complete picture

THE SPECIALTY COFFEE ASSOCIATION BREAKS DOWN THE BETA VERSION OF THE NEW COFFEE VALUE ASSESSMENT, DESIGNED TO BE A POWERFUL TOOL TO HELP MEASURE AND FACILITATE THE DISTRIBUTION OF COFFEE.

By Hayley Ralph

Since the existing Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) cupping form was created in 2004, it has become a globally recognised industry standard used by many stakeholders across the global value chain to evaluate, assess, and purchase coffee. Meanwhile, over the past 19 years, the industry’s understanding of sensory science and coffee’s sensorial properties has advanced significantly.

To this end, the SCA has been working on a long-term project to evaluate, expand, and evolve the 2004 cupping protocol.

The result, SCA Technical Officer Mario Fernández says, is a “more holistic coffee value assessment system, which provides a full, detailed picture of a specialty coffee and the attributes for which it is valued”.

“Our hope is that [the new assessment tool] creates value in a more transparent and fair way, not just for producers but for the whole industry. It represents an opportunity to understand different attributes of coffee more thoroughly while still using the same language that is recognised globally,” he says.

SCA CEO Yannis Apostolopoulos says this new system expands on the original value assessment tool by offering additional opportunity to capture and identify important information about coffee.

“This will result in a clear and transparent record to assist in value discovery for all parties,” says Apostolopoulos.

“If I told you my car was a BMW, you’d only know the brand of my car, not the make or model. If

I told you it was a 2019 3 Series 320d M Sport G20 Automatic, suddenly it may hold a lot more value to you. The whole idea of the Coffee Value Assessment is to understand more about the physical and descriptive attributes of coffee so it becomes more valuable.

“We have 20 years of research and innovation that isn’t captured in the current tool. Our purpose as the SCA is to foster global coffee communities and support activities to make coffee a more sustainable, equitable, and thriving endeavour for the entire value chain.”

THE EVOLUTION OF SPECIALTY

When coffee tasting was added to the coffee grading protocol in the 1800s, it was somewhat of a revolution in coffee grading. Ideas of coffee

The new Coffee Value Assessment is now available to “beta test” as part of an early-adopter program.

quality had been based predominantly on physical attributes, like size, but certain coffees thought of as inferior because of their smaller size were found to have better flavour than their larger components. Although ‘cupping’, as it would come to be known, was largely used by green bean traders and roasters, the early advent of the specialty coffee movement in the mid-1970s – prioritising quality and freshness – brought renewed interest to the practice. This was later codified, launching in 1999 as the first SCA Cupping Protocol and Scoring System. The system sought to quantify coffee quality using a multi-part form and mathematical scoring model inspired by the wine industry’s 100-point scoring system.

“Today, the practise of cupping remains a valuable method for discovering and cataloguing valuable attributes, particularly those related to a coffee’s intrinsic sensory attributes. As the specialty coffee industry has progressed and matured, a wider range of attributes, particularly extrinsic attributes, like geographical identity information, sustainability credentials, or producer stories, have become increasingly valuable to the marketplace,” says Fernández.

According to the SCA, sometimes ‘cupping notes’ – regulated to a small box on the 2004 cupping form – contain valuable information about a coffee. This is complemented by information such as the results of a coffee’s physical evaluation or third-party certifications.

“Under the 2004 cupping paradigm, however, most of this information is inadvertently obscured through the adoption of a single, numeric score used to articulate a coffee’s quality and value in contracts,” Fernández says.

As the existing coffee value assessment system impacts and is impacted by both buyers and growers, Apostolopoulos says the first step of the review and evolution process was to commission a project in 2020 to better understand how members of the coffee industry used the protocol, and its perceived strengths and weaknesses in assessing coffee’s value and sensory attributes. The SCA then propositioned an updated, descriptive definition of specialty coffee in the same year, upon which a new framework for a coffee value assessment system could be built.

“The SCA has chosen to define specialty coffee as ‘a coffee or coffee experience recognised for its distinctive attributes, and because of these attributes, has significant extra value in the marketplace’. Coffee, which does not present these valuable attributes, remains undifferentiated and will probably end up as commodity coffee,” says Apostolopoulos.

A NEW FOUNDATION

It was clear to the SCA that any reengineering of the former system would need to be built on the new attributes-based definition. Hence, the new value assessment system offers a “360° image” of a specific coffee across four assessment types: physical, descriptive, affective, and extrinsic.

“Each of these assessments should be completed separately to avoid bias when assessing the intrinsic attributes during the physical and descriptive assessments, as tasters and cuppers can be easily biased if they are given access to extrinsic information about coffee,” Apostolopoulos says.

In the physical assessment, users record intrinsic attributes like a green coffee’s colour, defects, moisture content, and size. The SCA suggests that these activities and their results be kept separate and concealed from any sensory assessment activities or actors, to avoid bias. The physical assessment is still currently in research and development though. In the meantime, the CVA protocol proposes an approach very similar to the former “green coffee grading”.

The sensory descriptive assessment involves users objectively recording intrinsic sensory attributes. These include fragrance, aroma, flavour, aftertaste, acidity, sweetness, and mouthfeel. According to the SCA, all sensory assessment activities should be completed without any identifying information about the coffee.

In the affective or impression of quality assessment, users record subjective information about a taster’s impression of quality or hedonic preferences. Using the same categories of the sensory descriptive compartment, tasters apply the nine-point hedonic scale to reflect either their own preference or a wellknown market preference. They then score their impression of quality for the coffee overall out of 100 points. This assessment is also used to record cups with ‘sensory defects’, which are distinct from physical defects identified in the physical evaluation compartment. The number of defects has been reduced to three (mouldy, phenolic, and potato) because some sensory attributes which were previously considered undesirable have since become accepted, and even sought after, in some markets.

Finally, the extrinsic assessment comprises users recording informational or symbolic attributes that

“OUR PURPOSE AS THE SCA IS TO FOSTER GLOBAL COFFEE COMMUNITIES AND SUPPORT ACTIVITIES TO MAKE COFFEE A MORE SUSTAINABLE, EQUITABLE, AND THRIVING ENDEAVOUR FOR THE ENTIRE VALUE CHAIN.”

Yannis Apostolopoulos SCA CEO

SCA CEO Yannis Apostolopoulos formally introduced the assessment tool at this year’s Re:co Symposium in Portland.

contribute to a specialty coffee’s value. These include, but are not limited to, coffee identity, such as location of origin or producer information, processing information, physical assessment results, sustainability certifications, or other information, such as a coffee’s ‘story’. This is a descriptive activity that seeks to list any extrinsic attributes that make a coffee interesting to buyers in the marketplace. The SCA cautions that assessors who are undertaking the physical, sensory descriptive, or affective assessments should not compile this information until after those assessments have been completed, to avoid introducing bias. Extrinsic research across the coffee industry has shown the impact of extrinsic attributes on both people’s sensory perception and impression of quality.

“Once all assessments have been completed, the system acts as a value discovery tool by comparing the attributes in the coffee being assessed with those that have been identified as valuable and sought after by the buyer. There is a clear and transparent record to assist in value discovery for both parties,” says Apostolopoulos.

Fernández says the assessment aligns with the SCA’s sustainability agenda, which emphasises equitable value distribution throughout the supply chain.

“We have found that one of the main threats to coffee sustainability is the unequal distribution of value along the supply chain. Value also depends greatly on how people perceive value, and what attributes are valuable to them. The Coffee Value Assessment is an opportunity to explore all the different attributes that can be valuable in a coffee in a more explicit and transparent way. Previously, the main indicator of a coffee’s quality was the cupping score, and that left out many other important attributes that represent a valuable aspect of coffee for people,” he says.

“The system simultaneously integrates advances in sensory and coffee science, making it compatible with scientific research for the first time, as well as learnings from a large user-perception research project conducted with the specialty coffee community.”

Fernández adds that coffees with the same score rarely receive the same price under the 2004 system – other factors such as country of origin, certifications, and processing method are also considered by buyers when determining price. Currently, he says the cupping score only defines value when all other factors are equal.

“That is where the new assessment tool can become a much more transparent tool to discover a coffee’s value, as it looks at all the different attributes and how important they are to a buyer. People who value the cupping score can keep using it as an important attribute when it comes to value discovery, but the new tool provides a much more thorough way to discover value beyond just the cupping score,” Fernández says.

A BROADER PERSPECTIVE

A common question Apostolopoulos has been asked since the release of the Coffee Value Assessment is: how might someone use this new system to assess coffee value in a concrete and practical way?

“From a buyer’s perspective, the system is most useful when they are clear about what they value in a

coffee, either as an ideal or as very specific needs. Before beginning any sample assessments, they might produce a thorough and honest list of the attributes they are seeking. This list of attributes could then become the standard against which the coffees that come their way are measured. Alternatively, they could use the system to help them create this list of attributes by assessing a broad range of samples to help them determine which attributes, from the different intrinsic and extrinsic categories, they are inclined to reward. A buyer might also wish to create different profiles of attributes, depending on their business needs,” says Apostolopoulos.

“In this way, for example, if a buyer needs a Fairtrade coffee with a distinct chocolatey flavour, it will become clear to the seller why they reject or offer a low price for a coffee which, though organic and high scoring, does not exhibit any of the sought-after attributes. This exercise is also helpful for potential sellers to better tailor their offer to a market’s needs next time.”

From a seller’s perspective, Apostolopoulos says the system helps to surface the broader list of coffee’s potentially desirable attributes and more clearly communicates a coffee’s value in all senses of the term to a potential buyer.

“By requesting a buyer’s profile of desirable attributes, the seller may understand whether or not it would be advisable to send samples, or if that effort would be better expended elsewhere. If a coffee exhibits rare attributes which are soughtafter by the buyer, the seller should expect a fair premium,” he says.

Although the assessment tool was formally introduced at the Re:co Symposium, which took place from 19 to 20 April in Portland, Oregon, there will be a transition period before the old 2004 version becomes obsolete.

“The research team recognises that not only will any evolutionary changes take time to move throughout coffee’s complex value-generating system, but that it also stands to impact producer livelihoods. With this in mind, we propose a phased approach to executing the vision,” says Fernández.

“The two systems will coexist for a period of time while the industry helps us to refine the new system. We estimate an SCA standard pertaining to the new system will be published in late 2024 or 2025. In the meantime, we recommend taking advantage of this ‘beta testing’ or ‘early adopter’ phase to familiarise yourself with the new system as a cupper or as an organisation.”

The new Coffee Value Assessment aims to evolve the 2004 cupping protocol.

The Coffee Value Assessment has been introduced to producers in various forums, including pilot studies, events, and cupping courses.

“The response has always been of great interest. Most producers, particularly cuppers from producing countries who have learned how to use it, are feeling very enthusiastic about its potential,” Apostolopoulos says.

“However, they are uncertain about what the tool will mean for them, as it is not clear to them when the industry will adopt it, or if this will actually result in benefits for them. In other words, producers are clear the new assessment system will be beneficial to them if it’s embraced by the whole value chain.”

Fernández invites the industry to approach SCA with any queries about the Coffee Value Assessment and welcomes feedback from the public.

“We have a dedicated page to the assessment system where viewers can find resources or ask questions. People can also sign up as early adopters of the tool, which incorporates them into our

We would be very happy to gain the support of the specialty coffee community and appreciate their help in the finetuning and development of this assessment,” he says.

Apostolopoulos says the SCA is committed to ensuring this tool is accessible to coffee producers and producing organisations all over the world.

“Without them, there would be no specialty coffee and none of this is worth doing if we cannot make specialty coffee a thriving, equitable, and sustainable activity for all,” he says. GCR

The new system is expected to be published in late 2024 or 2025.

A fair price

FAIRTRADE INTERNATIONAL SENIOR MANAGER FOR

COFFEE MONIKA FIRL

EXPLAINS WHAT THE INCREASE IN THE FAIRTRADE MINIMUM PRICE MEANS FOR THE GLOBAL COFFEE INDUSTRY.

n today’s world of economic and environmental uncertainty, it’s common to hear coffee consumer concern over raising prices. But considering the other end of the supply chain, increasing production costs, runaway inflation and ever-changing climatic conditions, puts the brunt of income instability on the shoulders of coffee farmers.

To assist with this challenge, Fairtrade is raising its Minimum Price for coffee, considered the “safety net” for farmers against extreme drops in the market price, to be paid by buyers to producers in order for a product to become certified against the Fairtrade Standards.

As Senior Manager for Coffee at Fairtrade International Monika Firl explains, this increase is intended to lower the price risks for coffee farmers and supply risks for roasters. She says the increase assures that resources are available in order to make trade happen, despite the intensifying impacts of climate change and price fluctuations in the market.

“The coffee industry has evolved incredibly in last decade, with improved qualities and increased expectations on traceability,” Firl says. “In order to supply the demand for these diversified coffees, farmers face an ever-growing list of expectations for sustainable production practices, highly selective harvesting, processing and drying practices, as well as for data collection, verification and timely communication, all of which adds time and costs to the end product.”

“The truth is that industry players and final

Fairtrade International has increased its Minimum Price for coffee to lower price risks for farmers.

Image: Didier Gentilhomme

consumers have become accustomed to paying artificially low prices for coffee for a very long time,” she adds. “We need to start talking about the hidden costs and the true value of quality and certified coffees. Strengthening the financial safety net for farmers, assures a base income and allows them to invest in their fields and local infrastructure, buffered from market fluctuation and increasing inflation in their home countries.”

The new Fairtrade Minimum Price for washed Arabica beans – which represents more than 80 per cent of all Fairtrade coffee sold – is US$1.80 per pound, an increase of 40 cents over the previous price of US$1.40 per pound. For washed Robusta, the new Fairtrade Minimum Price is US$1.25 per pound, an increase of 20 cents over the previous price of US$1.05 per pound. The new Minimum Price for natural preparation Arabica is US$1.75 per pound and for natural preparation Robusta is US$1.20 per pound.

The additional value for organic Fairtrade coffee has been increased by a third, from US$0.30 to US$0.40 per pound.

These changes will come into effect for all Fairtrade contracts signed as of 1 August 2023.

To achieve the new Minimum Price, Fairtrade conducted a cost of production analysis as well as a three-month consultation process with key stakeholders. More than 540 participants – 86 per cent of whom were farmers – from 40 countries provided critical inputs, ultimately resulting in Fairtrade’s proposal to the Fairtrade Standards Committee and the decision to raise the Minimum Price.

To stay abreast of changes across all origins, Fairtrade periodically reviews the Minimum Price’s relevance in direct and open consultations with the farmers themselves through their producer organisations.

The Fairtrade Standards Committee, which evaluates Minimum Price revisions, comprises three producer representatives, one trade union representative, three national Fairtrade organisation representatives, and one trader representative.

Proposed changes to Fairtrade standards or pricing must go before the Standards Committee for approval. Members of the committee will make the final decision to accept the proposed changes as presented or can request further clarification to assure sound decision-making. And the strong presence of farmer voices within the Fairtrade system ensures that the ultimate decisions are relevant and, ultimately, beneficial to them.

“The results of this most recent cost of production review, clearly showed that coffee farmers are facing higher risks in recent years due to climate change, ranging from the daily

Coffee producer Felicita Castilla brings home the harvest from her field in San Miguel del Faique, Piura, Peru.

Image: Eduardo Martino

challenges caused by changing weather patterns to the dramatic weather events, such as hurricanes, draughts, and the intensified spread of pests and plant disease,” Firl says. “But when it comes to price, farmers are left guessing with a global coffee market that’s highly speculative and subject to rapid fluctuations. We saw the international prices hit US$2.50 per pound in the past year; but only a few years prior, it had sunk to 87 cents. Since April this year, prices have fluctuated between US$1.80 and US$2.00 (still above the new Fairtrade Minimum Price), but have averaged US$1.42 per pound over the past decade.”

Firl continues that the ripple effect of this unpredictability is felt across the entire coffee supply chain.

“But the fact that the majority of farmers cannot make a decent living in coffee is a tragic commentary for the industry and a huge risk for the future of the global coffee sector as a whole,” she says.

“With the new Fairtrade Minimum Price, Fairtrade is offering coffee farmers and their cooperatives a pricing safety net, better adapted to the uncertain times we’re living, while leaving the door open for them to earn more when market prices are above the Fairtrade Minimum Price. This is an essential tool that coffee farmers must be allowed to leverage in order to find renewed stability in their profession.”

In addition to the protective support of the Fairtrade Minimum Price, Fairtrade-certified farmers also receive a US$0.20 per pound Social Premium. This is an additional sum of money that is collectively invested in projects to improve productivity, climate adaptation, quality, infrastructure, and basic community services identified as priorities by the farmers and their organisations.

According to Fairtrade, smallholder farmers produce 60 per cent of the world’s coffee yet nearly half of those smallholder farmers are living in poverty, and nearly a quarter live in extreme poverty. Although coffee prices in 2022 were relatively high, Firl says profits from coffee sales, rarely trickle back down to the farmers.

“If we’re going to be serious about tackling poverty in the global supply chain, then everyone in the supply chain – from consumers to retailers to traders – must do their part and pay farmers their fair share,” she says.

But, Firl says, system stakeholders understand that prices cannot simply be increased in order to

“FAIRTRADE IS OFFERING COFFEE FARMERS AND THEIR COOPERATIVES A PRICING SAFETY NET.”

Monika Firl Senior Manager for Coffee at Fairtrade International

According to Fairtrade, hand-picked and highly selective harvesting assures top quality.

Image: Juan Nicolás Becerra Manrique

guarantee farmers a living income, as raising the Fairtrade Minimum Price holds considerable risk.

“Fairtrade farmers were aware of the potential loss in sales, if we are not able to gain market acceptance of higher prices. But given the costs they face, the majority opinion prevailed to move ahead with the new pricing. Meanwhile, we will continue to work closely with producer cooperatives and buyers to demonstrate the value of moving towards a living income in a responsible way,” she says.

“Our desire is ultimately to empower millions of farmers and workers around the world by tackling poverty and poor working conditions. We will continue to advocate for a level playing field, through regulatory frameworks as well as consumer awareness and demand – as incentives to encourage companies to take action.”

It’s Firl’s hope that the future of coffee is one where fair pricing is the norm.

“It is not acceptable for coffee farmers to continue to subsidise the multi-billion-dollar coffee industry, while also taking on the hard work of sustainable transition,” says Firl.

and the new Fairtrade Minimum Price is an important step forward. We know that farmers will continue to face increasing costs to comply with requirements related to deforestation and other priorities of governments, brands, and conscious coffee drinkers.

“Reaching a sustainable living income for farmers will require collective action across the industry, and is not something that Fairtrade alone can achieve. It is time for the global coffee industry to step up and walk the talk.” GCR

Image: Eduardo Martino

A cupping session at the Coop Norandino cooperative in Piura, Peru.

A Southeast Asia coffee mecca

EVERSYS IS EXPANDING ITS PRESENCE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA WHERE THE REGION IS BOOMING WITH COFFEE SHOPS AND PASSIONATE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO GROW THE POTENTIAL OF HIGH-QUALITY COFFEE.

f the Italians invented espresso and Australia is credited in taking specialty coffee to the next level, Asia is considered the next mecca for coffee innovation, according to Swiss espresso machine manufacturer Eversys.

“It’s where we see the next level of innovation and where people are really committed to experimenting with specialty coffee in the form of menu development. It extends to beverage creations with syrups, cold coffee recipes, signature drinks, and mixology,” says Eversys Global Marketing Director Andre Eiermann.

Eversys coffee machines have a strong footprint in North Asia, including Korea and Japan, and a growing one in the Southeast Asia. As such, it opened a Singapore office in December in 2022 and a showroom in Indonesia just a few months later to support many of the rapidly expanding hospitality businesses and coffee shops.

“Eversys’ presence in Southeast Asia is critical to building engagement with the local coffee community.

We want to be close to the innovation melting pot, and we want to have an active role in the coffee scene,” says Eiermann. “Together, we can collaborate with the next generation of baristas and coffee professionals, learn from each other, understand their future needs, and support their innovative ideas with Eversys machines and technology. We are confident we can grow jointly together, and build a future that enables baristas to reach their potential with beverage pride and mastery.”

What’s really enabled Eversys’ growth, says

TOMORO Coffee aims to have 100 stores in operation cross Indonesia by the end of June 2023.

Eversys Commercial Director Christian Haueter, is its ability to bring the brand closer to people.

“Indonesia has a population of more than 270 million people, Malaysia has around 33 million, and then there’s Thailand and Vietnam, all these very interesting markets that are just jumping into coffee and adapting to higher specialty qualities, and we’re growing with them,” Haueter says. “It’s going to be an intense movement over the next couple of years, and is the reason we want to give a special focus to Northern Asia and the Southeast Asian markets.”

Eversys Regional Director, APAC, Fabian Fredriksson, has witnessed first-hand the increase in specialty coffee shops and methods of consumption, having moved to Indonesia to open the Eversys office.

“Competition is fierce. COVID-19 has helped boost delivery coffee methods. Markets that already had the infrastructure for delivery services had a big advantage, like Indonesia. Equally, in-cup quality is very important and so is consistency,” Fredriksson says. “What’s been interesting to notice over the last couple of years, is that the locals are also really proud of using their own locally sourced coffee beans from surrounding producing regions. In fact, they prefer it.”

Eiermann adds that Indonesia in particular, with its close proximity to Australia, has seen baristas travel across the Timor and Banda Sea to learn their craft, then return home with a renewed energy.

“Southeast Asian baristas learn from the best in Australia. They are amazing students, eager to work hard, very disciplined and passionate. When they travel back home, they apply their learnings, mix it with local needs, and then take it to the next level with their own twist. Because competition is fierce, beverage innovations are important, and so is the way it’s communicated, especially via social media. As such, local baristas move and act fast on many levels, in a very professional way,” Eiermann says.

“There’s also lots of innovation in coffee producing regions when it comes to post-harvesting processing methods. And specialty coffee shops are focused on serving high-volume, high-quality specialty coffee. Chain operators in Indonesia are pairing tasty espresso with the mixology of super exotic syrups that are sweet, colourful, chilled, intense-flavoured espresso drinks. The results are some really interesting beverages that go beyond an ordinary cup of coffee. In fact, they have become the new standard.”

One such customer willing to develop new drinks and attract new customers is TOMORO Coffee. It opened its first store in August 2022, currently operates 70 stores across Indonesia, and by end of June 2023, hopes to have 100 stores open for business. With the future aim to operate more than 1000 stores, TOMORO Coffee VP, Products and Supply Chains, Fish Sun, says standardisation, consistency, and high-quality output is the key.

“TOMORO coffee is a new venue. We considered the market of entry for some time, being Indonesia, one of the most populous countries in the world, with a high rate of coffee consumers,” Sun says.

“Starbucks sits on top of the market with about 500 stores, and on top of that is various independent coffee shops, all committed to serving quality coffee, delivering customer service and providing a total

coffee experience. At the other end of the scale is more than 40,000 convenience store outlets, which have started adding a coffee business with zero rental costs but represent convenience and affordability.”

That’s where TOMORO coffee saw a “huge gap” in the market to offer 100 per cent Arabica specialty grade coffee, which has since become a brand promise printed on all TOMORO Coffee cups.

“We knew what we wanted to offer to the market – affordable, specialty coffee – but we didn’t know how to get there,” Sun says. “In the past, there was really no quick solution, but now, thanks to partners like Eversys, it can help us achieve the growth we want to achieve.”

Thankfully, through his previous experience with a China-based specialty coffee chain which also partnered with Eversys, Sun convinced TOMORO Coffee’s other founding partners it was the right decision to succeed in the thriving Indonesia market.

“We became friends with Christian [Haueter] over time, gave Eversys machines a try, and it completely changed our understanding of what a super automatic machine could do. It’s revolutionary. It’s a tool for empowerment and it opens the doors to allow more wonderful people to be part of the coffee industry,” Sun says.

“Eversys machines have all the different parameters you can ever think of to customise

TOMORO Coffee enjoys using Eversys’ 1 .5 step milk texturing feature because it sources the freshest milk available on the local market.

One Eversys E4 machine can produce more than 1200 cups per day at a single store.

the recipe, but ultimately, the barista or shop owner is still in control of every single element. What Eversys does, is allow the user to be more consistent and spend more time with the customer. Eversys is not trying to get rid of the barista. It’s just trying to redefine what a barista does, and that’s someone who takes care of the customer and shares the coffee experience with them.”

Currently, TOMORO Coffee shops use the Eversys E4 two-group machine and Cameo models, pending the shop’s size and output.

“The E4 is working out perfectly. It’s produces very consistent quality and is especially good for our high traffic stores. One machine can handle over 1200 cups per day at a single store. The Cameo model as a single-group workhorse. It can handle up to 500 cups in store. We especially like the design of the machines, to the point that the customer doesn’t even realise that it’s not a traditional model,” Sun says.

“We especially like the 1.5 step feature because our other promise at TOMORO Coffee is to source the best and freshest milk it can on the local market for traditional beverages. We love that the 1.5 step creates the atmosphere you expect from a coffee machine. It sets the scene. Customers need to hear grinding of coffee beans, smell the aroma of freshly extracted coffee, and see and hear the steam coming out of the steam wand. These are all essential elements of why a customer comes to a coffee shop.”

TOMORO Coffee has also tested Eversys’ new Légacy machine, which Sun says is ideal for Indonesia’s hot and humid climate.

“There is really no winter. A large majority of our coffee beverages are served cold. Therefore, the steaming requirements are not so prominent as say China or Korea or the United States. The Légacy is engineered to perform and built to last. It fits our business model in Southeast Asia perfectly,” Sun says. A benefit to the Légacy, using the latest technology and heavy duty grinder, is its reduced power

to update the power, which is a huge cost saving. It’s a small detail that really matters.

“We are bound in the direction of technological solutions, and Eversys really has been the best for us.”

Eversys will officially launch its Légacy model to the market at the end of 2023, and already Eversys’ Fredriksson anticipates huge uptake for Indonesia and Malaysia with coffee shops seeking solutions that embrace quality and efficiency.

“Training is still time consuming and difficult, and venues are looking to optimise workflow further, and that’s where Eversys’ Légacy fits in perfectly. Price wise, it’s competitive, but it also automates workflow, as do so many of our other models,” he says.

“We can’t wait to watch the Southeast Asian market grow. We’re passionate about being closer to our customers. We want to help our customers create the perfect espresso, and see it replicated in all their outlets. That’s what’s exciting for us.” GCR

For more information, visit www.eversys.com/en/

TOMORO Coffee says the key to its growth is standardisation, consistency, and delivering high-quality output.

A Lucky partnership

GLOBAL COFFEE GIANTS BRAMBATI S.P.A AND LUCKIN COFFEE HAVE JOINED FORCES FOR A NEXT-LEVEL PROJECT THANKS TO BRAMBATI’S COMMITMENT TO TECHNICAL INNOVATION AND FLEXIBLE SOLUTIONS.

hen Luckin Coffee was looking for a manufacturer to help expand its new roasting factory in Jiangsu, Shanghai, it looked no further than a company it had collaborated with over the past several years.

Italian coffee roaster Brambati S.p.A was commissioned to provide Luckin Coffee, a major chain outlet in China with more than 9000 shops, with a series of roasting machines, along with complete plant engineering.

“The agreement, signed in Shanghai on 7 November 2022, at the fifth China International Import Export event, includes the supply of a complete coffee production plant for the new factory,” says Brambati President Fabrizio Brambati.

The foundation stone for the production site, which involves a total investment of US$120 million with state-of-the-art emission control and energy-saving technologies, was laid on 16 December, with completion scheduled for early 2024.

“The contract signed with the Italian group represents a further step to provide high quality products and services with an excellent quality to price ratio, improving the efficiency of the production chain,” says President and CEO of Luckin Coffee Guo Jinyi.

“The introduction of a full set of Brambati technology ensures that during the roasting process, the roasting curve can be customised according to the coffee bean origin and flavour requirements to achieve precise control of the roasting temperature, hot air volume, and heat exchange efficiency between hot air and coffee, to achieve a perfect and stable presentation of the coffee bean flavour.”

ITALIAN-MADE

According to the Brambati President, Brambati brings the most advanced Italian coffee technology to China, having been active in food processing machinery since 1945.

“Thanks to Brambati’s technologies, Luckin Coffee will be able to increase its roasting capacity from 45,000 tonnes to over 70,000 tonnes, adding a new production site to the existing one in Fujian, also equipped with machinery from the Codevillabased company,” he says.

Brambati will oversee the fit-out of the 53,000-square metre site, from the loading of green coffee to the feeding of packaging machines. Thanks to the use of a cleaning system, the process will ensure a thorough cleaning of incoming green coffee that will then be stored and dosed to feed four roasting machines. This includes two machines capable of handling 360 kilograms per batch and two capable of handling 600 kilograms per batch, for a total roasting capacity of almost 10,000 kilograms of green coffee per hour.

“An additional 30-kilogram per batch roasting machine will allow the roasting of smaller batches, while another five kilogram per batch machine, located in the laboratory, will allow the testing of blends, composed of different green coffee origins, whose recipes can be used in the four larger

The contract between Brambati and Luckin Coffee was signed in Shanghai on 7 November 2022.

machines. A series of destoners accompanying each roaster will then allow further selection of the roasted coffee,” Brambati says.

The fully automated coffee bean roasting production facility also includes various filtration systems to ensure a dust-free working environment, as well as the treatment of fumes from the roasting process. All processing involves the use of advanced emission and odour abatement technologies to make the plant suitable for meeting stringent environmental regulations. Brambati ensures that Luckin Coffee can achieve more ambitious targets in terms of emission reduction.

“Brambati conceives sustainable development as an opportunity for economic growth, valorisation of the company and of the personnel working in it, thus ensuring the complete satisfaction of customers and stakeholders. That is why we are committed to supporting our customers in achieving their sustainability goals on a daily basis, creating a virtuous circle of good practice,” says Brambati.

Luckin Coffee’s new production facility will also implement sustainable practices throughout the production process.

“The plant adopts energy-saving solutions such as a low-energy heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system, LED lighting system, and rainwater recovery system. It is also equipped with an energy management platform to intelligently control the energy consumption of the base operation to ensure effective reduction of emissions,” Jinyi says.

All production, thanks to Brambati’s technology, can be fully automated and managed from a control room, reducing operator intervention except for setting specific parametres.

INNOVATION AND INTERNATIONALISATION

Brambati says the supply of innovative products to international clients is the result of Brambati’s commitment to revolutionising the global coffee industry. He says Brambati, over the decades, has become one of the world’s leading players in industry machinery, and invests an increasingly large share of its turnover in research and development.

“The new plant supplied to Luckin Coffee will be installed in a district capable of fostering the establishment of international coffee companies from all over the world, which constitute a true ecosystem for innovation and the creation of business opportunities,” says Brambati.

“Landing in such a strategic area of the Asian

market represents a new step in the path towards strengthening our international leadership in machinery for the food and beverage industry.”

Luckin Coffee plans to rely on its two major roasting bases in Jiangsu and Fujian to form a selfprocessing supply network and supply higher-quality and fresher coffee to its growing café operators across the country.

“The commissioning of the two bases will also help Luckin Coffee form a more flexible supply advantage in the upstream of the industry and use the Kunshan site as a foothold to provide support for Luckin Coffee’s long-term development,” says Jinyi.

Jinyi says Luckin Coffee will continue to focus on coffee, adhering to the corporate vision of “creating a world-class coffee brand and making Luckin Coffee a part of people’s daily life”, and strive to provide customers with high-quality, cost-effective, and convenient products and services.

“We will also work hard to continuously promote the improvement of China’s coffee industry and the efficiency of the supply chain, which will help the high-quality development of China’s coffee to achieve

According to Luckin Coffee’s CEO, the contract signing represents a further step towards providing high quality products and services.

Guo Jinyi is the Chairman and CEO of Luckin Coffee.

A Unic experience

GLOBAL COFFEE REPORT TAKES A DEEP DIVE INTO THE TECHNICAL FEATURES OF THE NEW TANGO XP SERIES AND THE DESIGN IDENTITY THAT EMBRACES QUALITY, SERVICEABILITY, AND CUSTOMER OBSESSION.

hen Unic first presented the Tango XP Duo super automatic espresso machine to the global market at the Specialty Coffee Association in April, visitors noticed two things: the new look of the brand, and on closer inspection, its ‘unique’ technical ability.

“People could see that the design was completely different to the previous Tango machine (first launched in 2000). Then, when we started engaging them in conversation, they were intrigued by the changes we’d made and wanted to test one for themselves,” says Jeremy Coquille, Unic Research and Development Manager of Coffee with more than 16 years of new-product experience.

When it came time for Electrolux Professional Group Director of Design, Michele Cadamuro, to create a new look for the Tango XP series, he did so with excitement and a hint of pressure to respect the heritage of the original machine while redeveloping a concept that embraces the company’s forward-thinking identity.

“For a designer, it’s really like opening a box of chocolates to begin with,” he says. “A new design offers a designer a playground of new possibilities and a chance to communicate specific values in a creative way. It was important to evolve the product, not revolutionise it.”

Before pen even touches paper, Cadamuro says it’s important to define the identity of the brand: who you are, where you want to go, and who you want to be. You also need to understand what the customer wants, analyse competitor

The Tango XP Duo can produce 440 espressos per hour.

products, identify trends, the company vision, design principles, stakeholder needs, and so on.

“It’s a mix of things that go together, and it’s my job to find the connection between all of these things,” he says.

“It was a real challenge to merge modernity with tradition and convey Unic’s French heritage, timelessness, equilibrium, robustness, usability and serviceability, all into the new Tango XP series.”

Cadamuro says ‘human centricity’ is also important so that customers are connected to the product from the beginning, and then via progressive validation during its development.

“When we say we take the ‘human approach’, it’s about the galaxy of humans with different background needs, purposes, and goals – the owners, the baristas, the roasters, the sales reps, the service technicians, and listening and customising to their needs – that’s the example of human centricity,” Cadamuro says.

With all the preliminary information available, the sketching begins, followed by a prototype and engineering. Unic involved focus groups located in Europe, the United States and Asia to collect as much feedback on the product as possible. More than 1.5 hours was spent with each individual to receive thorough quantitative and qualitative analysis on how the product suited the needs of each culture and tradition.

The result is the mix of the best design inputs from different countries, as well as functionality, quality and robustness across the Tango XP Duo and Tango XP Solo one-group machine.

“The quality we have obtained out of this machine is a result of applying quality principles and methodology in the early stages of development. We really have embraced ‘human centricity’ in the design,” Cadamuro says.

The design of the control panel is deliberately large, “because electronics convey a message of knowledge and intelligence”. The interface displays a continuity of lines and materials with no gaps and rounded edges to embrace a friendly and easy-to-clean surface.

One of the most significant features when looking at the machine, is the coffee spouts, which are designed to be simple and sleek. The hoppers are big, compact, and purposefully transparent.

THE BEATING HEART

One of the guiding principles of Electrolux Professional, is customer obsession, says Ermes Sacchiero, Unic Platform Manager Coffee and Technology.

“It’s this desire to produce the best product for our customer that has driven us to create the perfect machine for the Ho.Re.Ca (hospitality, restaurant, catering) and specialty coffee market,” he says.

Since 2019, when Unic joined Electrolux Professional Group, Sacchiero says the brand has used the

“WE REALLY HAVE EMBRACED ‘HUMAN CENTRICITY’ IN THE DESIGN.”

The design of the Tango XP series embraces functionality, quality and robustness.

Michele Cadamuro says before sketching the design of a new coffee machine, it’s important to define brand identity.

company’s longevity and market experience to enhance the quality of its machines and end cup.

“The advantage of having Electrolux Professional Group behind Unic is about competencies, a team that enables us to transfer our methodology and bring us closer to the customer, and world-class manufacturing principles. It’s all conveyed in the Tango XP series.”

Unic’s R&D Manager Coquille says undoubtedly, the most important consideration when designing the technical components of the Tango machines, was upholding quality.

“We decided to use heavy-duty 83-millimetre flat burrs combined with a powerful grinder motor to keep consistency, just like you would see in a high-volume coffee shop,” he says.

“We then paired the grinding ability with the ingenious mechanism of the Tango brew group. This unique piece of metal guarantees the stability of water temperature to reach the best consistency in coffee extraction.”

Unic’s Tango dual infusion chamber brew group is a patented design that has received several recognitions in past years. It replicates all the steps done by a barista in combination with the mechanism of the two independent pistons. This is a result of the internal intelligence of the algorithm. It is able to tamp the coffee, and calibrate the volume and pressure of the infusion chambers.

There is free space inside the piston to allow the coffee to expand during the pre-infusion. Coquille says this free space can be adjusted through the software.

“Just like a traditional machine, we have strong temperature control over the coffee boiler and the coffee group to maintain the perfect temperature. All Tango XP components and technical solutions enable you to reproduce the gestures of a skilled barista, to perform the perfect coffee extraction,” Coquille says.

The Tango XP Duo produces up to 440 espresso cups per hour, delivered simultaneously via the two independent pistons. The Tango Solo is an evolution model that features a new single piston.

The Tango XP series also manages the delivery of milk-based drinks thanks to the one-step integrated pump system, an advanced milk system that delivers hot and cold foam and milk. It also alters the density or texture of foam by playing with air injection via the speed of the pump through user-customised settings or specific parameters.

Coquille notes a big advantage of this system is its indirect heating, with no water or steam injected inside the milk. The result is a higher-quality milk foam without alterations to its texture.

Beyond the one-step is another optional addition called Steamair, which features a temperature probe inside the stainless-steel steam wand to monitor temperature. This is suited to venues adapting to a range of dairy alternative products.

To accompany the technical ability of the Tango XP Series is a strong devotion to accessibility.

Via a user-friendly 10-inch interface, operators can select the desired beverage, set up default beverages, and change parameters such as the temperature of the drink.

“It’s very easy to customise and configurate, and just as easy to clean the machine thanks to simple prompts and instructions,” Coquille says.

“It was also important that we ensure the machine set-up was as easy as possible. Each machine can have up to three grinders, and each can be configurated to accommodate different beans and their different profiles. We can also share profiles and parameters across different Tango XP machines easily thanks to a USB solution.”

Serviceability was also highly considered. The machine’s modular concept allows all electronic components to be located on the left side of the machine, and hydraulics on the right. Even the front panel can be lifted so a technician can access all internal components during service and regular preventative maintenance checks.

“We have done lots of work on serviceability. Due to the Tango XP’s modular design, we can easily add or remove a grinder, and have designed the boiler using stainless steel material so it’s easy to remove or replace,” Coquille says.

The Tango XP Solo one-group machine maintains all the same features and functional heart of Unic machines in a contained footprint. Both machines feature components that are stainless steel, aluminium and brass-coated, which Coquille notes are more expensive than plastic, but more durable and allow for temperature stability.

The overall machine weight has been reduced by 30 per cent compared to the original Tango model.

“When you think about the automotive industry, if you weigh a car of 20 years ago and an equivalent car of today, you’ll find a huge difference in weight. We have reduced a lot of different things that weren’t sustainable. The result is a product that’s robust and light, which are all key elements and ingredients of quality. This is what we want our customers to appreciate,” Sacchiero says.

“What’s satisfying for me is when someone walks past our Tango XP machine, stops to see it, and gets involved. That’s exactly what we want them to do.”

The full Tango XP series will be presented at Host Milan in October 2023. GCR

For more information, visit www.unic-espresso.com/en/

Jeremy Coquille, Unic Research and Development Manager of Coffee, and Ermes Sacchiero, Unic Platform Manager Coffee and Technology, with the Tango XP Duo.

Circle of trust

Othe world’s largest producing regions, but that hasn’t stopped New South Walesbased Condesa Co.Lab. In fact, it has become an extension of a global network of origin-integrated companies, under global commodity trading and processing company ECOM Group.

Through this network, Condesa Co.Lab Sales Manager Oliver Brown says green coffee is sourced directly from farmers by dedicated teams operating in “pretty much every coffee producing origin in the world”.

“Our origin presence allows us to offer farmers pre-crop financing, agronomy training, logistical support, processing, milling and access to a global marketplace,” says Brown. “We work closely with our contacts on the ground at origin to source some of the highest scoring and most exclusive lots in the industry, as well as community and regional blenders, which our larger scale customers can take advantage of. Across the team, we travel to every origin that we work with, strengthening our ties with producers and partners, and searching for the right coffees.”

One of these origin countries is the East African region of Burundi. Condesa Co.Lab sources its Burundian coffees from the Akawa Project, an initiative that supports coffee farmers to develop coffee production through sustainable methods.

“The Akawa Project is a partnership between Condesa’s trade partner Supremo and its direct relationship with Burundi export groups. The project operates 12 washing stations in Burundi, which are used by about 6000 smallholder farmers in the country,” says Condesa Co.Lab Coffee Quality Lab Manager Eli Murray.

and 3000 farmers. It began with several actionoriented goals, which included securing high-yield trees and hiring agronomists. It also sought to create a model farm and build a water treatment facility.

“Since we joined the project, we’ve seen the coffee quality improve year on year. It sounds really simple, having agronomists teach farmers how to prune a coffee tree, or what kind of natural fertilisers they can use, how to pick cherries, but it has such a big impact,” Murray says.

The project also carried out a topography study across Burundi in 2021, which identified 20 key water sources near its washing stations. After the outflows underwent protection and sanitation, they now provide access to safer and cleaner drinking water for some 1175 households.

“The Akawa Project has also built a plant

CONDESA CO.LAB EXPLAINS HOW IT ENHANCES THE QUALITY OF COFFEE GROWER’S LIVES THROUGH ITS PARTNERSHIPS AT ORIGIN AND BY ENSURING GREAT COFFEE IS ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE.

Condesa Co.Lab sources green coffee directly from farmers thanks to dedicated teams operating worldwide.

nursery at the washing station in Kirasa, Burundi. Intended as a pilot project for other washing stations, this nursery will have the capacity for about 200,000 seedlings. These will include a range of young, productive coffee plants, as well as fruits, vegetables, and other tree seedlings that can help farmers diversify their income and provide shade,” says Murray.

Farmers at each station have also been given goats, which provide them with much-needed manure as a natural fertiliser.

“In the long-term, the hope is that the Akawa Project can serve as a template for other similar projects in Burundi. In turn, the positive effects these social projects deliver for farmers can spread knowledge throughout their communities, improve market access, and create a better coffee industry for all,” Murray says.

Another company Condesa Co.Lab partners with is Capricornio Coffee in Brazil. Brown says the exporter’s mission is to operate as a premium Brazilian specialty coffee company with a global reputation for superior quality, sustainability, and innovation.

“[Capricornio Coffee Director] Luiz Roberto Saldanha Rodrigues is one of the most innovative farmers in the world. He tracks everything from soil temperatures to leaf-area-to-fruit ratios while implementing new technologies and innovations like producing his own local microbiota to fortify plant immune systems, improve nutrient absorption, and increase coffee quality,” he says.

“Luiz is involved with details at every stage of the process. With a degree in agronomic engineering, he is always looking for more scientific knowledge, research studies, and quality information to apply at each step.”

Condesa Co.Lab has also recently begun sourcing coffee from Riverdale Estate, a specialty coffee producer based in the Shevaroy Hills in Tamil Nadu, India. Riverdale Estate has been a family farm for about 100 years and is now managed by brothers Prakashan and Mohan Balaraman. Condesa Co.Lab Business Development Manager Emilie Coulombe says they took over management of the farm in 2005, redeveloping it from the ground up to cater to the specialty coffee industry.

“Many improvements have been made around the farm in the last 10 years, and new varieties such as Panama Green Tip Gesha, Red Tip Gesha, SL9, and SL5B have all been planted,” Coulombe says.

“New infrastructure has also been built, including a cupping lab and temperature-

controlled storage, as well as raised drying beds. Riverdale is the only farm in India to produce those two Gesha varieties, which were sourced from Panama and Colombia.”

This year is the first Condesa has sourced coffee from Riverdale Estate, and Coulombe says the company is excited to offer Indian specialty coffee to its roaster partners.

“The farm produces some unique coffees of incredible quality, and both Mohan and Prakashan are incredibly eager to share them with us. Our team, meanwhile, is excited to work with Prakashan and Mohan and looks forward to this being the start of a long-term partnership,” she says.

In Ethiopia, Condesa Co.Lab collaborates with coffee professional Getu Bekele, who has worked as an agronomist, researcher, trainer, and writer, and currently owns export business G Broad Trading. Brown says Bekele is an important figure in the Ethiopian coffee industry and “one of the forerunners of transparent relationships with producers”.

“Bekele works to raise the profile of single producers and increase their market access while also advocating for profit sharing, taking only 10 per cent of the Free on Board price paid to the producers, where the common practice by most exporters would be to take about 60 per cent,” says Brown.

Brown says Condesa Co.Lab will continue to source a number of Ethiopian coffees through Bekele and G Broad Trading, and the many smallholder farmers it showcases.

“In the future, we hope that Condesa will only have more opportunities to source new lots from Ethiopian coffee producers and bring our roaster partners exciting coffees with truly amazing cup profiles,” he says. Through Condesa Co.Lab, roasters have direct access to origin partners, allowing them to strengthen their connection with producers at the source.

“We want to help build strong relationships between farmers and roasters, and we can’t do that unless we take them to origin countries to understand and appreciate the work they do. It allows them to become invested in farmer’s livelihoods. That’s how long-term relationships are born,” Brown says.

Condesa Co.Lab regularly hosts some of Australia’s largest specialty roasters in countries such as Brazil, Burundi, Ethiopia, and Kenya.

“It’s quite an impactful experience and allows roasters to connect with the farmers on a personal level,” says Murray.

It’s this direct approach that allows Condesa Co.Lab to maintain a trustful and transparent connection with its partners.

“Because we’ve been working with our farmers and exporters for several years, we’ve been able to foster those relationships a great deal, to the point that we trust them to make buying decisions on our behalf. I think that’s a really powerful tool to have,” Murray says. GCR

For more information, visit www.condesacolab.com.au

Luiz Roberto Saldanha Rodrigues is a Brazilian farmer and the Director of Capricornio Coffee.

A force for change

Zambia is not a traditional coffee producing country, but over the years, coffee and ingredients expert, ofi, has worked hard to help establish the southern African country as a dominant market player.

Coffee was introduced to Zambia in the 1980s thanks to a crop diversification initiative with the World Bank. It started commercially exporting Arabica in the late 80s, however, its varietals were susceptible to disease and yield subsequently declined. Seeing the potential however, ofi bought its own Zambian estate in 2012, in addition to already-established farms in Laos and Tanzania, becoming one of the largest owners of private coffee estates in Africa.

“Owning our own coffee farms through our subsidiary, the Northern Coffee Corporation Limited, has created incredible opportunities and challenges, including volatile coffee and fertiliser prices, and climate change, which has required ofi to evolve and keep pace with changing demands that are necessary to keep at the leading edge of coffee production,” says ofi SBU Head of Coffee Estates, Aranyak Sanyal.

“Ofi was sitting on a basket of unexplored opportunities centred around innovation and farming, be it in terms of carbon reduced coffees or process innovation. Our estates gave us the opportunity to trial different post-harvest practices, from wastewater treatment to extended fermentation techniques,” Sanyal says. “At the time we took over the Zambia estates, the crop needed reviving. We now have more than five-and-a-half million trees producing certified, specialty-grade coffees across five estates located in Ngoli, Isanya, Kateshi, Luombe and Nsunzu.”

Ofi has grown to be the largest employer in the northern province of Zambia, engaging about 3000 people year-round to grow its coffee, which can rise to more than 15,000 people during the harvesting period.

“There are a couple of things that East Africa is known for in terms of coffee. One, is the ability to produce extremely sharp floral and citrous cupping notes in washed coffees. The other, is fruity, well rounded, heavy naturals,” Sanyal says. “We are able to product both broad categories of specialty coffees across the various farms.”

Zambia ticks all the right boxes for producing coffee. It’s blessed with plenty of ground water and high altitude. Sanyal says it’s rare to find coffee growing conditions at an altitude of 1400 to 1700 metres on flat land. This allows ofi to apply precision irrigation to improve water efficiency.

“Our coffee is irrigated, which makes us a little bit more resilient to drought risk and able to achieve more uniform production year-on-year. That’s what is most attractive about Zambia, and in hindsight, it’s paid off,” he says.

More and more, he says customers had been requesting access to a long-term reliable supply of specialty coffee in a volatile coffee market. With ofi’s year-round, on-the-ground presence and integrated primary processing, Sanyal says this is a niche that ofi’s Zambia estates can fulfil.

To maintain a high standard of quality control, ofi has developed and progressed the skills of hand-picking with on-site researchers. Cherry is handpicked based on the degree of sugar content, cherry maturity, and its placement on the tree canopy.

“Not all red cherry is created equal. We can

OLAM FOOD INGREDIENTS (OFI) EXPLAINS HOW IT’S WORKING TO UNLEASH ZAMBIA’S POTENTIAL AS A COFFEE PRODUCING COUNTRY, WITH A FOCUS ON INNOVATION, SUSTAINABILITY IMPACT, AND A HIGH-QUALITY PRODUCT.

Ofi is the largest employer in the northern province of Zambia, engaging up to 15,000 people during the harvesting period.

layer art and science, so the art is being able to spot the ripe cherry and the science is the ability to measure the how good or bad are we at spotting it, which is by looking at the biology and agrochemistry of the cherry,” Sanyal says.

Harvested red ripe cherries are then allocated to different post-harvest processing methods to generate specific cup profiles and sensory attributes, depending on consumer preferences.

Sanyal says ofi’s fully washed Zambian coffees, which account for the majority of coffee produced on ofi’s estates, are the most popular specialtygrade requests. This process uses less than one litre of water per kilogram, making ofi “among the cutting-edge of water stewardship”.

Sanyal says ofi’s European buyers mostly prefer coffee with a bolder body and mouthfeel, while United States and other markets prefer brighter, floral coffees. For this reason, ofi applies different harvesting and processing methods to customise and fine-tune the cup profile depending on customer preferences.

Ofi’s Zambia estate provides a valuable “sandpit for innovation” with the ability to control cherry flow and uniformity in ripeness grown on the same terroir. The infrastructure allows ofi to experiment with multiple processing methods including naturals, honeys and washed, where both indigenous microbiome as well as specific starter cultures can be introduced to modify the microbial ecology during fermentation.

Over the last few years, ofi has custom-designed infrastructure, processing methods and produced natural and washed coffees at scale, using modified fermentation techniques to modulate aroma volatiles. Ofi’s on-site dry mill also helps to ensure it meets stringent customer specifications of density, colour, and defect level.

The exporter has also hosted several co-creation

World Coffee Research’s International Multilocation Variety Trial to identify new varietals that can withstand pests and disease with minimal chemical intervention. It has also researched biological control agents through natural predators to replace agrochemicals. The results are already being disseminated across ofi’s farmer sourcing network.

“Zambia is the ideal testbed for this pioneering research because its agro-climatic conditions are fairly similar to corresponding coffee growing regions, such as Honduras, Guatemala, Rwanda, Burundi, Cameroon and parts of Ethiopia, and Kenya,” Sanyal says. “We have also been working on making coffee production resilient. Some of the drought trials and research we have done on varietal and fertiliser planning is what makes Zambia a trailblazer within the ofi agronomy ecosystem.”

Ofi is also passionate about restoring natural biodiversity. In the past six years, it has reforested about 650 hectares of degraded land around its estates with new non-coffee trees. Over the past seven years, ofi has hosted teams of university researchers doing in-depth studies on greenhouse gas emissions from processing, with a view to offer customers options for climate-smart, low-carbon coffee products. Already, Sanyal says the results have helped ofi model tools for more effective carbon and water footprints, which can be accessed by customers on ofi’s sustainability management system AtSource.

“We are applying the learnings from these trials on our estates to our sourcing origins, to make smallholder supply chains more climate resilient, as well as more cost effective,” Sanyal says. “Because every farm is different – different production constraints, topography, soils – we are using the coffee growing intelligence gathered through research in Zambia, together with AtSource data, to input farm level parameters and generate tailored agronomy advice. This means optimising available resources to deliver interventions that make the most meaningful impact for individual farmers.”

Ofi’s sustainability focus extends beyond its estates to the local communities where many of its workers and their families live. It includes supporting over five primary and secondary schools, several conservation projects, and the promotion of beekeeping as an added source of income to disincentivise illegal deforestation for producing charcoal.

A primary healthcare facility has also been developed for community members, with nursery and maternal facilities to help reduce infant and maternal mortality rates.

“In the last seven or eight years, our clinic in Kateshi, which serves more than 8000 members from surrounding villages, is proud to have contributed to saving the lives of people who might otherwise not have been able to receive treatment. This is the most powerful statement of service to the community, representing people who may have otherwise perished in the absence of emergency medical care, hospitalisation and maternity wards hosted by ofi,” Sanyal says.

Notably, the clinic is open to the general public. Among all facts and figures in the world of coffee trading from Zambia to the world, Sanyal says that being able to save lives is something he’s personally proud of.

“For us, community is everything. We have rebuilt the Zambian estate projects from scratch, and for many farm workers, it is their only source of formal income. Therefore, the community takes a lot of pride in their coffee, and we do too,” Sanyal says. GCR

For more information, visit www.ofi.com

Ofi applies different harvesting and processing methods to customise and fine-tune cup profiles.

Ofi coffee is irrigated and grown at its Zambia estates at an altitude of 1400 to 1700 metres on flat land.

Knowledge is power

IMA COFFEE DISCUSSES THE LAUNCH OF THE GREEN COFFEE ACADEMY, AN ALL-ROUND TRAINING COURSE ON GREEN COFFEE SPECIFICALLY TARGETED AT COFFEE PROFESSIONALS.

n experiential journey that started off in the plantations of Honduras and ended in the research facilities of IMA Coffee Lab, has resulted in a new event concept created by IMA Coffee.

The Green Coffee Academy aims to generate knowledge on green coffee, combining three educational programs to offer coffee professionals an understanding of the green coffee supply chain – from the plantation all the way to cleaning and roasting plants.

“The project stems from the need to investigate the origins of green coffee in order to better understand its botanical species and varieties, harvesting and processing techniques, and clarify which possible green coffee defects are original faults and which are acquired during progress through the supply chain,” says Nicola Panzani, Strategic Director of the IMA Coffee Lab and CEO at IMA Petroncini.

“The goal of this fully immersive initiative will be to improve knowledge of the raw materials and the supply chain in order to identify the virtuous dynamics that help obtain a value-added cup of coffee, also through a more efficient product processing by using low energy impact technologies. In-depth knowledge of the product and of the technologies necessary to correctly process raw materials give supply chain players the right tools to be able to implement corporate social responsibility projects.”

The first event of the Green Coffee Academy was the Coffee Camp in the Finca Rio Colorado plantation in Las Capucas, Honduras. It was transformed into a training campus from 23 February to 6 March for an Aromateller Expert Full Course, an innovative and high-level training course that combined technical and marketing skills. The event, organised and coordinated by training company b.farm in conjunction with the Cooperativa Cafetalera Capucas Limitada (COCAFCAL) and Umami Area Honduras cooperatives, offered the opportunity to get to know the coffee directly in its country of origin.

“Each of the seven participants was able to

IMA Coffee’s Green Coffee Academy aims to generate knowledge on green coffee.

attend, practise and learn all the stages of quality Arabica coffee production, tutored by a team of b.farm experts and authorised Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) trainers,” says Panzani.

The next Campus is expected to take place from 23 November to 4 December 2023.

Following the Coffee Camp, IMA Coffee held a Green Coffee Skills Course on 29 March, attended by 12 coffee professionals from around the globe. The day consisted of qualifying training at the IMA Coffee Lab, located at the IMA Petroncini production site in northern Italy, where it installed a full-functioning green coffee cleaning and processing plant.

“By attending the training day, each participant discovered key aspects of green coffee, including production, processing, classification, shipping, storage, arrival at destination, as well as coffee portfolio management and contracts,” Panzani says.

The final stage of the Green Coffee Academy was the Academy Day, held on 30 March at the IMA Coffee Lab.

“It was a day of sharing and training which included a program jam-packed with papers and workshops on green coffee, with the participation of 50 coffee experts, roasters, and international producers,” says Panzani.

“We discussed the whole supply chain from farm to roaster, including cultivation, harvesting, processing, delivery of the green beans and the quality control along the green coffee supply chain.

“The day was also focused on the important theme of optimising the green coffee reception operations based on cleaning process, and the benefits of the in-house cleaning and sorting technologies for value-added coffee beans to complete the scenario of the green coffee supply chain.”

During the Academy Day, it was possible to see the Coffee Lab’s green coffee processing plant in operation, including cleaning technologies and optical-colour sorting, processing up to two tonnes of Ethiopian Djimma Natural, a dry processed arabica.

“Highly energy-efficient handling and dosing systems, designed to guarantee top hygienic design standards with minimal maintenance requirements, were presented along with plant management and product traceability systems. Cupping sessions and comparative roasting tests were also carried out according to the modular and traditional method,” Panzani says.

According to Panzani, in recent decades, the

green coffee market has been experiencing major challenges due to climate change, which has led to the commercialisation of new coffee varieties. This has caused many farmers to abandon their plantations, considered the starting point of a long supply chain. Panzani says the commercialisation of some varieties, however, has also meant an increased risk of product availability for roasters, resulting in inconsistent cup quality.

“That’s why for roasters today, it is important to know the origins of coffee species and varieties to better understand how to maintain the quality in the cup, paying attention at the sustainability of the green coffee ecosystem,” says Panzani.

IMA Coffee hopes that the Green Coffee Academy will create more awareness about the origins of coffee and how to optimise its in-cup quality. Panzani says the demand for sustainable products and processes is increasingly high, from the plantation up to the recycling of packaging material.

“An in-depth knowledge of the product and technologies necessary to clean and sort the coffee directly in the roasting factories could help commercial green coffee to reach the highest quality standards at the right profit for the farmers, providing companies the right tools to implement sustainable practices and social responsibility actions,” he says.

“IMA, as a producer of technologies for coffee processing and packaging, has the duty and honour of being an important player in the supply chain to respond to the green coffee environmental and commercial crisis with educational programs and more energy-efficient technologies that can help obtain a sustainable value-added cup of coffee” Panzani says. GCR

For more information, visit ima.it/coffee

The Green Coffee Skills Course consisted of qualifying training at the IMA Coffee Lab.

During the Academy Day, cupping sessions demonstrated the importance of effective cleaning to improve in-cup quality.

Harvest hope

BUSINESSPEOPLE, GROW A BETTER PRODUCT, AND BUILD LONG-TERM SUSTAINABLE ROASTER RELATIONSHIPS.

Five years ago, when coffee prices were at extreme lows, green bean exporter Bicafe started to notice a worrying pattern. Farmers weren’t interested in producing coffee. They were haemorrhaging money.

A producer approached Bicafe Executive Director Rodrigo Cordon and asked: “Can you help me find out what my colleagues in the area are doing with fertiliser? I don’t have any money to fertilise, and I am losing US$50 per 46-kilogram bag each year. Coming from an estate that producers 2500 46-kilogram bags per harvest, that equates to more than US$100,000 of lost revenue for that year.

Cordon enquired with a like-sized coffee producer who said: “Actually, I’m about to rip out all the coffee plants on my farm. I don’t want anything more to do with coffee. I’m going to grow plantains instead.”

It was this farmer’s decision that shifted Bicafe’s focus. Fourth generation producers Alfredo Chinchilla and Mariano Ventura founded the Guatemalan coffee exporting firm Bicafe 30 years ago with the aim of exporting specialty coffee. In 2015, Bicafe started its own generational succession and repositioned its vision to include helping farmers secure change through education and awareness.

In 2019, the Bicafe team started a pilot project with Alvaro Llobet of Lloto del Café, working with just two small farms and two large estates to equip the farmers with knowledge to ensure they not only stayed in the producing industry, but ended up more financially secure.

“I’m not a producer but our partners are. They are fourth, fifth and sixth-generation farmers. The problem with that, is that nobody taught them [the skills to profitable farming], so what you find at origin, is a lot of farms that are going broke,” Cordon says.

To turn the situation around, over the past five years Bicafe has established the Harvest Hope program. Together with strategic partnerships, it aims to transform the Guatemalan coffee industry by promoting sustainable practices and long-term profitability to improve conditions for workers and producers.

It’s through this collaboration that Bicafe has worked with 15 large farms and about 150 small

producers to completely transform the way they manage their farms.

The beauty of the program, Cordon says, is that it doesn’t cost producers any more to be involved. Rather, it works with farms that were broke and bankrupt, and not producing the volume they should be. Within three years, the farms can be thriving and producing higher yields without a huge financial investment.

To do so, the Bicafe team, along with consultants and technicians, go out to farms and provide producers with education on correct plant management techniques. This includes evaluation on potential income generation from different coffee species, determining production costs, and ensuing profitability within available resources. Bicafe then focuses on implementing long-term financial stability that enhances productivity and profitability. The final stage prioritises continuous improvement and innovation by constantly evaluating and upgrading practices so that producers can stay competitive.

“Bad farming decisions have resulted in us teaching and re-teaching producers how to take

Bicafe educates producers on correct plant management techniques to transform crop quality, yield, and prices.

better care of their farms. We need the producer to have well-implemented management systems to be able to have high and sustainable production,” says Mariano Ventura, Bicafe Commercial Manager.

Bicafe works with open doors. Producers can watch their coffee being milled, they can visit Bicafe’s quality lab to cup and test their coffee, and ask for advice on post-harvest techniques, management, and processing.

“We’ve helped producers open their eyes. In the past, being a coffee producer didn’t necessarily mean you were a businessperson. You were only a farmer. But being a farmer does not equate to being a good businessperson, and that’s what we’re trying to change,” Cordon says.

In 2012, the coffee leaf rust outbreak reduced the 2011/2012 harvest production by 20 to 25 per cent according to a United States Department of Agricultural report. As a result, Cordon says new hybrid varietals became popular with Guatemalan producers. Cordon says farmers who stick to planting traditional varieties – Bourbon, Catuai, and Caturra – and when well nourished with good nutrition and preventive disease controls, can better tolerate a leaf rust attack.

Due to coffee farming’s agricultural risk, however, there is still no financing options for coffee producers in Central America.

“Coffee has a long way to go in terms of sustainability. We need to do something about that, and we think right now, Harvest Hope is that solution,” Cordon says. “We are only trying to change the mentality of commodity coffee in Guatemala. It’s hard. People have been trying to change that mentality for 150 years.”

On average, Cordon says a coffee producer in Brazil produces between 40 to 45, 46-kilogram bags of coffee per hectare of green beans. In Guatemala, that yield is just eight, 46-kilogram bags per hectare, with an expected drop in production by a further 25 per cent over the next five years if labour issues continue to exacerbate, says Cordon.

“We want our producers to produce five-times what they’re producing, and when they do, their cost of production becomes very good. Guatemala has an average differential over the past five years of +50 over the C market,” he says.

“For the past 50 years, the New York C Market has an average of 140 –145. Add the differential, and you get a total price close to 190. We want all of our producers to have a cost of production below 190. We want them to be profitable.”

This is the critical work Bicafe has been working

towards over the past five years. Cordon says Bicafe was positively surprised when Anacafé, Guatamala’s national coffee association, announced its Sustainable Profitability Program, and hired Bicafe’s consultants in 2021 to help recalibrate coffee production in Guatemala, and improve the living conditions of producers.

“Anacafé and Bicafe share the same idea. Profitability is of upmost importance in order to have coffee for the long-term. As such, we will be sharing our philosophy with the 150,000 producers we have in Guatemala right now,” Cordon says.

Bicafe is a growing company with more than 30 years’ experience exporting coffee from Guatemala and Honduras where they opened a mill and exporting facility in 2014. It exports Guatemalan and Honduran coffee around the world, with customers in Australia, Japan, Italy, the United States, China, New Zealand, Korea, Taiwan, Spain, Canada, Belgium, and Saudi Arabia, to name a few.

Cordon says Guatemalan coffee is often used to balance blends, and in its own right, is celebrated in for its subtle and elegant profile.

“Guatemalan regions are amazingly different between each other. Guatemalan coffees have a distinct, elegant, chocolatey profile that is easy to drink and silky smooth on the palate,” he says.

Speaking to Global Coffee Report direct from the Guatemalan Cup of Excellence awards, Cordon says of the 30 coffees up for auction in the 2023 event, Bicafe works with 12 of the producers to mill, finance and support them in helping produce the best coffees in Guatemala.

“These coffees are the best of the best. We mill those coffees at a micro-lot mill, which we built in 2018. In the past four years we’ve found amazing producers who think like us and deserve recognition for the quality of their coffees,” Cordon says.

Recognition is important, and so is taking the next steps to ensure Guatemalan coffee is celebrated for many years to come, and that producers and their families have access to improved living conditions. Cordon is aware of the many challenges facing Guatemalan producers, including labour and worker migration to the United States, but before that, he says sustainable farming must be addressed and maintained.

“Our first goal is to get producers to be profitable, and number two, is to find roasters or importers that can adopt farmers, respect them, collaborate for the long-term, and pay respectful prices,” he says.

“We need to help producers produce more coffee, and coffee that is profitable and sustainable. Then, we need to understand their cost structures so that we can pay fair prices, prices that incentivise the next generation not to migrate. And prices that incentivise quality, that’s what we need.” GCR

For more information, visit bicafe.com

Prior to working with Bicafe, Guatemalan coffee farms were nowhere near the volume they could be producing.

Partners in processing

BRING THE GLOBAL COFFEE INDUSTRY A NEW CUSTOMER LAB SCALED PLANT FOR VAPOUR TREATMENT OF GREEN COFFEE.

Neuhaus Neotec has been among the world’s leading suppliers of coffee processing machines and plants for more than 50 years. In addition to the core components of roasters and grinders, its product portfolio covers the entire process chain from green coffee intake to the preparation of roasted coffee for packaging. The manufacturer develops plant components for companies from all walks of the supply chain.

Neuhaus Neotec Head of Marketing Lars Henkel says NKG Kala Hamburg, one of Europe’s largest and most modern green coffee warehousing and processing facilities, is one of Neuhaus Neotec’s most important partners in green coffee processing. In collaboration with sister company, Devex, Neuhaus Neotec has fitted out its entire new plant.

“NKG Kala Hamburg is a company of Neumann Kaffee Gruppe (NKG) and specialises in green coffee handling. With the help of Neuhaus Neotec, now they will be able to easily upscale the steaming results from this lab plant to its larger industrial-scaled vapourisation plant,” Henkel says.

“The lab plant will be ideal for customers wanting to conduct smaller trials before they move to a bigger scale plant for larger orders.”

Neuhaus Neotec has been a partner of NKG Kala Hamburg since 1984 and has been involved in each iteration of the green coffee factory.

“We were involved in the development of the first coffee centre in 1984, the second in the late 90s, and the third-generation establishment in the early 2000s, the most beautiful and sophisticated plant. Collaborating with NKG Kala Hamburg for almost 40 years has created a close connection between the two companies and allowed us to strengthen our good reputation in the field of green coffee processing,” Henkel says.

Built between November 2021 and November 2022, the new facility extends over two levels and is approximately 10 metres high. The lab plant was officially opened to customers in May 2023 and consists of a mixer for pre-moistening, a pressure bin, a vacuum dryer, and a cooling tray.

NKG Kala Hamburg’s Head of Steaming Department Alexander Jank says the lab plant offers the opportunity to execute an almost unlimited number of trials to reach desired results with the pre-processed coffee, under industrial conditions, together with our customers. He says this can then be scaled up in the larger industrial plant.

“The installation process included a precise and extensive calibration phase between the lab plant and the larger industrial plant, testing various parameters to achieve identical results on both plants to assure upscaling possibilities,” Jank says.

“Due to the smaller size of the lab plant, the usage of raw materials as well as energy resources

The coffee processing plant of NKG Kala Hamburg has large storage and processing capacities.

for these trials are reduced to a minimum, which decreases emissions.”

NKG Kala Hamburg’s Managing Director Sven Hähnsen says beside steaming, NKG Kala Hamburg offers various services like container scheduling, pre-delivery checks, standardised green coffee cleaning, blending, and warehousing.

“In the steaming plant Arabica and Robusta beans can be processed using a unique in-house vapourisation system that operates without any chemical additives and is always customised to client’s needs,” says Hähnsen.

“The product enhancement of the client’s green coffee is done by processing it with pure steam at elevated temperatures and pressure. The water comes from our own 330-meter-deep well and is converted to steam in our boiler house.

“Arabica coffees can become milder or bolder in its final form after this treatment. Certain irritants are reduced, off-flavours can be eliminated, and aged coffees can be refreshed. Robusta coffees also become milder and softer after treatment, to an extent that the typical Robusta taste is refined or disappears completely.”

The sample ramp is the first stop on the green coffee’s journey through NKG Kala Hamburg.

“After the arrival of the goods from the country of origin, an incoming inspection is carried out, during which both the goods and the respective container are inspected by our specialists and, depending on the customer’s requirements, samples are taken. The samples are then expertly

inspected for details like temperature, odour, and appearance, and digitally documented for the customer,” Hähnsen says.

“The weight of the green coffee is a decisive factor for our customers. We have a weighbridge directly on the yard with which all containers and trucks are weighed both empty and full. The weight is determined by receiving and charging scales in the silo or by platform scales in the warehouse and is systematically tracked. All our scales are calibrated regularly.”

Before the green coffee enters one of the silo bins for storage or further processing, it undergoes two identical cleaning steps and is cleaned of dust, husks, and other foreign particles with the help of sieves and air classifiers. With the help of neodymium magnets, metallic foreign particles are removed from the product.

“The entire system of our silo complex is controlled from our control centre. We have more than 330 storage and loading bins with a total capacity of 35,000 metric tonnes of coffee,” Hähnsen says.

“Our warehouses offer space for conventional bagged goods and big bags. Specialty and commercial coffees as well as batches for further processing can be stored here. Coffee from the silo can be bagged into jute bags or big bags, which can be loaded into export containers or trucks. The entire handling of the warehouse is digital and guarantees transparency and traceability of the coffee at any time.”

Hähnsen and Jank are eager to build NKG Kala Hamburg’s customers base, reinforcing that in addition to storage, quality control and processing, the company offers individual logistics solutions and can respond flexibly to adjustments in the market.

“The greatest challenge of the project will be to convince customers to open their minds to these semi-finished coffee products, considering them as new ingredients for their green coffee portfolio, as single origins or as part of a blend,” Hähnsen says.

Jank adds that NKG Kala Hamburg hopes to become part of the research and development process for its customers and support them to achieve optimal tastes for their products, that being roast and ground, whole bean, instant, or cold brew coffee.

“The partnership with Neuhaus Neotec is a natural fit. We’re honoured to partner with such a longstanding company in the global coffee industry,” he says.

“Having cooperated with Neuhaus Neotec for so many years and sharing the same passion for coffee and innovation, Neuhaus Neotec is the ideal partner for this expansion, and we are very much looking forward to making this project a success.” GCR

For more information, visit www.neuhaus-neotec.com and nkg-kala.de

Arabica and Robusta beans can be processed using an in-house vapourisation system.

A pressure vessel with an electro-pneumatic discharge bottom.

Make it count

WORLD COFFEE RESEARCH DISCUSSES ITS NEW OPEN-ACCESS ROBUSTA CATALOGUE INTENDED TO SUPPORT FARMERS IN MAKING INFORMED DECISIONS ABOUT ROBUSTA VARIETIES.

Since the life of a coffee tree is 20 to 30 years, the decision farmers make about which coffee variety to plant has long-term effects on their success. To help guide the decisionmaking process, World Coffee Research (WCR) has released the Robusta Variety Catalog, a new resource to assist Robusta farmers access transparent information on available varieties and how they differ.

“WCR first consulted with Robusta technical experts to determine the most important data to include in the catalogue. Then, we worked with the breeders of each of the included varieties to compile information about the different plants and their performance. All of the participating breeders reviewed the final data for all varieties in the catalogue. In all, 21 experts from nine countries participated in its creation,” says Hanna Neuschwander, WCR Communications and Strategy Director, who helped oversee the production of the catalogue.

The Robusta catalogue was generated through collaborative sourcing of data about varieties from breeders and other experts, including from the Central Coffee Research Institute, the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, the National Coffee Research Institute of Uganda, the Western Highlands Agroforestry Science Institute, and Nestlé’s Research Center.

The catalogue, available in English and Spanish, profiles 47 Robusta varieties from origins such as Brazil, India, Indonesia, Uganda, Mexico, and Vietnam. It uses more than 20 variables, such as yield potential, stature, bean size, nutrition requirements, lineage, susceptibility to pests and diseases, and many more.

According to WCR, until recently, Arabica coffee has held reign over most of the coffee market due to preferences for its beverage quality. But various factors including the increasing demand and climate pressure for farmers have led to expansions in Robusta production.

“Robusta can be farmed in areas that Arabica can’t, for example at lower elevations, allowing new land to come under production and more farmers to embrace coffee. It also produces higher yields and is tolerant to more diseases and pests,” says WCR Research and Development Director Dr. Tania Humphrey.

“Since our founding over 10 years ago, WCR has worked to empower farmers by making tools available to choose the right varieties for their farms and their markets,” says WCR CEO Dr. Jennifer “Vern” Long. Now that Robusta comprises 40 per cent of the coffee produced and marketed globally, we saw the need to support farmers by creating this tool.”

With Robusta’s growing prevalence in the global market, WCR hopes the catalogue will lower the risk associated with coffee farming by providing direct information to enable farmers and other decision-makers to make an informed choice about what varieties will grow best in particular environments. Humphrey says choosing the right cultivar lowers the risk of pest and disease crop losses, can enhance cup quality, and will be critical for coffee producers facing rapidly changing climates.

“Robusta farmers typically sell into lowervalue markets where variety differentiation is non-existent. Many farmers have no idea what actual variety they have, but make a best guess based on the physical characteristics of their tree. This is typically due to the age of many coffee farms, and the tradition of smallholder farmers passing along seeds,” Humphrey says.

“There is overall a massive lack of capacity in the whole system – variety releases are few and far between, institutions don’t have a lot of ability to market new varieties to farmers and create variety name recognition, and a lot of information just gets lost along the way. In the end, farmers don’t have a tonne of choices about what they can plant, and they don’t know much about the choices they do have,” says Humphrey.

World Coffee Research’s Robusta Variety Catalog profiles 47 robusta varieties.

Humphrey adds that an added complication for Robusta is that it’s an outcrossing species, meaning that in order for a plant to produce any fruit at all, it needs to be planted near a different variety. This means farmers must plant a mix of varieties in order to get fruit; meaning every field is a mixture of different plants.

“Because of this, farmers must cultivate a variety of complementary clones to enhance fruit production and quality. These mixtures, which typically comprise officially released commercial varieties, are often distributed to farmers with minimal transparency about what clones are included in the mix and their unique properties. The lack of a comprehensive, up-to-date variety information and officially recommended planting patterns puts farmers at risk and perpetuates chronically low yields around the globe,” she says.

Alongside the detailed variety profiles, catalogue users can find a consolidated and peerreviewed history of Robusta as a species, which tracks it from its origins in central and western sub-Saharan Africa through its dispersal across Asia and Latin America to its cultivation today. The history also provides a brief overview of the genetic diversity and conservation of Robusta to provide readers the opportunity to better understand how well-differentiated the various populations of this species are.

The varieties in the Robusta catalogue were selected for inclusion because of their economic, historical, cultural, or genetic importance, but significant gaps in data for many Robusta varieties remain.

“The genetic diversity of Robusta coffee is also much larger than that of Arabica, and it is only just beginning to be explored by breeders and the industry at large. The catalogue, therefore, does not aim to represent an exhaustive list of all coffee varieties in existence,” says Humphrey.

Humphrey says another reason for gaps in the catalogue’s data is that the coffee sector lacks global collaboration on Robusta research.

“Not all diseases and pests are present in every country. For example, coffee berry disease is so far not present in the Americas, but it is a major issue in Africa. A Robusta variety developed in the Americas hasn’t been exposed to this disease, so we don’t know if it is susceptible or not,” she says.

But the biggest reason, says Long, is that the world deeply under-invests in coffee research and development.

“The institutions that are developing Robusta varieties for farmers are public institutions, often

in lower-resourced countries, and don’t have the kind of stable, long-term budgets they need. WCR recently calculated that, per year, we should be investing US$452 million more than we currently do in coffee research and development, which includes breeding for Robusta,” says Long.

Humphrey adds that Robusta research is also in its infancy, and “there is so much more that can and needs to be done to understand the plant”.

“For example, it has long been assumed that Robusta is tolerant to higher heat than Arabica, but recent research challenges that assumption. The Robusta species is more genetically diverse than Arabica, so it’s possible, even likely that some Robustas possess unique heat tolerance and others are more sensitive. The world has a lot of work to do to further understand what Robusta is capable of,” she says.

This resource serves as an expansion of WCR’s popular Arabica Variety Catalog, which was launched in 2017 and profiles Arabica varieties from around the world.

“At the time of its release, the Arabica catalogue was a first-of-its-kind resource and the only global compendium of information about available coffee varieties for farmers, buyers, and roasters. The resource has been viewed over one million times since its launch and, as a living document, continues to support WCR’s goal to improve the availability and accessibility of improved planting material for farmers around the world,” says Neuschwander.

Long says WCR is a trusted global source of information about coffee varieties.

“With the rise in interest in Robusta coffee, we felt it was time to expand the catalogue to include Robusta,” she says. GCR

The BRS 3193 Robusta varietal has flavour attributes of chocolate, caramel, and almond.

Rich with passion

GLOBAL COFFEE PLATFORM SHARES THE FINDINGS FROM ITS STUDY ON LIVING INCOME IN BRAZILIAN COFFEE PRODUCTION.

Climate change, vulnerability of food systems, and poverty are just some of the challenges society faces globally. The Global Coffee Platform (GCP) Collective Action Initiative on Social Well-Being recognises these challenges, and although there are numerous analyses about Brazilian agriculture, the initiative aims to gain a better understanding of coffee growers’ income in the country.

“The initiative, created and co-coordinated by GCP Brazil, the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council (Cecafé) and by the PACTO Institute for the Eradication of Slave Work (InPACTO), seeks to improve the living and working conditions of coffee growers and workers, especially smallholders. Learning about families’ income represents a possibility of formulating policies and actions to strengthen the forces that prioritise living income,” says Pedro Ronca, GCP Brazil Director.

The initiative has implemented a living income study in the coffee producing regions of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo to discover whether Brazilian coffee farmers earn a living income. The study was conducted between January 2020 and June 2021.

“Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo were the regions chosen to conduct the study as they are the two biggest coffee producing states in Brazil, accounting for 65 per cent of domestic Arabica coffee production and 68 per cent of domestic Robusta production, respectively,” says Ronca.

“This living income report is the first step to understand coffee growers’ income in Brazil. The study findings will help to better understand the reality of the different coffee areas. It focuses on promoting dialogue, raising awareness, and fostering education about good social practices and labour legislation among coffee growers and workers, field technicians, leaders, and opinion makers. It also concentrates on mapping and monitoring working conditions and social risks, and promoting positive communication.”

The study revolved around coffee growers and suppliers of GCP Members in Brazil. The sampling plan was designed based on growers who had a total area of up to 100 hectares; with the sample stratified per type of coffee (Arabica and Conilon/Robusta) and five strata of property area (0-5, 5-10, 10-20, 20-50, 50-100 hectares).

Referencing the Living Income Community of Practice, GCP defines ‘living income’ as “the net annual income required for a household in a particular place to afford a decent standard of living for all members of that household”.

To determine the coffee grower’s living income several factors were considered, including the family’s net amount of monthly production (coffee and other crops), cost of production, living costs, other sources of income, and living income benchmarks. The potential household income of these families was then estimated per sample stratum (type of coffee and property area).

GCP Brazil Technical Consultant Eduardo Sampaio says it was challenging to explain to stakeholders of the coffee chain the importance of such a study, since it is generally accepted by the sector that the average coffee grower in Brazil already has a living income.

“The findings show that once growers have access to an enabling environment, which includes technical assistance, technology, credit, growers’ organisation, logistics and market access, they are able to earn a living income,” he says.

“These conclusions however cannot be

The GCP Collective Action Initiative on Social Well-Being aims to improve the living and working conditions in Brazilian coffee growing.

extrapolated to all coffee growers in Brazil, as the study concentrated in a specific population in the main producing coffee regions.”

According to GCP, the monthly living income for the population of growers with up to 100 hectares was estimated at BRL$23,796 (about US$4725) for the 2020/21 two-year period. The average income gap was estimated at BRL$4782 (about US$-950), and the average potential household income was estimated at BRL$28,895 (about US$5737) per month.

“The results of this study suggest that a share of interviewed growers in some areas, particularly those who fit in the family farming category, do not earn a living income. These smallholders depend on earnings not related to the property, such as outside work or governmental aids, to complement the household income,” says Sampaio.

Sampaio says one of the more interesting results of the study was the impact of income diversification.

“Most types of grower income diversification beyond coffee were important or essential to reach the living income, and not only coming from other crops but also from services such as machinery rental and others. Growers below five hectares could only reach the living income by the contribution of income diversification,” he says.

GCP Brazil is using the findings to build its GCP 2.0 Country Plan on Farmer Prosperity, which is aligned with the global GCP 2030 Goal to achieve transformational change on farmers’ prosperity for more than one million coffee farmers in more than 10 countries.

“GCP Brazil will use this to focus on increasing climate resilience, incorporating sustainable regenerative agriculture practices among growers to decrease the impact of climate change,” GCP Brazil Director Ronca says.

“The study sheds a light on local gaps and challenges that affect the living income, and which can help institutions, companies and governments formulate plans to overcome these challenges and support continuous improvement toward prosperity of coffee growers. We believe this living income study is a great source of information to guide development plans for the coffee sector, including public policies and private initiatives.”

GCP is currently developing holistic, entrepreneurial country plans for key coffee origins to define how each can contribute to its shared 2030 Goal.

“While these country plans maintain an ultimate focus on improving farmers’ livelihoods –

using the milestone of closing the living income gap by at least 25 per cent to measure our progress – they address all three pillars of sustainability. This includes a strong emphasis on ‘ensuring climate adaption and mitigation’ as a key element for sustainable coffee production,” Ronca says.

GCP says the results of this preliminary work may be used to compare same-size growers in similar contexts in Brazil, taking into consideration the period of the sample. Considering a wider agenda, this may be a reference for the development of long-term, more robust studies, based on a more heterogeneous group of growers and different contexts of market access.

“Through the focused collective action of GCP Members and the initiative partners, we are able to provide the coffee sector with critical viable learnings and insights on living income as milestone towards farmer prosperity, while at the same time ensuring sustainable practices for coffee production,” says GCP Executive Director Annette Pensel. “This work has the potential for long lasting and positive impacts across Brazil’s small coffee growers.”

Pensel adds that GCP Collective Action Initiatives enable companies and organisations to leverage their skills and resources to jointly improve identified sustainability issues for coffee at origin.

“Aligned with local priorities and embedding results in existing structures, this collective investment can achieve much greater efficiency, scope and scale than if each company acted alone,” she says.

“By working with and through GCP, our members can share risks and rewards as they address their shared sustainability business challenges in pre-competitive collaboration. At the same time, GCP shares results and learnings with the coffee sector to scale results for meaningful impact that truly accelerates coffee sustainability.”

GCR

For more information, visit www.globalcoffeeplatform.org

According to GCP, Brazil has been the world’s largest coffee producer for more than 150 years.

The study attempts to understand coffee growers’ income in Brazil.

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A hydration crisis

GORDON FELLER ON HOW CLIMATE CHANGE IS STRESSING COFFEE PRODUCING WATER SUPPLIES AND HOW IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE IS A SOLUTION WORTH PURSUING.

n most parts of the Global South where coffee is produced, the impacts of climate change are being felt through changes in water supplies, resulting from increased rainfall variability. Successive droughts are impacting crop yields in a varied list of countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, India, and Indonesia.

Professor Dr. Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and University of KwaZulu-Natal’s School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, says an estimated 70 per cent of land under coffee production belongs to smallholder farmers in climate change hotspots with inherently low adaptive capacity.

Mabhaudhi says access to water for irrigation or supplemental irrigation, is a key “climate adaptation strategy”.

“In many parts of the world where coffee is produced, the major climate risks are water-related, especially decreasing rainfall and increasing incidence and severity of droughts,” he says. “Droughts have become more frequent in Ethiopia and other key coffee growing regions. Access to water for irrigation will ensure that farmers do not lose their crops, enable continued harvests, and help farmers adapt to climate change.”

Ben Faber, an advisor at the University of California Cooperative Extension, specialises in soils, water and subtropical crops, especially those along the subtropical California coast with its Mediterranean climate of winter rain and summer drought. He says water salinity is an obvious sign of water stress.

Faber discovered this early on in field trials when irrigation wasn’t maintained well during the coffee flowering season.

Irrigation is seen as a key climate adaptation strategy for coffee plants.

If irrigation is not maintained during flowering season, signs of water stress can occur.

“There were cherries, but where’s the bean? There’s a lot to learn growing coffee in a non-traditional environment. The plants are relatively tough, but susceptible to salt burn (salt damage, tip burn) if they are not irrigated properly. They don’t like heat spells – over 100°C at any time – and they don’t like cold spells – 32°C. They don’t like wind – it dries them out – and during flowering the flowers can dry up. So, they are pretty much confined to growing in a greenhouse in California, or along the coast. They can do well in full sun. But the erratic weather we have had lately has made it more difficult,” Faber says.

“Especially in coastal California, where coffee is most likely to be grown because of the mild climate, the water is often sourced from wells which have salinity issues when high enough. Irrigation is required because of the low rainfall, so applying irrigation water also means applying salts. A grower needs to balance the plant need for water with the need to ensure that the salts from the irrigation water don’t accumulate in the plant root zone and cause toxicity.”

Claudia Ringler, Director, Natural Resources and Resilience at the International Food Policy Research Institute’s (IFPRI) and co-lead of the Nexus Gains Initiative, notes that a few years ago, IFPRI supported Vietnam’s plan to introduce ‘high-efficiency irrigation’ in the country’s highland areas, where much of the coffee in the country is being produced.

“One of the reasons that Vietnam wanted to introduce high-efficiency irrigation was water shortages that could be due to over-expansion of coffee/other crop areas and due to climate extremes (such as drought),” Ringler says.

“All coffee companies procuring coffee from Vietnam have worked on water stress. More extensive adaptations are changes in coffee varieties and moving areas higher up into the mountains. Climate change affects coffee production everywhere in the world, due to heat and water stress, and heat stress is linked to water shortages. However, getting water to the crops does not mean that heat stress can be overcome. It depends on the intensity of the heat.”

Ringler explains that coffee has an ideal growth temperature for day and night, at 23/19°C respectfully for some Arabica varieties.

“If optimal day and night temperatures are substantially exceeded, then coffee plant productivity will decline, regardless if the plant is irrigated or not. Irrigation can slightly lower overall temperatures in the surrounding of irrigation systems, and they can reduce some of the heat stress effects that plants experience. But if the plant is hit with, let’s say, 30°C daytime temperatures, then productivity will go down, and heat-adapted genotypes need to be developed regardless of adequate water supply to coffee plants through irrigation.”

Slow but steady progress using irrigation innovations is highlighted in a report published by the Asian Development Bank: “Quantifying Water and Energy Linkages in Irrigation Experiences From

Vietnam”. This research report provides details about the results of a IFPRI pilot study with support from a Vietnam-based consultant, which sought to quantify water and energy use in some of Vietnam’s high-efficiency irrigation systems. The study was linked to an ADB-financed project which provides technical assistance for water efficiency improvements in one of the country’s most drought-affected provinces. In this particular case, high-efficiency irrigation did not seem to be the right solution as water shortages were limited to short periods of time that could be overcome with other water management solutions.

Until this study was conducted, there had been limited information on quantifying energy use in irrigation systems. In the world of plant irrigation, energy is required for ground and surface water pumping, as well as for fueling on-farm irrigation technology and farm machinery.

SOLUTIONS FOR SOIL SANITY

The IWMI continually works with farmers, suppliers and policymakers to understand and adapt to climate-smart agriculture and new sustainable irrigation technologies, such as the introduction of solar pumps; drip irrigation systems, which brings water as close to the roots as possible using emitters; as well as drip lines, sprinklers, and/or sprayers. Solar pumps are particularly urgent given Ethiopia’s recent proposal to end the import of diesel pumps on which many groundwater irrigators currently rely on.

IWMI programs are built on the core idea that there is a need to transition to sustainable irrigation technologies that are water, energy, and food efficient. For example, drip irrigation can be energy efficient and water efficient, as it requires less energy to pump and distribute water.

Coffee plants are susceptible to salt burn if they are not irrigated properly.

An irrigation system used to hydrate coffee crops in Santa Paula.

on the idea, and was eventually approved by the government for all agricultural technology. Unfortunately, the policy has faced challenges with implementation.

Mabhaudhi’s research also examines various irrigation technologies which are now being implemented, such as solar-based irrigation, smart water management, irrigation revitalisation and modernisation, and sub-surface and semi-permeable membrane systems.

Solar-powered irrigation systems have been implemented extensively in Asia, with key lessons coming from India. In Africa, the technology is also gaining ground with significant growth in Ethiopia, Ghana and Mali where pilot programs are being conducted. The next steps include scaling and bundling of smart water management with other advisory.

Work on linking irrigation and energy supply is being taken forward by the CGIAR Nexus Gains Initiative where both Ringler and Mabhaudhi are involved in with support to Eastern and southern Africa, and South and Central Asia. While not primarily focusing on coffee, lessons from Nexus Gains’ innovative thinking can be adapted and applied to various contexts, wherever there’s a need to mitigate environmental tradeoffs.

In the coffee context, Nexus Gains is identifying climate smart agriculture practices and clean energy solutions across the coffee value chain, with the potential of solar coffee drying replacing open air drying of coffee beans.

Despite progressive efforts, Mabhaudhi says more holistic solutions are still needed.

“The IWMI is promoting bundled innovations that combine irrigation technologies with other technologies, such as improved varieties, better agronomic practices, access to markets and climate information, and services,” he says. “Bundling innovations assist with developing regionally differentiated and context-specific programs”.

IOT ASSISTANCE

One of the more modern innovations of smart water management involves planning, developing, distributing, and managing the use of water resources using an array of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, which is designed to increase transparency, thus making more reasonable and sustainable usage of water resources.

Mabhaudhi says spatial and temporal agricultural water management is critical in irrigated agriculture under water scarcity and climate change to deliver smart water and energy management across multiple scales and users. Possible technologies include soil moisture sensors, such as chameleon soil moisture

focus on increasing water scarcity in key coffee growing regions, this is essential.”

Examples of the many IoT applications include monitoring water consumption, checking water levels and quality, detecting chemical leakages, tracking pressure variations along pipes, and use of microcontrollers and sensors, such as ultrasonic sensors, flow sensors, temperature, salinity, conductivity, humidity, pressure, or luminosity sensors. These sensors are placed on pipes or pumps that measure water levels, flow, temperature, and quality of the water in real time.

The sensors transmit message alerts and data over the internet to a cloud server where it is processed, analysed, sometimes with the help of artificial intelligence, and sent to a terminal for the user to consult. The system can control and regulate the usage and quality of water resources, as well as facilitate the maintenance of the default equipment. Such solutions now being implemented in Asian producing regions.

According to the United Nations, global water demand is projected to grow by 55 per cent due to increasing requirements from manufacturing, thermal electricity generation, and domestic use. Thus, while sustainable water access will be key for the future of coffee, it will be equally essential to ensure that precision irrigation techniques are used as the same water is needed for human and planetary health. GCR

Solar-powered irrigation systems are used extensively in Asia and are in pilot stage in many other producing countries.

All for one in Bangalore

THE FIFTH EDITION OF THE WORLD COFFEE CONFERENCE IS COMING TO INDIA. THE EVENT IS SET TO UNITE THE GLOBAL COFFEE INDUSTRY ON SUSTAINABLE TOPICS OF DISCUSSION, INCLUDING CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE.

Since the 18th century, commercial coffee has been thriving in India. Over time, the country has evolved from a tea drinking nation to one with a strong coffee identity. Coffee is traditionally cultivated in the Western Ghats, and is rapidly spreading to the areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and the North East states. This year however, all eyes will be on Bangalore, the largest city of the southern Indian state of Karnataka, as it hosts one of the largest global events in the coffee sector.

For the first time since 2016, the International Coffee Organization (ICO), a multilateral intergovernmental organisation for coffee, and its Members, will host the Word Coffee Conference

The event is foreseen in the International Coffee Agreement 2007 treaty, in which the organisation aims to host every four to five years. The WCC first took place in London, the United Kingdom in 2001; followed by Salvador, Brazil in 2005; Guatemala City, Guatemala in 2010; and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2016. COVID-19 pressed pause on the last scheduled event, and now, the world is ready to unite in an Asian country for the first time.

“The renewed interest and commitment by India to organise this high-level event is exciting. It will not only be a forum to discuss critical topics for the global sector, but to be involved in a technologist exhibition, and technical workshops and a Growers’ Conclave run by the Coffee Board of India. We will see top-tier company representatives, government representatives, United Nations partners, and even Vietnam will be coming with more than 20 delegates. They see it as a huge opportunity to showcase the way they produce and trade coffee,” says ICO’s Head of Operations, Gerardo Patacconi.

The iconic Bangalore Palace Grounds will be the host venue for the international conference and coffee technology fair. The Government of India will host the WCC 2023, chaired by the

Bangalore Palace will host this year’s World Coffee Conference.

Farmers in Palakkad, Kerala, India collecting coffee beans and packing them after harvesting.

Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal.

The WCC will be held in conjunction with the G20 Summit under the country’s presidency. It will also integrate the 5th CEOs and Global Leaders Forum, and the 136th Session of the International Coffee Council.

All 75 ICO member countries are ready to attend the WCC, with the conference expected to attract more than 1500 registered delegates and 10,000 business visitors from across the globe.

WCC 2023 will bring together representatives from government, the private sector, development partners, as well as civil society and academia, coffee producers and importers, leading coffee associations, global coffee experts, roasters and more. They will gather to discuss and debate on coffee market trends, technology, and best practices for building a circular coffee economy, regenerative agriculture, sustainability through consumption, innovation and access to finance, with the goal to collaborate towards building a sustainable coffee industry from bean to cup.

Guest speakers will present on this year’s event theme, ‘Circular Economy and Regenerative Agriculture,’ addressing market trends, challenges, best practices, technologies, and strategic and financial solutions to build a resilient and sustainable future for the coffee sector, and production issues surrounding sustainability and cultivation, living income, and climate change, in compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals and Environmental, Social and Governance practices.

“On 1 October 2022, the International Coffee Day, ICO members decided on this topic theme. The reason is that there is a growing interest and opportunity at the different levels of the supply chain on circularity. This year we are also launching the Coffee Development Report on circular economy, and we are also looking into how to move circularity into action,” Patacconi says.

“There is huge opportunity for increasing jobs and income through circularity, so transforming waste, whatever form that takes, into a business opportunity is important, as is the work we match with living income for livelihood and prosperity of farmers. There are scattered, good examples, but we need to bring them together so that everybody can have access to this knowledge.”

Patacconi notes there are three levels of outcomes expected from this year’s high-level discussions at the “Davos of Coffee”. First, is a high

level of engagement of both policy makers and industry around the event themes, including opportunities to discuss trends in the coffee sector, and changing regulatory framework. The second is to determine practical solutions in terms of technology that could be made available, and third, is about access to financial resources, knowledge, and markets.

“Through the ICO we really want to promote the creation of a centre for coffee circular economy, which we are now advancing with the help of our members. We are also joining the Lavazza Foundation and United Nations agencies such as UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) and ITC (International Trade Centre) for the creation of Coffee Circular Economy Hub to share knowledge and help implement win-win solutions from coffee farms to cup,” Patacconi says.

While it’s important that policy makers are engaged in this year’s WCC, Dr KG Jagadeesha, CEO of the Coffee Board of India, says it’s crucial to have participation from producers.

“It’s extremely important for everyone across the value chain to attend, including consuming countries. This event is exclusively dedicated to growers, and we invite growers from different coffee growing nations such as Vietnam, Brazil, Central and South America, and African countries to attend,” he says.

The international community is also invited to visit India’s exotic coffee growing estates from 23 to 24 September to appreciate the unique qualities of its thick, shade-grown canopy coffee.

“India is currently the sixth largest grower of coffee and fifth largest exporter in the world. We have half a million families dependent on cultivating coffee in India. Two million people are directly or indirectly involved in coffee value chain, and the coffee sector in India, especially domestic coffee market, is expanding. The percentage of youth who are passionate, dynamic drinkers is expanding. They are highly qualified, and their tech-savvy connection to social media and influence is driving the market.”

For a traditional tea-drinking nation, which is low-cost and easy to prepare, Jagadeesha says the renewed uptake of coffee consumption is impressive and a sign of development because living incomes and standards have improved, thereby allowing the younger generation to afford the luxury of quality coffee.

“The evolution of coffee in India is not just about access to coffee chains, it’s about offering an experience for the youth to gather and connect in urban areas, a place to unite and exchange ideas,” Jagadeesha says.

“Bangalore, in particular, is the Silicon Valley of India. It’s home to a lot of technology parks and I.T companies, as well as the highest number of technical colleges. It’s the place to be for coffee. It’s a cosmopolitan city with a significant proportion of foreign nationals, and a large number of coffee chains, including Blue Tokai, Koinonia Coffee Roasters, and Third Wave Coffee have all made their mark here.”

“This is a city worth exploring for coffee, and a country that invites the world to its doorstep and share its excitement for the future of possibilities.” GCR

For more information, visit www.wccindia2023.com

India’s coffee producing regions are known for their thick, shade-grown canopies.

Rise to the challenge

GLOBAL COFFEE REPORT BREAKS DOWN THE INAUGURAL RICHEST BARISTA COMPETITION, SET TO TAKE PLACE AT THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COFFEE EXPO.

he international sporting world is renowned for the high-speed chase of Formula One, the skill and reputation of Grand Slam tennis tournaments, and the religious following of World Cup soccer, but only one sporting event in September will push baristas to the edge of their ability.

The 10th edition of MICE will see the inaugural Richest Barista competition take place over the three days of the expo, from 17 to 19 August at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Baristas will compete for the chance to win a share of the $40,000 prize pool in the knock-out style event. The winner will receive AUD$25,000 (about US$16,323), runner-up will take home AUD$10,000 (about US$6529), and third place will win AUD$5000 (about US$3265).

“The Richest Barista competition is a great opportunity for baristas to join a world-class competition and prove their ability,” says MICE Show Director Lauren Winterbottom. “We want to offer an exciting competition format, while giving baristas a chance to walk away with a significant amount of money that will make a difference in their lives.”

To advance through the competition, competitors must win in their head-to-head round. Each competitor will be paired with another, and they will both compete with the same flight of judges. After

each pair, a winner will be decided based on the total score. The winner will advance to the next round, and the loser will be eliminated.

“Competitors must impress the panels of experienced judges in a knockout competition by showcasing world-class skill, talent, and showmanship in three coffee disciplines. Judges will be looking for accuracy and flawless execution, as well as completion of the rounds within the time limits. In the final round, competitors will be assessed on accuracy and speed,” Winterbottom says.

The

competition is sponsored by water filtration company BRITA, espresso machine manufacturer

The AUD$40,000 prize pool is the richest cash prize on offer for a barista competition anywhere in the world.

Dalla Corte, alternative dairy company The Alternative Dairy Co., complete beverage brand Naked Syrups, and dairy company Riverina Fresh. With more than 20 contestants taking part, let’s break down each round of the intense headto-head competition.

ROUND ONE

Round one will comprise of a Barista competition. Baristas will compete two at a time and must pour a total of eight beverages in 12-minute periods, including two espressos, two milk drinks, two alternative milk drinks, and two signature drinks. Competitors will need to incorporate Naked Syrups’ beverage flavourings into their signature drinks. A winner will be immediately declared from each round.

Competitors will receive five minutes to set up and prepare their station before their competition time starts and will receive five minutes to clean their station following the performance time. There will be two flights of judges in round one. Each flight will consist of a Head Judge, two Sensory Judges and one Technical Judge.

ROUND TWO

Half of these baristas will progress onto round two, which will comprise of a Latte Art smackdown competition. Each competitor must pour a total of three beverages in 12 minutes, including a macchiato, traditional latte, and free pour latte. The pattern for the traditional latte will be chosen via a spinning wheel and will be either a heart, tulip, rosetta, or swan. For the macchiato and free pour latte, the competitor can choose a design they would like to produce. The free pour latte can include colour and etching. No images are required, and cups must match each other.

Competitors will receive five minutes to set up and prepare their station before their competition time starts and will receive five minutes to clean their station following the performance time. There will be one flight of judges in round two, consisting of a Head Judge and two Visual Judges.

ROUND THREE

The third and final round will comprise of a threeround Cup Tasting competition. Baristas will have

to accurately and quickly identify which coffee out of the three triangulation groups, is the odd one out. Competitors will compete in two panels of four. The winners from each panel of four will compete in a final head-to-head round, where they will again be presented with three sets of three coffees and must choose the odd one out.

In round three, there is no set time limit. Winners will be assessed based on who can correctly guess the most coffees in the shortest amount of time. There will be one Head Judge in the third round.

The final winner will be determined by the Cup Tasting round, where the winner will correctly guess the most coffees in the shortest time period.

“This competition is designed to reflect the current requirements and skillset baristas demand in today’s competitive café market where standards are high, as is the expectation from customers,” says Winterbottom.

“We think it’s a fun and creative competition that will grow a global reputation in the years to come.” GCR

The competition will take place from 17 to 19 August at MICE.

Judges will be evaluating accuracy and flawless execution.

Cama Group packaging solutions

Cama Group’s state-of-the art packaging solutions are developed to meet each customer’s precise needs. Its comprehensive portfolio comprises many packagingmachine formats, so there is no need to compromise. Customers can choose a concept, style, speed, throughput and size that matches their application. Electronic axis control and fully integrated in-house developed robots are deployed in modular machine blocks that adapt to customer’s every need and can grow as they grow. Premium technology, cabinet-free frameworks and hygienic design principals are coupled to an easy-to-follow visual machine management system, backed by extensive immersive technology and remote access capabilities. Capsules, pods, cans, sticks, and bags all present unique challenges and demand different capabilities. With multiple successes in many formats – and not just in coffee – Cama Group can help design eye-catching packaging concepts, and then deliver the means to fill them, accurately, repeatedly and at speed.

For more information, visit www.camagroup.com

Experience the Engima E’4s/Classic, a powerhouse espresso machine engineered to perform and built to last. With its two-group design and compact 56-centimeter width, it effortlessly produces four espresso shots simultaneously, making it a workhorse for high-demand environments. This machine can craft up to 350 espressos per hour, ensuring efficient service without compromising quality. Equipped with two steam wands, the Engima E’4s/Classic offers versatility and precision. From velvety cappuccinos to rich lattes and smooth flat whites, unleash your creativity and cater to diverse tastes with ease. Whether you operate a bustling café or a quality-focused establishment, this machine is the perfect balance of efficiency and craftsmanship. Designed for dynamic service environments, the Engima E’4s/Classic delivers speed, reliability, and consistent results. Elevate your coffee experience and satisfy your customers’ cravings for exceptional espresso. Choose the Engima E’4s/Classic: a machine that works as hard as you do without compromising on the quality that sets you apart.

For more information, visit www.eversys.com

Flavourtech Rotating Disc Column

Australian manufacturer Flavourtech has developed a coffee extraction process where the desirable coffee roast and ground flavours are naturally captured upfront and safely stored before the high temperature extraction step occurs. The latter is through a Rotating Disc Column, a specially designed continuous flow contacting device that allows precise, predictable control over the extraction process. The coffee is in the column for only 20 minutes (compared to many hours through other processes), which equates to a higher quality of extracted coffee solids. The captured intact and desirable flavours can then be placed back into the coffee extract for spray or freezedrying, producing an instant powder full of flavour.

For more information, visit www.flavourtech.com

LaCimbali’s M200 is an iconic, innovative machine far ahead of its time. Intelligently designed with cutting-edge technology that combines passion for high-quality coffee with the rationale of functional and smart ergonomics, the M200 is for baristas of the future in the moment of today. GT1 technology allows the user to control the temperature of each boiler, guaranteeing stability and flexibility for a diverse range of recipes, while GT2 allows up to two temperature profiles to be set for each coffee group. It is versatile and accessible to everyone’s needs, from small coffee shops to advanced coffee professionals, and coffee bars with eclectic specialties. Durable materials allow baristas to craft with ease, the perfect coffee cup in any scenario. To maximise sustainability, more than 93 per cent of the materials used to create the M200 are recyclable, making this machine a highly sustainable choice, invented to reduce environmental impact and eliminate waste.

For more information, visit www.cimbali.com

Neuhaus Neotec is extending the range of roaster sizes within the NEOROAST series and has developed the new 60-kilogram batch size to integrate new energy supply technologies into the roaster design. The standard energy supply is all types of gas, from natural gas to LPG, which are widely used and available worldwide. However, focusing on the environmental footprint of roasting, Neuhaus Neotec strongly focuses its research on new energy sources, which are free of carbon compounds.

“The use of green energy like electricity or hydrogen at the NEOROAST series for specialty coffee roasting is just the first step. In cooperation with an industrial partner we are already working on the next step of using green energy in the industrial scale,” says Neuhaus Neotec Marketing Director Lars Henkel. Neuhaus Neotec is one of the leading suppliers of roasting technology and from this role, also sees itself in a moral obligation to positively shape the future of roasting for the next generation.

For more information, visit www.neuhaus-neotec.com

The Stella Epic is Unic’s flagship multi-boiler machine, offering baristas a unique way to profile the perfect espresso shot through an intuitive “Expert Mode”. It gives a complete control over the full extraction process, including the pre-infusion pressure ramp, infusion and post-infusion cycles. Featuring Unic’s Thermalink technology, the Stella Epic offers exceptional workflow performance for high volume cafés by using an intelligent power management system, resulting in one of the most thermally stable brew groups. Easylock hydraulically sealed portafilter technology facilitates locking the portafilter to the group, minimising barista wrist fatigue, and extending the life of group gaskets. The horizontally positioned Steamglide allows milk steaming at micrometric adjustments levels, and the Cool Touch is easy to handle and clean after each use. With flat customisable side panels, master hand-welded construction, and an assertive design, the Stella Epic is a eye-catching espresso machine, available in two or three groups.

For more information, visit www.unic-espresso.com

Global coffee:

Coffee Fest Anaheim

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA

6 — 8 August

With a mission to help attendees build and refine their specialty coffee businesses, Coffee Fest couples a relevant educational program with a friendly, informative, and enjoyable trade show floor, creating a show that serves as a touchstone for many in the specialty coffee industry. Coffee Fest produces four in-person trade shows annually, strategically positioned in the United States bringing the specialty beverage community together.

www.coffeefest.com/ anaheim

Melbourne International Coffee Expo 2023

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

17 – 19 August

MICE is known throughout the Southern Hemisphere as the largest dedicated coffee event. A record crowd of 15,056 attendees visited MICE2022 with 15 per cent of attendees international visitors from 71 countries. Established in 2012, MICE has become a mustattend event to connect buyers and sellers, featuring café owners, roasters, equipment manufacturers, service suppliers, and more.

internationalcoffeeexpo.com

NOLA Coffee Festival

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

15 — 16 September

The NOLA Coffee Festival is an annual industry trade show and consumer festival created to celebrate the joy of coffee products and to celebrate the many people who serve this industry from farmer to distributor, roaster to shop owner, and barista. Exhibitors from across the globe will gather in New Orleans to share their latest in new coffee products, equipment, and brewing techniques. This year’s event will also present a coffee education program. nolacoffeefestival.com

World Coffee Conference

BANGALORE, INDIA

25 – 28

September

For the first time, the World Coffee Conference (WCC) & Expo arrives in Bangalore. The fifth edition of this global congregation will bring together leaders and decision-makers from more than 100 countries to discuss, debate, and collaborate towards building a sustainable coffee industry. The theme of this year’s event is “Sustainability through circular economy and regenerative agriculture”. The event will include a conference and B2B exhibition, skillbuilding workshops, a global CEO conclave, and networking events. www.wccindia2023.com

events around the globe

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World Coffee Championships

TAIPEI, TAIWAN

17 — 20 November

The 2023 World Latte Art Championship, World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship and World Coffee Roasting Championship (WCRC) are heading to the Taiwan International Coffee Show. This will be the second time the WCRC has taken place during the Taiwan International Coffee Show, and Specialty Coffee Association is excited to bring even more competitions to the community gathering at the show, held at Nangang Exhibition Center, Taipei.

www.chanchao.com.tw/

Specialty Coffee Association of Japan

TOKYO, JAPAN

27 — 29 September

SCAJ was founded in 2003 with the goal of raising awareness of and popularising specialty coffee in Japan. This year’s exhibition theme, “Celebrating 20 years of SCAJ with you”, will feature seminars and exhibits including producing countries, competitions, and other opportunities for direct interactions, as well as the latest information on the specialty coffee industry. More than 250 exhibitors, 380 booths, and 45,000 visitors are expected to attend this year’s expo.

Coffee

Shop

Innovation Expo

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM

10 – 11 October

The Coffee Shop Innovation Expo will become Europe’s central hub for café business owners looking to capitalise on the growing market. Gain insights into the industry and speak with other like-minded entrepreneurs. The Coffee Shop Innovation Expo will provide the latest updates within the sector, including hundreds of suppliers with tools to enhance businesses. Filled with educational and exciting features, discover new trends guaranteed to give business, and its target audience, the coffee hit it needs.

www.coffeeshopexpo.co.uk

HostMilano

MILAN, ITALY

13 – 17 October

Now in its 43rd edition, HostMilano is the world’s leading platform for professional hospitality and out-of-home technologies, products, formats and services. It is held biennially at the FieraMilano district in Rho. The expo offers everything needed to build a successful business, from raw materials to semi-finished products, machinery to equipment, with one eye firmly focused on trends, technologies and innovation. Selected roasters, importers, producers and industry players come to HostMilano to do business. More than 1200 companies from 44 countries have already registered for this year’s event.

host.fieramilano.it

Watch this space

SWISS BRANDS HUBLOT AND NESPRESSO HAVE COLLABORATED TO PRODUCE AN INNOVATIVE AND SUSTAINABLE TIMEPIECE, REDEFINING THE WAY COFFEE GROUNDS AND ALUMINIUM CAN BE REUSED.

rough its Second Life initiative and the recycling of used aluminium capsules, coffee giant Nespresso has worked in conjunction with other Swiss brands to create a range of practical and useful household objects.

Together with designer watch brand Hublot, The Big Bang Unico Nespresso Origin is the latest product to be given a new lease on life. The limited-edition watch, with only 200 pieces manufactured, is the first watch made of recycled Nespresso coffee grounds and capsules. Each watch is valued at US$24,100.

“This exceptional watch is the result of a partnership between two Swiss companies who both have the same values of innovation, quality, sustainability and the Swiss spirit as their mainspring and within their DNA,” said Nespresso CEO Guillaume Le Cunff in a press statement.

Hublot and Nespresso have transformed used coffee grounds from its capsules into watch straps. Hublot also collaborated with SingTex, one of Nespresso’s partners who was already using recycled coffee grounds, to produce a fabric called Scafé. This 100 per cent recycled fabric is composed of 5 per cent coffee grounds and 95 per cent recycled polyester, which is also used in the watch strap. The subtle balance ensures the durability of the bracelet, which also sees the rubber strap fusing 4.1 per cent coffee grounds, 8.2 per cent recycled white rubber, and the usual Hublot formula.

“This is a watch that delivers three world firsts, a symbol of the infinite possibilities for upcycling, a Big Bang made from the recycled aluminium of Nespresso coffee capsules, and the first watch with a Velcro strap made with Scafé,” said Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe in a press statement.

The watch case has also been considered as part of this Second Life initiative. The Big Bang Unico Nespresso Origin’s 42-millimetre case is crafted in recycled aluminium, of which 28 per cent comes from Nespresso coffee capsules, anodised in vibrant green, then satin finished, and polished. The crown and pusher underwent the same treatment. The bottom of the case and the container are made from recycled titanium. The titanium deployant, rubber strap buckle – with its decorative recycled aluminium cap – and sport buckle on the Velcro strap, are also in the same anodised green.

According to Hublot, this is an “unprecedented collaboration”, signalled by Nespresso’s iconic ‘N’ engraved on the crown, and use of its iconic green colour – a nod to Nespresso’s Master Origins Peru Organic capsule.

It took Hublot a year of research and development, working closely with Nespresso, to achieve the harmony of colours between seven different materials that make up the watch and uniformity of colour to stand the test of time.

“As a B Corp certified business, this collaboration also aligns with Nespresso’s commitment to continue its transition to a circular business model by giving a second life to coffee grounds and the aluminium of our capsules,” Le Cunff said in a press statement.

By creating the Big Bang Unico Nespresso Origin, Hublot and Nespresso have validated that it is possible to add value to recycled raw materials and that circularity has no limits.

“The Big Bang Unico Nespresso Origin is the perfect illustration of the harmonious coexistence between circularity and luxury. It demonstrates that circular products can be just as elegant and refined as conventional luxury products, proving that it is possible to combine environmental values and aesthetic requirements without compromise,” said Le Cunff. GCR

Nespresso and Hublot have created the first watch made of recycled coffee grounds and capsules.