Scaa Issue 6 PDF

a publication of the specialty coffee association of america 2010 issue no. 6

Why Standards Matter

The Role of the Barista

2011 SCAA SustainabilityAward Finalists

StraightShots:

THE ISSUESISSUE

Expo & SymposiumApril 28 – May 1, 2011www.scaaevent.org

Register Now forTHE EVENT

14 The Specialty Cofee Industry Shows Initiative WorldwideBruce Mullins

The Global Coffee Quality Research Initiative (GCQRI) has officially been launched—but what is it? And what will do it for the future of coffee? Bruce Mullins looks at how the GCQRI hopes to provide a better understanding of the science behind coffee quality and quantity.

16 Cofee and SustainabilityTracy Ging

The coffee industry focuses a lot about sustainability—what it means, where it comes from and what the goals are. Now it’s time to ask the hard questions: what have we truly accomplished?

18 Our Top Four: The 2011 SCAA Sustainability Award Finalists

SCAA’s Sustainability Council

Every year, the Sustainability Council present the Sustainability Award to promote, encourage and honor the efforts of those doing great work in the fields of sustainability. Discover the four organizations that made this year’s finalist list and be inspired by their good works.

20 High Prices Jolt Cofee Market Marvin G. Perez

You’ve probably know that coffee prices have been on the rise for a while, and that they’re predicted

to continue their upward trend. With that in mind, Marvin G. Perez helps us make dollars and sense of the coffee commodities market.

22 Cafe Breve: We Ask, You AnswerWhat’s your passion?

Where do you get your morning cup?

4 Welcome to The Issues IssuePeter Giuliano

Peter Giuliano has a few things he wants to tell you about the coffee industry and they’re not all nice. But they’re true and important, and they could shape the future of coffee for the better. Now is the time to listen and learn.

6 Why Standards Matter: The GFA Example

Mark Inman

When non-coffee organizations want to promote and celebrate specialty coffee, that’s a good thing. When their submission guidelines don’t quite match their goal, it can create confusion for everyone, as it did during the recent Good Food Awards.

8 In Search of the Holy Grail: Mapping the Espresso LandscapeShanna Germain with Kyle Glanville, Tim O’Connorand Carlo Odello

Espresso is many things to many people, and everything to some people. Here, we pick the brains of three espresso gurus and see what they think about the drink’s past, present and future.

12 Important or Self-Important? The Role and Inluence of a Barista

Tracy Ging with significant contributionby James Hoffman

In recent years, the industry—as well as many coffee drinkers—have come to realize the importance of the barista’s role in creating fine coffee. Now that the pressure’s on, can they continue to succeed without giving in to self-importance?

On the Cover: An illustration by Damon Brown, The InkLab.

2010 issue no. 6

Copyright© 2010 Specialty Coffee Chronicle. All Rights Reserved.

a publication

of the

specialty coffee

association of

america

FE

AT

UR

ES

Contributors:

Tracy Ging

Peter Giuliano

Bruce Mullins

Mark Inman

Marvin G. Perez

2010/2011

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President, Peter Giuliano1st Vice President, Tim O’Connor2nd Vice President, Max Quirin

Secretary/Treasurer, Shawn Hamilton

Directors:Marty Curtis, Nathalie Gabbay, Al Liu,

Ellen Rogers, Dr. Timothy Schilling, Paul Thornton, Andi Trindle, Willem Boot

Immediate Past President, Mike Ebert

SCAA

330 Golden Shore, Suite 50Long Beach, CA 90802

TEL: (562) 624-4100FAX: (562) 624-4101

www.scaa.org

The Specialty Coffee Chronicle is published six times a year by the Specialty Coffee

Association of America as a forum for discussion and information on industry-related topics

and issues. The Chronicle welcomes and will consider for publication articles, columns

or firsthand accounts of life in the specialty coffee industry from SCAA members. Opinions

expressed in articles and letters do not necessarily represent the position of the SCAA,

its members or directors.

The Chronicle is printed on 100% recycled paper

containing 30% post-consumer waste.

Executive DirectorRic [email protected]

Executive EditorTracy Ging

[email protected]

Managing EditorShanna Germain

[email protected]

Art DirectorTiffany Howard

[email protected]

18in the next issue

14

the Global market

2 The Specialty Coffee Chronicle

After 70 years of innovations,

we’re proud to say one thing

has remained the same.

Your Loyalty.

Log on and see what’s ahead in brewing

systems for the next 70 years.

www.wilburcurtis.com

G3 Digital Bulk Iced Tea Brewerwith Narrow Form Tea Servers

G3 Digital GEMINI with IntelliFresh Holding Technology

G3 Digital ThermoProwith Advanced Thermal Servers

WILBUR CURTIS COMPANY • MONTEBELLO, CA USA • 800�421�6150

16650 70yr loyalty v2 SCAA.indd 1 12/20/10 10:39 AM

The coffee plant is barely domesticated. Its cultivated form is almost identical to the wild coffee plants that still grow in the forests of Western Ethiopia. As such, it thrives in environments that mimic the primeval forest; and these forest-like farms—we call them shade-grown coffee plantations—are among the most environmentally positive forms of agriculture in the world.

Coffee can be an incredibly valuable form of commerce in developing countries. Its trade can be an opportunity for transparency and fair dealing between counterparts in the global north and south. As an orchard crop well suited for organic agriculture, coffee can thrive with no chemical inputs and a maximum opportunity for real sustainability. Coffee can be a food that is clean and fair, and can offer incredible benefits in flavor and healthfulness.

Coffee can be all of these things, but isn’t always. The specialty coffee industry emerged as a reaction to a commercial coffee industry that had allowed coffee to become flavorless, cheap and commoditized. The revolution was obvious: let’s make coffee delicious. It wasn’t long before the idea that coffee can be delicious fueled a series of aspirations: coffee can be sustainable! Coffee can be fair! Yes, coffee can! This sense of optimism was fueled by real examples of coffee as high-quality, sustainable food production in action: the shaded, organic coffee farm as an ecological buffer; the quality-focused co-op as a prosperous community builder; the artisan microroaster as one of the keys to transforming the food scene in a small city.

Welcome to the

ISSUES ISSUEPeter Giuliano

There is so much that is right about Specialty Coffee. It’s kind of a magical thing, when you think about it. It’s a food, sure, but it offers no

direct nutritional value. Instead, it feeds our souls. Its flavor is so compelling, the aroma and acidity and caffeine so invigorating, it compels millions of drinkers every day and has spawned a thriving industry of passionate, dedicated professionals.


The truth is, although we have a great opportunity for

quality and prosperityand sustainability

in specialty cofee, we will only achieve it bybeing truly honest about what we are actually

achieving in cofee, and whatwork is still to be done.

This is the wonderful opportunity of specialty coffee. But it’s also a great temptation. Because these possibilities about coffee exist, it’s tempting to represent coffee as having achieved it all already. It’s tempting to use the best-case scenario as the most representative, and to view the specialty coffee industry through slightly rose-colored glasses. We see examples of this all the time: we talk about “sustainability” even though we may not completely understand it; we use words like “fair” or “transparent” without being completely willing to demonstrate them; we may unwittingly exaggerate the beautiful story of a coffee we find exceptionally delicious or exciting.

The truth is, although we have a great opportunity for quality and sustainability in specialty coffee, we will only achieve it by being truly honest about what we are actually achieving in coffee, and what work is still to be done. At the close of the first decade of the twenty-first century, it’s time to take a hard look at the aspirations we have about specialty coffee, and compare them to what we’ve actually delivered.

I talk to lots and lots of people in Specialty Coffee every week, and

it’s funny: this very thought is on the mind of many of our colleagues at this very moment. It seems that everyone is taking stock, making a real assessment of what we’ve managed to achieve over the past decade, and being willing to address our shortcomings even as we face the challenges that the new decade will bring. This fearlessness is something that inspires me about specialty coffee, and it reminds me of the courage it took to establish the specialty coffee industry itself a generation ago.

It is this sense of honest, courageous self-assessment that will drive this year’s Symposium, and will certainly predict the trajectory of the coming decade. Historically, it is this sort of stocktaking that immediately precedes times of great innovation, excitement and prosperity. As a colleague of mine says, “You need to break down to break through.” This issue of the Chronicle sets the stage for some of these discussions, which will weave their way through the Symposium and through the next decade. I’m excited to take part in this honest, exciting dialogue and welcome you to do the same.

Peter Giuliano is director of coffee and co-owner of

Counter Culture Coffee, a specialty coffee roast-

ing company based in Durham, NC. He has

worked with ﾙne coffees since 1988. He is the president of the Specialty

Coffee Association of America.

The Specialty Coffee Chronicle 5

In the coffee division, the standards for entry seemed, at first glance, to be rather straightforward. The group’s website, www.goodfoodawards.org, defined it thus: To qualify for entry, roasters must emphasize fairness and transparency from seed to cup, and certify that their coffee beans are grown without the use of pesticides or herbicides.

On first read, it seems like a thoughtful, articulate explanation of what they desire. Upon a second read, however, one who is moderately versed in sustainable agriculture and food production could easily spot a glaring problem with their standards. Aside from the squishy standard of emphasizing “fairness,” the larger issue is found in the statement that roasters must, “certify the their coffee beans are grown without the use of pesticides or herbicides.”

The discrepancy arises because the USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP), Rainforest Alliance, and SMBC Shade Certification all allow coffee to be grown with numerous naturally derived pesticides and herbicides, as listed by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI.org). If an entrant were to take the GFA’s requirement at face value, they would know that their certified coffees would not qualify for submission, as most certified farms employ OMRI-approved inputs.

As it would also be near impossible to verify that conventional coffees were grown without the use of pesticides, that would leave only truly wild-crafted coffee as a coffee that would meet this particular standard. What was missing from the language of the award standard were the terms synthetic- or petroleum-based pesticides and herbicides, which would have been verifiable, allowing for a larger swath of coffees to participate.

STANDARDS WHY

The GFA ExampleMark Inman

MATTER

In the fall of 2010, a San Francisco-based group called The Seedling Projects organized a group of known food producers, writers, grocers, farmers and chefs to create “The Good Food Awards” (GFA), recognizing producers and food communities around the U.S. that create excellent beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, pickles, preserves and coffee. The group’s goal: to celebrate and reward foods that are delicious, authentic and responsibly produced.


Judging photos by Jenny Hiser

During the event, coffee roasters around the country were contacted and encouraged to enter. Many of the roasters who supply to Whole Foods were encouraged to enter by Whole Foods itself. Multiple roasters who inquired deeper about the strange language of the standards have reported that the sustainability aspects of GFA were downplayed during that recruiting. The phrase, ”Just send your best coffee” was quoted multiple times.

To the shock and dismay of numerous coffee people, the list of the 22 finalists in the GFA’s contained eight conventional coffees from Kenya, which has a history of promoting and supporting technified conventional agriculture, with the vast majority of Kenyan coffee farmers using significant chemical inputs annually. In addition, two finalists used coffee from the infamous Hacienda La Esmeralda, who in 2007 discussed their conventional agricultural practices and use of pesticides and herbicides on a panel at the SCAA conference in Long Beach, California.

Critics of the results of the GFA voiced their concerns on Facebook, Twitter as well as on Sprudge.com. Sprudge released two stories outlining the turmoil within the GFA ranks over this ever-growing controversy.

A response from the GFA only added fuel to the firestorm that was increasingly surrounding them. Despite their clear submission standards, officials from the GFA stated that the original entrants were only evaluated for their “Tastiness,” and that only the finalists would be vetted for their ability to adhere to their published standards.

The SCAA has been instrumental in the creation of numerous standards over its rich history. It created meaningful dialogue during the Sustainability Forums of the late 90’s to early 2000s, which increased the awareness and integrity of the Shade-Grown, Fair-Trade and Organic coffee movements. The SCAA’s involvement in creating standards in water quality, brewing and espresso standards has assisted our membership in further improving the quality of coffee served. As numerous SCAA members participated in the jury of the GFA’s, we squandered an opportunity to assist the GFA’s in creating a competition that was real and significant and free from the public relations mess they are dealing with today.

As the GFAs narrow down their finalists to the top three (which are to be announced January 14th), it will be interesting to see how they correct their stumble and save what appears to be a grand, but flawed, effort. If the Seedling Projects decide to make the GFAs an annual event, it seems they should consider working in tandem with the SCAA to create a set of criteria that are well thought-out, verifiable and meaningful. Either way, the GFAs have been rich fodder for the blogging community and a learning lesson to those who have the desire to create similar events.

Mark Inman started Taylor Maid Farms in 1993 based on a

passion for remarkable coffee and the belief that business

can be environmentally and socially progressive while

remaining profitable. For more than sixteen years, Mark

has been a leading voice in the specialty coffee industry for

issues concerning sustainable agriculture, environmental

stewardship, green entrepreneurship and social justice. In 2008, Mark served

as President of the Specialty Coffee Association of America, where he has

also chaired or served on numerous committees and international task forces.

The Good Food Awards goal: to celebrate and reward foods

that are delicious, authentic and responsibility produced.


OF THE HOLY GRAIL

To uncover some of what makes espresso such a complicated creation, we invited some of those in the know to give us their two shots worth on the magic and miracle that is espresso, and to guide us through the murky place in search of that most holiest of grails: the perfect shot.

Before we begin our journey, please welcome your guides, three espresso enthusiasts who speak the language fluently and who can expound upon the history, present and future of the espresso landscape. Don’t expect them to agree on everything, of course—after all, this is dangerous territory!

Kyle Glanville, director of espresso R&D for Intelligentsia Coffee.

Tim O’Connor, president of Pacific Espresso.

Carlo Odello, member of the Board and Trainer of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters and communications manager of the Italian Espresso National Institute.

Espresso. It’s a drink, a lifestyle, a ritual, an addiction. It’s an end-goal and a dream concoction. It’s an art and a

science, a measurable entity and a mystical experience. It’s also full of controversy, misunderstandings, missteps and flawed logic. Tim O’Connor

Kyle Glanville

Carlo Odello

Ph

oto

by

Ph

illip

Yip

ww

w.c

lub

an

tie

tam

.co

m

Mapping the Espresso

LandscapeShanna Germain

IN SEARCH


Welcome! First, let’s talk a little about espresso’s backstory. It’s a drink with a long and varied history. What can you tell us about its history in terms of specialty coffee? Has espresso always been considered part of specialty coffee, or was it a later addition to that “label”?

Kyle: Espresso predates the notion of specialty coffee by about seventy years, but their ideological paths converged in the 80s. This is when self-identified specialty coffee roasters began to adopt espresso as a legitimate preparation method. So, no it hasn’t always been considered a part of specialty coffee. In fact, for most of espresso’s history, it has functioned more as a colloquial language of coffee preparation, not unlike Turkish style coffee in the Middle East or Brazil’s Caffe Zinho. Frankly, espresso’s meteoric rise in Italy can be tied to rising coffee prices and poor economic conditions there. Espresso turned otherwise undrinkable coffee into a strong, sweet liqueur. A strong argument can be made that the rise of the prominence of specialty coffee and the prominence of espresso can both be attributed to Howard Schultz’s efforts to globalize the phenomenon. Although plenty of other entrepreneurs were running successful espresso bars in the US, he gave the movement legs when he bought and expanded Starbucks towards the end of the ’80’s. Tim: I would have to say that espresso has always been a part of specialty coffee, since the roots of espresso were to produce a coffee beverage fresh for each customer. While the technical definition of specialty coffee may be limited to the bean, I do not think you can rely on that definition in the market place since the finest “specialty” coffee beans can be compromised in the roasting, storage or brewing practices before they are consumed. Specialty coffee in the market place must continue the complex chain of development from the blossom to beverage with attention to detail and desired result without interruption or lapse of attention. The concept of an espresso brewed for the customer has not changed, but the quality and complexity of the beverage has evolved. It continues to evolve and is a different beverage in different regions and this is one type of “espresso style.” Espresso in southern Italy is traditionally roasted darker and brewed shorter, while espresso in Scandinavia is brewed very long and can be much lighter roasted. While espresso was present for a long time in America, it began to flourish in the ’70s and ’80s. In these early days, American roasters were experimenting and learning the qualities of the beverage. Often the results were poor, producing a thin, bitter beverage that was masked with milk. In the 1980s, I would give the credit to Illy for lifting the quality of American espresso, by educating the public to the possibility of great espresso. Now that we have a vision of what is possible we can continue to explore the possibilities.

Carlo: If you think about the geography of espresso, you can easily find two areas. In traditional consuming countries like Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, you cannot say espresso is specialty. Espresso is a synonym of coffee, made of a blend and served in a very traditional way. You will not hear anybody asking for an “espresso” in an Italian coffee shop, everybody just says “caffè.” Regarding the history of espresso as a specialty coffee, I would say it is quite recent, I think you could date it back to the ’90s. Espresso was reinvented and became the favorite way to extract great high-quality single origins. So we could say espresso was born in Italy at the end of the Second World War, when the first real espresso machine was born, and evolved into a new shape.

What do you think makes espresso specialty? Is all espresso specialty? Is it the beans, the roast, the preparation, all of the above? What distinguishes specialty espresso from “regular” espresso?

Kyle: Specialty coffee can vaguely be described as clean and relatively defect-free coffee. If we are to apply this definition to espresso, I guess you could define a specialty espresso as being constructed of clean green coffees, roasted without error (baking, carbonizing or underdeveloping) and prepared without channeling or over/under-extraction. Of course there are other factors but those are the most essential. Sadly, even by that very loose protocol, I fear the vast majority of what is served as espresso in the world would not fit the criteria. Those are three major steps (harvest/processing, roasting and preparation) that must be executed by very skilled craftspeople intimately familiar with the variables they must control. If even one of these important pieces of the puzzle is not operating top notch, the whole chain unravels. That said, the real creation of specialty coffee lies in the husbandry and harvesting of the coffee. Every step that follows should function as an effort to preserve the innate quality of the raw ingredients.

Tim: Specialty espresso must encompass the entire chain of coffee production. Not all coffee beans are suitable for the harsh and demanding extraction of an espresso. Not all espresso is specialty. My definition of specialty is that it is the highest quality. To obtain that level of quality, specialty espresso must encompass a number of characteristics. Not all specialty coffee beans can meet those demands. Some specialty coffee will be excellent in a number of brewing methods, but may fail when brewed as espresso. Regardless of the many flavors specialty espresso may have, it must also achieve these basic characteristics: body, complexity, finish, longevity, and balance. Body or mouth feel may be soft or big, velvety or creamy, but it must be more than just there or thin. Complexity means the initial flavors continue to evolve and change as the liquid crosses your palate. It is all the nuance and regional characteristics that are perceptible to the individual. Finish is the aftertaste and it must be pleasant, mid-palate and something that you enjoy lingering in your mouth. Longevity is one of the more difficult as many espressos can meet the above criteria for a few moments after brewing, but then quickly become sour and undesirable. Balance, I feel, is often forgotten lately. In the end, the espresso or espresso beverage must be satisfying to consume. While a particular espresso or style of brewing that espresso may push certain characteristics to the forefront of your experience, poor balance results in a intellectual exercise of perhaps a citrus or flower note, but not a satisfying beverage.

Carlo: I am Italian and so, of course, a specialist about the traditional espresso, but I have been lucky enough to travel around the world to hold Italian Espresso Tasting classes on behalf of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters. So I had the possibility to get in touch to different cultures of espresso, which in the end are not so different. Specialty or traditional, the quality of an espresso depends first of all on the quality of the green coffee. You cannot get a great espresso out of a poor raw material. Of course the roasting is a critical point, as well as the preparation. At both these steps you can make mistakes and damage your coffee or get the best out of it. The International Institute of Coffee Tasters has been studying for years the roasting process from a sensory point of view (and also from the chemical point of view, as you can see in our book, Espresso Italiano Roasting). And in the end you have to design the blend; that is fundamental. As Italians we cannot conceive espresso without blending, that is why we do not actually have a market for single origins. Blending means, first of all, creating a composition, building up an orchestra and reaching richness and complexity in the aromatic profile. Last but not least, the barista. I think 50 percent of the success of an espresso depends on the barista.


What are the different styles of espresso? Is there even any agreement in the industry as to an answer to this question?

Kyle: Different styles and approaches to espresso blending and preparation are proliferating rapidly. Often times colloquial generalizations are suitable, such as a Northern Italian (lighter roast, all Arabica) style or even Scandinavian (light roast, higher acidity profile) style. As you peel away the layers, the complexities of different approaches become much more apparent. Among the most progressive roasters, a seasonal approach featuring freshly harvested coffees with more intense acidity is emerging. I suspect this would be downright offensive to a daily espresso drinker in Rome, though. Old-school roasters in the U.S. tend to prefer a very dark, chocolaty espresso as well, but rarely incorporate the Robusta so often found in European espresso blends. Tim: I do not think styles have been adequately defined yet. There has always been long and short, light and dark. The industry is trying to push the possibilities. Some do it well and some not as well. We see a number of experiments online, in trade publications and between different coffee shops and baristas or barmen. Style is where the industry is struggling in my opinion. Mostly because many shops and baristas focus on narrow characteristics and have not explored the concept of balance adequately.

Carlo: From 1996 to 1998, the Italian Espresso National Institute has been studying this point. Through extensive research on consumers and on coffee technicians, the Italian Espresso National Institute was able to get a scientific profile of what can be conceived as an high quality espresso. Through thousands of tastings and a statistical processing of the data, the Institute got the profile. You will see that we always have a lower and an higher limit, that is due to the regional differences in Italy. You have different espresso styles according to the regions. This profile is based on sensory analysis, is quite strong and it is tested on a regular basis. Nowadays, 43 companies are members of the Institute which certifies coffee machines, coffee blends and, of course, baristas.

What are the current espresso trends out there? How is espresso evolving and where do you see it going in the future?

Kyle: As I mentioned earlier, seasonality is beginning to hold greater value than consistency for many. I think we’re beginning to see a lot of folks branch out from the same old espresso styles, which basically varied from milk chocolate to dark chocolate. Now, you can experience explosive fruit flavors, berry, vanilla, molasses, etc, etc. Many roasters offer seasonal blends and are 100-percent transparent about what they contain. The notion of the “secret recipe” is starting to fade away and talented green coffee buyers are focusing their efforts on coffees they feel are suitable for espresso from East Africa and Central America. Its like a little renaissance of sorts; espresso blending was really focused on making things taste the same for, like, a hundred years. Tim: Current espresso trends focus on the choice of coffees, roast development, brewing parameters, espresso machine features and specifications, and presentation. Coffee choice is and always will be a big element in espresso. Much of the attention recently is to small lots of single origin and single farm espresso. This is a trend that I think has potential, but also great risk in that espresso can be very difficult and often needs complementary coffees from other regions to meet all the expectations of an educated consumer. Roast development seems to be trending lighter or lower roast temperatures. However, my feeling is often the roaster has underdeveloped the potential of the coffee. While this might highlight some characteristics, again it can adversely affect balance, body and complexity. Brewing parameters are a huge debate and it is really a matter of what parameters best develop all the criteria of Specialty espresso. My method is to always start with a standard when learning a new blend or offering.

Traditionally that would be 14 to 16 grams of espresso, a double coffee filter and an extraction appropriate to the roast color, and nine bars of pressure. Shorter extractions for light roasted coffee and longer for dark roasted coffee. Brewing temperature must be between 198 and 202F. Once you know what the coffee displays under your standard, you can change one parameter at a time to learn the possibilities of the coffee. Then you must make the decisions to achieve the body, complexity, finish, longevity and balance that makes a Specialty espresso satisfying, and memorable.

Carlo: Espresso has positioned itself as a trendy beverage. I would say espresso-based beverages are now very popular outside of Italy, while in Italy we still have a strong espresso consumption (90 percent is espresso, 10 percent cappuccino or latte). You actually have different national traditions. That means we are going towards wider offerings, so that everybody will find what he or she is looking for. Consumers themselves are becoming more and more careful about coffee, but need more information. It is up to the coffee industry to provide people with more information and to be fair. So the keys to success will be fair information and high quality products.

What do think are the biggest espresso obstacles or misconceptions at the moment? What are the hurtles to better/great espresso or a better understanding of espresso, and how do we tackle them? Carlo: Again, I think we need more fair information. We need to tell people the truth about the real quality of the espresso they are drinking. I really appreciate coffee roasters which indicate the composition of the blend on the bag. Telling people “This coffee is 100-percent Arabica” is not that informative: which Arabica? And we need to give people the tools to judge their own espresso, as they do with wine. We do not need any gurus, we need technicians explaining to the men and the women in the street how to evaluate coffee in a consistent and reliable way. Kyle: The major hurtle is in changing consumer habits by way of delivering great quality. At least in the US, espresso is considered an ingredient for what is usually a much more complex and elaborate beverage. A little caffeine spike in a vanilla-steamed milk. This mentality does nothing to advance quality, as it allows operators to be lazy about quality control. Who cares about the quality of your shot when it’s drenched in flavors and milk? Why would you want to serve espresso that is spectacular on its own when the milky drinks are so much more expensive? By cultivating a palate for straight espresso, or at least small milk drinks, specialty operators can set themselves apart from the competition and expose their customers to a greater variety of different coffees. This also is much more engaging for the customer. If you are able to offer a few different espressos, you open up avenues to have a real dialogue with your customers about what makes great coffee. I can’t emphasize enough how extraordinary the collaboration must be in order to achieve a great espresso. From the farmer, millers, exporters, importers, roasters and baristas, a massive effort must be undertaken in order to finally deliver a great espresso experience. If you are able to experience tasty espresso on a regular basis, you are unbelievably lucky. Espresso: Still just as mysterious, as complicated, and as intriguing as it’s ever been. But, while it’s a landscape fraught with perils and sinkholes, it’s also an amazing place to journey, especially when in the hands of good guides. And especially when the prize at the end is that holiest of grails: a fantastic shot of espresso, made from the best beans, roasted well, and served up by a knowledgeable barista. Salud!

MAPPING THE ESPRESSO LANDSCAPE CONTINUED


IMPORTANT ORSELF-IMPORTANT?

After the World Barista Championship (WBC) this year in London, I got to be a fly on the wall and listen in on a conversation between Oliver Strand, a columnist for The

New York Times, and the six WBC finalists. It was a casual yet deeply interesting chat because the baristas were right about so many things. For one, they absolutely recognized the importance of education, citing the growing number of coffee drinkers who want to know details of where coffee comes from, how it’s grown, and about the science and nuance of flavor. The baristas were also very realistic about the many consumers who don’t care at all and just want hot liquid served fast. Their insights were profound and practical, each demonstrating that they not only possess skill and knowledge, but the ability to orchestrate an experience—meeting each customer at their particular level of awareness and gently leading them toward the broader possibilities. If we just had 50,000 more people like these six, specialty coffee would undoubtedly be on a whole new trajectory.

IMPORTANT ORSELF-IMPORTANT?

The Role and Inluenceof a Barista

By Tracy Ging with significant contribution by James Hoffmann

Ph

oto

s b

y P

hill

ip Y

ip w

ww

.clu

ban

tie

tam

.co

m


Having highly educated, well-trained, and genuinely inspired baristas is the goal and an important strategic consideration for the specialty coffee industry, but it’s an objective the industry will have to work very hard at reaching. Because, as James Hoffmann of Square Mile Coffee Roasters says, we may have put the cart before the horse on this one.

“I think the barista holds an incredibly important role, but one that we misjudged the balance of because their role is twofold,” Hoffmann says by way of explanation. “One aspect is to prepare coffee and to translate the hard work of everyone else in the chain into an enjoyable and valuable experience. This is about skill, practice and understanding of preparation techniques. But, the other role of a barista is as a salesperson, consultant, host, and curator of experience. That is about customer service.”

Customer service is certainly an area where specialty coffee can improve. The snarky barista has become cliché, but as with most stereotypes, there is some truth behind its existence. Yet that reputation isn’t entirely attributable to baristas. Hoffmann noted that much of the flak baristas have taken has not been wholly theirs, since menus, ambiance and price contributes to a person’s impression of specialty coffee as well. He acknowledges that, “while coffee is being prepared at a higher standard than ever before, more cynicism, disappointment and anger is also being directed at our industry and that comes down to a customer service failure.” Hoffmann believes part of this failure results from the industry which, consciously or

not, sent the message that pouring complex latte art makes you more valuable as a barista than being sympathetic and aware in conversations with customers.

While competitions may be partially to blame for over-emphasizing one aspect of the baristas role to the exclusion of the other, that is a minor point in comparison to the overwhelmingly positive role baristas have played in generating interest and excitement for the profession, as well as with driving trends.

“Barista competitions have had a bigger impact on coffee than I would have initially expected,” Hoffmann muses. “The winning routine, on a national and global level, certainly reorganizes priorities. Of late it seems the details of a coffee’s preparation—from its harvest date, altitude or post-harvest process—have been in focus.” Of course, the real challenge then is to translate that back to the customer base. In that regard, there is a lot of opportunity for specialty coffee to pick up where the competitions leave off.

It is that intersection—between driving trends and being in a position to translate them—which has exalted the role of the barista in the industry’s eyes. It’s interesting that Starbucks even goes as far as choosing very specific language in reference to their Seattle office—using support center versus headquarters or some other more common term. That choice is a direct reflection of value, of the idea that baristas are central to the business and everything else is built up around them. SCAA reflects a similar priority, choosing to “promote the barista as the focal point for consumer exchange” as a strategic theme.

Yet real business issues stand in between our ideals and our practices. No matter how much we value baristas, how many trophies we award, or how carefully language is crafted, for many, being a

“While cofee is being prepared at a higher standard than ever before, more cynicism, disappointment and anger is also being directed at our industry and that comes down to a

customer service failure.” ~James Hofmann

barista is a temporary gig. We recognize their importance, but have failed to create a profession. Wages, health care, training and retention are all issues to be grappled with and addressed before baristas can take their rightful place in the spotlight of specialty coffee.

Hoffmann has already pointed out that the natural next step is a focus on customer service, but that is really a step subsequent to better science and more education. He suggests a renewed focus on understanding through tasting, explaining “we aren’t particularly good at looking at where we’re falling down. The bad or disappointing cups of coffee I’ve had have little to do with temperature stability, or burr configuration, or pressure profiles misused, or a lack of symmetry in a rosetta. I get bad cups because either the barista is disconnected from what they prepare—i.e. they don’t know how it tastes/should taste—or they are more focused on producing an espresso that looks a certain way, instead of directing that level of attention to the customer and what information would aid their experience.”

Clearly, the responsibility of customer service doesn’t solely rest on the shoulders of baristas. The problem with baristas being central to a strategy is that the strategy is only partially defined. Success does not begin and end with the barista, but is achieved through a series of coordinated steps. The reality is that the role of the barista is exceptionally important and if the customer experience wasn’t motive enough, it is worth considering other ways in which baristas are influencing and shaping the industry. They are its product testers, market researchers, brand enthusiasts, harshest critics, and critical-

mass-makers. As Hoffmann asserts, each generation defines a new baseline for quality based on their own experiences, so we’ll see an increasing number of people who refuse to compromise in areas that were a little grey before—be it equipment quality, freshness, or base levels of traceability. Yet to a large degree, that dialogue isn’t open, at least not as fully as it could be. Despite their connection with customers, potential influence on quality, and their stated importance, baristas are not integrated into the strategic process. One very simple way to overcome that disparity is to include them in the conversation, which we shall do this year at Symposium in a presentation and small group discussion on “Engaged Baristas, Engaged Consumers,” lead by James along with several other prominent baristas.

With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Tracy

Ging has spent the bulk of her career in the coffee industry,

where she has worked on both sides of the supply-chain,

developing a deep understanding of the market and the

trends driving it. Tracy currently serves as Deputy Executive

Director of SCAA.

For Further Information Symposium, SCAA’s executive series, will be held on April 27–28, 2011 in Houston, Texas. More information is available at scaasymposium.org. Also look for Hoffmann to guest author on the SCAA blog in February, addressing where a little new thought could yield great results for the industry.


THE

Specialty Cofee Industry

SHOWS

Initiative Worldwide

The Initiative—developed over the past 18 months by a consortium of leading specialty coffee roasters, thought-leaders and coffee agricultural researchers—officially began its operations in October as the outcome of an industry-led summit meeting convened in College Station, Texas, held under the auspices of Texas A&M University and the world-renowned Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture.

This unprecedented coffee congress attracted approximately 75 of the world’s leading specialty coffee growers, importers, roasters, researchers, and economists, during which participants spent two and a half days talking, listening, sharing, and taking a hard look at emerging problems within the global supply chain of quality coffees.

“There has never before been an attempt to look globally into the primary motivating factors for coffee quality,” says Ric Rhinehart, executive director of the SCAA.

Adds Dr. Tim Schilling, one of the Initiative’s founders, “It is unprecedented that a multi-billion dollar global industry like specialty coffee has no front-end research and development to grow and protect the supply of their raw product. There’s actually been more global research into making better kiwifruit than into making better coffee!”

A COFFEE CONGRESS CONVENES

GCQRI members in attendance focused on learning more about the expected supply-side impacts to specialty green coffees threatened by global warming (Arabica trees are genetically programmed to produce their best quality coffee in high altitude tropical environs, because of the relatively cool and moist conditions found there—conditions that are projected to change over the next few decades as the world’s tropics are forecasted to heat up and dry out faster than temperate regions), compounded by demand-side impacts from global consumption expanding exponentially. Ironically, much of this is due to the success of specialty coffee roasters and retailers worldwide (according to the NCA, specialty coffee now represents 40 percent of the total U.S. market), coupled with population growth and the dramatic increase in consumption starting to be seen within the emerging economies of China, India and Brazil (the world’s greatest

by Bruce Mullins

The specialty coffee industry’s Global Coffee Quality Research Initiative (GCQRI) has officially

been launched, and has begun its historic multi-year journey towards a more complete understanding of the science behind coffee quality and coffee quantity.


producer of coffee, Brazil is expected to become the world’s largest consumer of coffee as well within the next few years, displacing the United States).

As the coffee congress attendees learned, however, all is not gloom and doom. As an example, leaders within the U.S. wine industry decided several decades ago to pool their research resources into scientific work similar to what is envisioned by the GCQRI. As congress attendees heard, the results have been spectacular, with both anticipated and unexpected scientific discoveries related to wine grapes and vineyard strategies, many of which have dramatically improved yields and quality, resulting in today’s unprecedented access to wines of stellar and consistent quality at affordable retail prices.

These are exactly the dual outcomes—improving quality while simultaneously improving quantity—that the GCQRI is seeking for specialty coffee.

STRONG LEADERSHIP

As an important result of October’s meeting, an interim board of directors—consisting of Brett Smith of Counter Culture Coffee, Ben Pitts of Royal Cup Coffee, Ric Rhinehart of the SCAA, and chaired by Patrick Criteser of Coffee Bean International—was appointed by the group’s steering committee, and is now working diligently on the development and execution of important near-term objectives such as the GCQRI’s governance, incorporation, by-laws, intermediate-term funding, and review of the research ideas surfaced during the meeting.

One of the most important challenges facing any new non-profit like the GCQRI is finding an effective full-time leader to run the day-to-day aspects of the business. This has been met by the interim board with the announcement of the appointment of Dr. Timothy Schilling as the group’s new Executive Director. Dr. Schilling is well-known to many within the specialty coffee industry as the person most responsible for the re-emergence of Rwanda as a coveted specialty coffee origin. Dr. Schilling lived and worked in Africa for over a decade on behalf of the PEARL and SPREAD programs run in association with Texas A&M University, Michigan State, and The Borlaug Institute, helping rebuild Rwanda’s coffee industry—literally—from the ground up. As an example of the work that Borlaug and Schilling accomplished in Rwanda, prior to 2002 there were no coffee washing stations in the entire country. By 2010, more than 180 washing stations had been designed and built. Nationwide, Rwanda’s coffee quality radically improved during the decade, giving the world much-needed additional supplies of high quality, fully-washed coffees while simultaneously giving Rwandan farmers three to four times more income from their coffee than they were previously making.

The GCQRI board is delighted to have hired someone of Dr. Schilling’s qualifications as the group’s executive director. According to CBI’s Patrick Criteser, “[Dr. Schilling] has exactly the right combination of agricultural scientific research training, non-profit executive experience, in-depth and first-hand specialty coffee knowledge, and enough enthusiasm and energy to power a small city. The board is excited to begin this industry-transforming venture with Dr. Schilling at the helm.”

Dr. Schilling and the permanent board of directors that will be appointed in the spring will be focusing the long-term efforts of the GCQRI project (affectionately known to its participants as “The Geekery,” which about says it all) toward searching for scientifically validated strategies that are both economically and environmentally sustainable. The ultimate goal? Improving the potential cup quality of coffees on the tree, while simultaneously discovering ways to increase overall supplies of specialty-grade green coffees. It is believed that this long-term research

agenda may begin to show some initial results within three to five years, which will eventually begin helping specialty coffee roasters world-wide cope with an increasingly challenged supply chain for high-quality, washed Arabica coffee. As important dividends, the Initiative’s work is eventually expected to significantly improve origin countries’ coffee research capacities, while also raising coffee farmers’ yields and incomes, strengthening vulnerable coffee-based communities around the world.

LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE

The Initiative will be administered by the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture, part of the Texas A&M System. One of the world’s leading international agricultural institutions, the Borlaug Institute has decades of experience developing and administering agricultural research programs throughout the world. The GCQRI program will build upon an existing global network of coffee research institutions and scientists working with the specialty coffee industry to identify, fund and implement coordinated research on key factors limiting quality and production. Research results will be widely disseminated in all producing and consuming countries and made available to all interested parties.

As an example of the incredible impact on coffee quality through the previously seldom seen model of collaborative research, Dr. Schilling recently announced that the researchers associated with the GCQRI—as an outcome of the meeting in College Station—have just identified the pyrazine compound responsible for the “potato defect” often found in green, unroasted coffee beans grown in the “Great Lakes” region of Africa (primarily from Rwanda and Burundi). As most roasters of specialty coffees familiar with these origins will attest, the potato defect is especially annoying because so far it has been impossible to detect in green coffee. This defect manifests itself only upon roasting, and therefore can show up even in award-winning coffees—adding the nasty flavor and aroma of a freshly peeled russet potato into the finished cup. This research breakthrough was made possible through a collaborative effort between Texas A&M University, the McKnight Foundation, Iowa State University, and the coffee research organizations CIRAD in France and NUR and ISAR in Rwanda. Now, due to this GCQRI discovery, strategies to significantly reduce the potato defect’s frequency in coffees from Rwanda and Burundi can be developed, to the relief of coffee roasters (and coffee connoisseurs) around the world.

In reflecting on the pyrazine discovery, Dr. Schilling concludes, “This type of collaborative research outcome has been common through the years in other key agricultural commodities, but not in coffee. Because of the geographic, cultural, and economic divide between farmers and consumers that is unique to this industry, there hasn’t been any sort of wide-spread, successful attempt at

research that could benefit all the players in the game. With the launching of the new GCQRI, however, that situation

has the potential to be changed forever. I’m tremendously excited about the work that we’ve

begun. I can’t wait to find out the things that we’re going to discover about making

every cup of specialty coffee even more special—and how to make a lot more

of them!”

Bruce Mullins is vice

president of Coffee

Culture at Coffee

Bean International

in Portland, Oregon.

He serves on the

Coffee Quality Institute’s Board of

Trustees and Fair Trade USA’s Roaster

Advisory Council, as a Cup of Excel-

lence judge in Central America, South

America and Africa, and a Coffee Corps

volunteer in Africa and South America.

If you’d like to learn moreabout the Initiative, significant amounts of information—including copies of the presentations made at the congress in

College Station—may be found on the GCQRI website at www.gcqri.org. Additionally, up-

to-the-minute news and information is being posted for those who “like” the Global Coffee

Quality Research Initiative on Facebook, or are following it on Twitter at #GCQRI. Finally,

look for the GCQRI to be one of the focal points at the upcoming SCAA Symposium

(April 27th–28th) and Expo (April 28th–May 1st)

in Houston. The Specialty Coffee Chronicle 15

Are we having the impact we intend?

by Tracy Ging

CoFFEE and sUsTAINAbILITy


With sustainability firmly ingrained in the value structure, many forged ahead—building schools, digging wells, committing to certification programs, developing partnerships and engaging in a host of other activities. Larger players developed private standards and say what you will about those approaches, the concept of self-regulation is pretty remarkable in comparison to other industries. Specialty coffee was also among the first to embrace market-oriented labels, a handful of not-for-profit organizations emerged and have since grown considerably, and it seems nearly everyone has a project. Specialty coffee has inarguably been vocal and prolific on issues of sustainability, yet there are big, looming questions about impact—are we doing good, are we doing enough, and how do we know?

To some extent, those questions are unanswerable because as a collective, we simply don’t know. Certainly there are exceptions within specific program and projects, but as a whole, specialty coffee has lacked strong metrics and tools to gauge its impact. In all fairness, that is a state not unique to coffee. The world has struggled with this issue, but that is changing. There is an increased focus on metrics and organizations are dedicating themselves to the task. The Committee on Sustainable Assessment (COSA), a volunteer-driven, global consortium of institutions using participatory methods, is pioneering the scientific measurement of sustainability in agriculture. Other organizations such as People 4 Earth are also developing frameworks. Also, the launch of SCAA’s Sustainability Tracking and Reporting Tool (START) will bring six-figure technology to specialty coffee and profoundly address the tool side of things. It seems the industry is well poised to get a better picture of how well it’s doing with regard to sustainability.

Regardless of the findings, I think we all know the job is not yet done. Given price trends over the last decade (with the exception of this year), relatively low market adoption of certifications (estimated at less than 10 percent according to The North American Organic Coffee Industry Report, 2010), and studies about hunger in the Coffeelands, we will likely confirm there is much, much more to do. With complete reverence for what has been accomplished, this is also an opportunity to reassess. What have we learned? How can we be better? If we really wanted to get our act together around standards, what would that look like?

It is important to look at what new partnerships can be forged, examples that can be modeled, and what new goals should be established. As one example, SCAA’s Sustainability Council is examining the beer industry on the heels of an announcement by British brewers, committing to reduce CO2 emissions by 17.5 percent

ustainability has been part of the discourse in the specialty coffee industry almost from the beginning and certainly for a better part of the past two decades. Early on, with vision and leadership bordering on radical, the industry made sustainability part of its mission.

The SCAA also encouraged total quality, inclusive of quality of life, quality in the cup, and quality of the environment. To achieve this, the organization outlined more than 40 supporting attributes and actions to guide its commitment to sustainability—an inspiring but, no doubt, broad set of tasks. In 2005, the SCAA set an even more ambitious goal by signing the United Nation’s Global Compact, joining the fight to eradicate global poverty. Specialty Coffee was, and continues to be, determined to make a significant difference.

and increase water efficiency by 11 percent by 2020. Another potential model is the wine industry, which is now studying use of certifications and addressing consumer education, trying to reduce their confusion over the plethora of choices/claims relating to sustainable wine and strengthen access to market for certified wines. And, of course, our own foray into deeper research through the Global Coffee Quality Research Initiative will likely unlock many new opportunities where sustainability is concerned.

While there is cause for optimism, if for no other reason than the idea that issues as challenging and complex as these need a dose of faith, it is also important to be honest and open to the possibility that maybe specialty coffee didn’t know enough about sustainability

and development to engage in some of the activities it engaged in, that we set out on a very big task without a proper definition of success, that some businesses co-opted the message without making due sacrifice, that our definitions are murky, and that maybe we are in not position to suggest what a farmer needs. These are the tough questions we’ll be addressing at this

year’s Symposium in order to—as Peter Giuliano referenced already in this issue—break down so we can break through.

With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Tracy

Ging has spent the bulk of her career in the coffee industry,

where she has worked on both sides of the supply-chain,

developing a deep understanding of the market and the

trends driving it. Tracy currently serves as Deputy Executive

Director of SCAA.

Specialty cofee has inarguably been vocal and proliic on issues of

sustainability, yet there are big,looming questions about impact—

are we doing good, are we doing enough, and how do we know?

Register Now for THE EVENTExpo & Symposium

April 28 – May 1, 2011

www.scaaevent.org


OuR TOP FOuRTHE 2011 SCAA SuSTAINABILITY AWARd FINALISTS

By SCAA’s Sustainability Council

CAFÉ FEMENINOSince the inception of Organic Products Trading

Company (OPTCO)—a company that imports high quality certified organic and fair trade coffee—owners Gay and Garth Smith have traveled to coffee growing communities all over the world to work with growers who are committed to organic and organic fair trade coffee production. In 2004, OPTCO, along with several other organizations, founded Café Femenino Coffee Project, a social program for women coffee growers in rural communities around the world. Today, OPTCO is the exclusive importer of the Café Femenino Coffee with Gay Smith serving as a lead spokesperson and advocate for the project.

With determination and desire for a better future, more than 460 women coffee producers in Peru united to take a step toward achieving empowerment. This step came in the form of growing, harvesting and producing their own coffee, called Café Femenino. In 2004, OPTCO, along with CECANOR Cooperative, PROASSA, CICAP and Cordaid, founded the Café Femenino Coffee Project, designed to support the women in their efforts to achieve their goals.

Today, the Café Femenino Coffee Project is a social program for women coffee producers in rural communities around the world. More than 1,500 women in Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru are active in the project, which helps them achieve empowerment, build social and support networks, and earn incomes through the production and sale of Café Femenino Coffee. This coffee is distributed by more than 80 roasters, all of whom pay a premium above the fair trade price, and is sold at retail locations nationwide. The success of the project initiated the creation of The Café Femenino Foundation, which provides grants to select programs and projects that enhance the lives of women and their families in coffee growing communities around the world.

CLIMATE FRIENDLY COFFEE FARMING | A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN EFICO, RAINFOREST

ALLIANCE AND ANACAFÉ The Climate Friendly farming project is

a pilot initiative developed by Anacafé, the Rainforest Alliance, Efico, and the Efico Foundation to research, test and promote criteria and practices that help farmers mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts. The pilot project aims to develop a robust set of climate criteria that indicate best climate practices in coffee production and processing activities. Implementing these practices helps farmers adapt to the effects of a changing climate, reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increase levels of carbon stored on their farms. Practices to achieve those objectives are encouraged within the project.

Key project activities include researching the climate impact of coffee farming practices; measuring carbon storage on selected farms on different levels (soil carbon, carbon in shade trees and coffee plants); testing assumptions regarding best management practices to reduce GHG emissions; holding stakeholder workshops and consultation events; selecting criteria which describe best climate friendly practices; carrying out pilot audits of the climate module; marketing climate-friendly coffee; and creating resilience strategies among farmers, technicians and auditors.

The criteria and best practices developed will be bundled as a “Climate Module”—a voluntary, add-on module to the existing Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) standard, the rigorous standard against which farms are currently audited to obtain Rainforest Alliance certification. The project builds upon existing criteria and indicators for climate-friendly farming practices and develops new ones, coordinated with and approved by the SAN Standard. The climate module will facilitate farmers’ implementation of practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enrich on-farm carbon storage, mitigate climate change impacts on communities and ecosystems, and help farmers adapt to climate change.

The pilot project was initiated in Guatemala in July 2009, with five cooperatives on the Fraijanes Plateau and one medium-sized farm in San Marcos, Guatemala. A total group of 376 coffee farmers, families and communities will benefit from this project.

The pilot initiative is being disseminated to use as a model for addressing new crops (cocoa and tea) and regions with grants of the Rockefeller Foundation. Participating farms can be audited against the Climate Module to demonstrate their compliance with climate criteria and their adoption of climate-friendly practices. Climate Friendly coffee can be commercialized in a differentiated market. In the near future, “climate friendly” coffee and other products can be available in the market.

Café Femenino membership cards, Dominican Republic

Marta Lidia Barrios. Taken at Finca Platanillo, San Rafael Pie de la Cuesta,

San Marcos, Guatemala.

The Sustainability Council created the Sustainability Award in 2003 to promote, encourage and honor the efforts of those serving as role models in fields of sustainability. Each year, the council read about the depth and breadth of the sustainable work being done in all areas across the industry and chooses a winner from a number of incredible projects and companies from around the world.

The Sustainability Council is extremely proud to showcase four extraordinary finalists for the 2011 SCAA Sustainability Award. This year, we were flooded with applications by impassioned and hard-working coffee companies from the entire supply chain. It was a difficult choice, but after much deliberation, we are delighted to bring you this year’s top four finalists.

Be sure to check out SCAA’s Facebook page and tell us which finalist you think should win. And we hope you can join us at SCAA’s 23rd Annual Exposition in Houston, Texas, where the winner will be announced during the Opening Ceremonies!


NATIONAL FEDERATION OF COFFEE GROWERS OF

COLOMBIA | BIRD CENSUSBirds are a diverse and ecologically important taxonomic group

in the mountains of the Colombian Andes, a region of some of the highest biodiversity on the planet. The enormous variety of birds in coffee-producing areas is considered a natural heritage that ought to be preserved. In the last century, however, natural habitat has given way to agriculture and cattle production in most areas. Birds are beautiful and charismatic and generate interest among human communities. Developing and adopting biodiversity-friendly production systems that ensure the conservation of birds—while at the same time providing sustainable economic well-being to the farming communities—is a major challenge for all.

Since 2004, the National Coffee Research Center (Cenicafé) has been conducting a program of periodic censuses to study birds and promote their conservation in the Colombian coffee-growing region. The program, known as the “Participatory Bird Census In Coffee-Producing Areas of Colombia,” brings together coffee producers, researchers and extension personnel from Colombia’s Coffee Federation.

Coffee farmers, their families, extension personnel, and researchers collaborate to conduct bird inventories in and around coffee farms. The project includes an educational program on birds which provides information about basic ecology, conservation and research techniques to both children and adults. A variety of activities, such as games and workshops, and a series of publications, including bulletins and posters, are used to foster an interest in birds and in the protection of the natural environment around coffee farms. Because of its participatory nature, the community takes part in the selection of census sites, objectives, and emphasis of the study in each region. Results are shared and discussed with the participants, who examine their environmental significance and potential use in conservation, educational, or even marketing campaigns.

In six years, 29 communities have participated in the program and conducted bird inventories in their regions. With their help, the frontier of ornithological knowledge in the Colombian Andes has been extended significantly: 448 species of birds have been recorded so far (25 percent of the total for Colombia), and more than 100,000 copies of educational bulletins and thousands of bird posters have been given away. The Participatory Bird Census Program is helping rural communities learn to look at their farming environment through the eyes of the birds. By doing so, it aims to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity, the preservation of environmental services, and sustainability in a farming environment.

GROUNDS FOR HEALTH Grounds for Health is a nonprofit organization based in Waterbury,

Vermont. Founded in 1996, Grounds for Health’s mission is to provide women’s healthcare services in coffee growing communities. The connection to coffee is through their founder, Daniel C. Cox, a Vermont coffee businessman who learned that cervical cancer was the leading cause of death in women in the communities where he bought coffee. Cox also discovered that the reason for this high rate was limited access to healthcare, especially preventive care and screenings. By partnering with coffee companies, medical professionals and local coffee co-operatives, Grounds for Health works to create locally managed, sustainable and effective cervical cancer prevention and treatment programs in coffee-producing regions. They currently have programs in Mexico, Nicaragua and Tanzania.

To date, Grounds for Health has provided direct services to more than 19,000 women, trained more than 270 doctors and nurses, utilized 150 volunteers, and equipped 15 rural clinics to provide early treatment. Since 2007, Grounds for Health has piloted a new approach to cervical cancer prevention called “Single Visit Screen and Treat,” which is based on research initiated by the World Health Organization and funded by the Gates Foundation. This model is designed to address the challenges found in low-resource settings.

The Grounds for Health model is an excellent example of best practice public/private partnership. It establishes programs in coffee growing communities only upon invitation from the coffee cooperatives themselves. The co-op leadership must demonstrate commitment to the program through community support and investment. Through local partnership and use of the Single Visit Approach, the low-resource-appropriate programs focus on innovative training and education, so more women can get back to their children, their communities, and their lives.

Coffee producing families learning about bird identification in Timana

In-country staff Dr. Annah Kichambati: By transferring skills to local health professionals, Grounds for Health helps ensure community buy-in and long-term sustainability.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Café Femenino, www.cafefemenino.com. Climate Friendly Coffee Farming, trade@ eficocentram.comNatural Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, [email protected] for Health, www.groundsforhealth.org. The Sustainability Award, [email protected]

We look forward to announcing the award winner in April at SCAA’s Exposition, and we encourage all companies and individuals leading the way in sustainability to apply to our award. Applications open in October of every year, so stay tuned for the call for applications in the fall of 2011.

Congratulations once again to our finalists and a big thank you to all those who applied and continue to work hard to make our world a more sustainable and enjoyable place to live


Rising food prices are eating into corporate earnings, and the coffee industry is no exception.

For seasoned traders paying the current price above $2.30

for a pound of Arabica beans this may not be so shocking,

especially if they lived through the price spike to $3.18 a pound

seen in 1997. But for younger entrepreneurs who entered the

growing specialty market over the last few years, the price rally

has jolted many.

Are prices heading towards $4 or $5 a pound? Or will world

farmers, enjoying the highest quotes in more than 13 years,

start producing enough coffee to meet growing demand?

COMMODITIES UP

Rising world population and living standards have fueled demand for premium coffees among affluent young professionals in emerging markets like Brazil, India, Indonesia and China. This has been supplemented by sustained demand from North America and Europe consumers.

On the supply side, erratic weather patterns, highlighted by heavy rains across major growing regions in Colombia, Central America and Indonesia, have limited coffee production.

Overall, demand for raw materials is at record levels, pushing prices for everything from petroleum to basic grains. This has attracted speculative involvement in commodity markets, while a volatile dollar and the eventual Brazilian entry into the world’s elite coffee club have added intrigue, if not uncertainty, across trading desks as well.

FOOD INFLATION

The Reuters/Jefferies Continuous Commodity Index, which is comprised of 19 raw materials, from oil to sugar and cocoa, rose 13 percent in 2010. The index has bounced from losses incurred during the financial crisis of 2008, and is now trading near its historical highs, brewing inflationary pressures.

The average U.S. price to buy a pound of ground coffee rose to $4.47, up 22 percent, or 80 cents a pound, from a year ago, according to recent December data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Starbucks Corp., Folgers Coffee and Kraft Foods are few of the companies that have raised prices several times in the last year.

The food industry is planning gradual price hikes to help expand profits in 2011. But its pricing power, especially at the low end, remains limited. It doesn’t help that average U.S. gas prices are inching back up above $3 a gallon, adding to the squeeze on household budgets.

“Shoppers are likely to be more resistant than ever to higher prices, more willing to trade off to lower priced choices and more aware of where and when these changes have to be made,” wrote recently Michael Sansolo, a food analyst in Chicago, wrote recently. “Today’s tough competitive situation is only likely to get tougher.”

FUNDAMENTALS:BRAZIL SAVIOR OR VILLAIN

Arabica coffee prices soared 77 percent in 2010 touching a 13-year high of $2.4225/lb. For 2011 the global balance may yield a deficit between 4-6 million bags, mostly of Arabicas. Inventories of washed-Arabicas at warehouses of the IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE), are now at eleven-year lows, after dropping for 27 consecutive months. This may continue until there’s a solid bounce in production, say observers.

The low supplies prompted the ICE exchange late last year to include washed and semi-washed Arabica beans from Brazil to its list of grower nations for the benchmark “C” contract, joining origins such as Guatemala, Costa Rica and Ethiopia.

The move, opposed by the Specialty Coffee Association of America, is widely expected to boost liquidity in the market when it takes effect in March 2013. Supporters say the measure will actually encourage Brazilian farmers to boost quality, easing futures shortages of premium coffees. Critics fear the country will flood the market with lower grade beans, threatening the already questioned (but recently revised) grading standards at ICE.

Elsewhere, Colombia’s future output remains a puzzle given the country’s failure to bring up yields over the last three years to the averages above 12 million 60-kilo bags picked few years ago. In 2011, the country could harvest again less than nine million bags, a figure still subject to weather developments.

NEW PRICE FLOOR BREWING

Arabica prices are likely to set a new price floor above historical averages of $1 and $1.10 a pound, notes Carlos Henrique Brando, a Sao Paulo-based Brazilian entrepreneur and consultant, who has worked with the International Coffee Organization to boost global demand for coffee.

With currencies at key producing Arabica countries such as Brazil and Colombia strengthening sharply over the last few years, reducing returns for growers, prices had to go up to entice farmers to keep producing.

“The new price floor to be achieved after production grows in response to the current high prices will have to be higher, probably much higher than historical averages to account for the weaker dollar,” he said.

VOLATILITY

A large percentage of the commodities price gains came courtesy of a weaker dollar, which started falling in August last year after the US Federal Reserve announced further quantitative easing, including the purchase of $600 billion in US assets to inject money into the economy.

The move weakened the greenback, enticing oversea buyers to procure more dollar-priced commodities. If history is any guidance, this correlation will continue in 2011. According to Bloomberg data, over the last five years, commodities have moved in the opposite direction of the dollar in 18 out of 22 quarters. Historical charts also show that big price spikes are typically followed by higher output, in a continuum cycle of price boom and busts.

HIGH PRICES JOLTCOFFEE MARKET

By Marvin G. Perez


REGULATION

Searching for higher returns, speculators—including pension and hedge funds—have poured money into commodities in recent years, contributing to the uptrend. But according to government data, speculators actually decreased their long positions held in coffee, when prices went from 160 cents to 200 cents a pound in the second half of 2010, indicating that fundamentals, as shown by soaring cash market differentials, drove the spike.

Traders will be watching closely what type of action is taken in Washington, if any, to limit speculator involvement in commodities. The Commodity Futures and Trading Commission, CFTC, is expected to address the issue in the first quarter of 2011.

GOOD NEWS

The good news is that countries such as China, Laos and Peru are growing as suppliers in the new decade. For example, China recently announced investments of $450 million in coffee to boost production of Arabica beans in the Yunnan province, hoping to boost output from the current 38,000 tons to 200,000 by 2020.

According to the International Coffee Organization, 2010 earnings for coffee exporting countries will be the highest on record, above $16 billion, potentially bringing more investments to coffee farms and better crops. Top producer Brazil is expected to harvest almost 45 million bags in 2011/12, the highest output ever for an “off” cycle crop, the result partly attributed to better earnings. In 2012/13, the country may reap between 55 million and 60 million bags, a record crop that may ease supply shortages.

Marvin G. Perez is a business writer and consultant and has been cover-

ing world financial markets for almost 15 years. He has been a guest

speaker at CNBC Business News Channel in New York and a frequent

speaker at top world commodity conferences in the U.S., Latin America

and Europe. His articles have appeared on Dow Jones Newswires, where

he worked for six years; on weekly financial Barron’s, The Wall Street

Journal and several international newspapers as well as on online- based

news outlets, including SuagrNetwork and CoffeeNetwork. He can be

reached at [email protected].

Of Note Market volatility will be explored at Symposium, bringing forward a discussion about supply and structural issues to determine what new strategies are needed. In addition, there will be a program at the Expo. Boiling Down the C: Hedging Strategies for the Future of Quality runs Friday, April 29th at 10:30–11:45 am in room 362D.

Are prices heading towards $4 or $5 a pound? Or will world farmers,

enjoying the highest quotes in more than 13 years, start producing

enough cofee to meet growing demand?


Caffé Breve We Ask. You Answer.

Do you brew your owncofee every morning or

frequent a favoritecofee shop?

“I used to have an employee that made me a doppio ristretto every morning and bring it to me in my office. Now I just jump on the bar make it myself. You know, us coffee people get pretty dang picky.” ~Jack Groot, JP’s Coffee and Midwest Barista School, Holland, MI

“I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to make wonderful coffee at home, and then go to “work” and make more coffee all day. Coffee at home is always special though because I always make lattes for my husband in his favourite mug, and nowadays my four-month-old daughter gets an espresso cup full of foamed milk too so she can join in! That coffee is a family ritual and tastes all the better for it. I’ve even created my own blend, named after my daughter - Miranda’s Blend.” ~Annabel Townsend, Doctor Coffee’s Café, Darlington, UK

“I love making my own each morning. The challenge of pulling a great shot each morning is something that I look forward to.” ~Eric Williams, The Withered Fig

“I make a shot of espresso every morning.” -Phillip Yip, Oakland, CA

“Both. I start my morning at home with a French press or K-cup of Tully’s and then stop by a Tully’s on my way to the office for a double short non!” ~Tom T. O’Keefe, Founder and former head barista, Tully’s

“Roast (every 48 hours), grind, and then press. I like the flexibility of changing my coffee varietal based on how I feel that week or day.” ~Phillip Halley, San Jose, Calif.


What are your passions(other than cofee of course)?

“Giving back. I have been asked to set up a coffee station for Dress For Success in the spring of 2011. It is a non-profit organization that provides interview suits, confidence boosts, and career development to low-income women. I will give out free coffee at this luncheon event.” ~Sherry Dunbar, Coffee Guru, Manchester, PA

“After 10 years in the coffee industry I have found that “passion” is the operative word in describing the complete lives of most of us who choose this career path. It is rare to come across a coffee pro who doesn’t throw his or herself at life with reckless fervor. I’m not sure whether the coffee industry just attracts people of that creed or working with such a passion driven product hones our edge so to speak.

Personally, I relish in my deep passion for anything I can make or do with my hands. I become especially passionate about things that bring other people joy. Food is my muse. I get lost in the process from beginning to end. I spend hours in farmers’ markets and specialty food stores hand picking ingredients, developing recipes and flavor combinations that will excite the palates of my friends and family. I plan ways to invoke nostalgia, excitement, surprise, humor and whimsy just with a simple taste. Food is a boundless palate of colors with which to paint and there is no more personal way to affect a person than creating something they consume. Food, like coffee and wine, brings people together and begets conversation. Around these things we inherently become social and this fact lends to the passion surrounding them. Without over romanticizing the point, our passion in general as coffee professionals brings us together, often to do the same things. The next time you’re out enjoying your pastime I challenge you to ask around, I’m willing to bet you’re not the only bean slinger at the party!” ~Stephen T Robertson, Blanchard’s Coffee, Coffee Culture RVA, and RVA Barista Jam, Richmond, Virginia

“It’s about the people. My passion for the people. The most common denominator I have found yet with my colleagues in this business.” ~Joseph Robertson, JoLinda’s Coffee and Wine Shop & Sasquatch Coffee Roasters, Stevenson, Wash.

“I am passionate about excellence in general. Whether it’s doing up the dishes, planting a garden, spending time with my family, or running my business, I like for things to be done with excellence in effort and enthusiasm. I wouldn’t say that I am a perfectionist, but rather a life enthusiast.” ~Sarah Fey, Busy Bean Espresso, Shelton, Wash.

“Passion is a heated word, and often accompanies things which yield beautiful and rewarding results—as long as you’re willing to sweat, bleed, and work hard for them. For the last year after discovering the Rose City Rollers of Portland, OR—the passion I’ve developed for Roller Derby is immeasurable. And it has taught me more about life and success than I was prepared for. The ability to hold myself accountable for my own successes and weaknesses. The strength of body and mind to push myself farther than the last time I faced the same challenge. The power of community, and what I find I am willing to do for the things and people I love. If the word passion could appear as more than 12-point font on a computer screen, it would be throbbing, with the weight of loyalty, perseverance, love and respect. Which seems to go hand in hand with the world of coffee. So I can’t help but think I’m on the right life path.” ~Karen D’Apice aka Napoleon Blownapart, World Cup Coffee Roasters, Portland, OR


Scaa Issue 6 PDF

Documents

Transcript of Scaa Issue 6 PDF