My inability to completely connect the dots here is a testament to the lack of transparency of the big four mega coffee roasters and where they get their beans.
Dot 1: Brazil, the world’s #2 coffee grower, has experienced drought conditions that means their 2007 production will be at a four-year low. This on the heels of a 16% decline in the 2005-2006 crop. Therefore, the market is tight and stocks are quite low.
Dot 2: Brazil will be selling off its federal coffee stocks, beans from the 1977-1978 harvest. Not a typo. Thirty year old beans, which they contend do not lose their flavor, only their color. Unroasted beans do stay fresh a long time, as it is the roasting process that creates oils and other compounds that oxidize when exposed to air. But coffee beans are a once-living, organic crop, and changes do take place. Most experts advise roasting beans within a year (more here).
Dot 3: Who buys up all these tons of old beans? Well, Kraft is the largest buyer of Brazilian green coffee. Nespresso, a division of Nestlé, just announced it will be purchasing 45% of its coffee from Brazil. These are supposed to be "specialty" beans, but I have no further information.
I cannot say for sure, but I would think it is likely that the large roasters are buying at least some of these old beans, given the low stocks, high demand, and their history of using — and needing — inexpensive Brazilian beans. If used in blends, flaws would be less apparent. Yuck.
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