Month: June 2007

Counter Culture announces "Source"

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On June 30, 2007

In Coffee news and miscellany, Fair and Direct Trade, Retail and specialty roasters

One of the major criteria a roaster must meet to get favored nation status on the left sidebar as a source of sustainable coffee is transparency. C&C is all about educating consumers on how to recognize and appreciate sustainable coffee. All the knowledge in the world won’t help a coffee buyer if the roaster doesn’t provide enough information on where they get their beans. If a roaster provides country, region, and co-op or farm it goes a long way in helping consumers understand whether the coffee was grown in a sustainable manner. When a roaster has a close relationship with a farmer, they can provide even more data on exactly how the coffee was grown.

Counter Culture Coffee has always been excellent about giving customers lots of information on each of their selections on their web site. They recently announced an expansion and refinement of this commitment, which they are calling “Source.” Each bag of Source coffee includes the farm or co-op’s real name; authentic production details and tasting notes; a precise roast date; a regional map; and vibrant, original artwork inspired by the community that produced it. Indeed, the whole point, noted in their press release, is to

“…achieve a deeper level of consumer education through real, transparent information about each coffee’s distinct seasonality, tasting notes, geographic and cultural origins, and artisan cultivation methods.”

This program goes well beyond marketing and consumer education. Like Intelligentsia’s Direct Trade, and similar “unbranded” programs by other roasters, Source is about working closely with farmers to improve coffee quality and the quality of life for farmers. Fair Trade is such a darling of the green set, but it’s certification is restricted to cooperatives, and does little to address quality. Programs like Source or Direct Trade can do even more than Fair Trade, including paying higher than Fair Trade prices straight to farmers for their crops. For example, Counter Culture paid a 153% premium to the Guarapamba farmers for their La Golondrina Microlot, one of the Source coffees.

Not all roasters can follow this model. Economies of scale make it difficult for very large roasters; they are profit-driven and treat coffee as a commodity rather than a specialty food crop. You simply will not find specialty-grade coffee and close relationships with farmers from corporate coffee roasters. Very small roasters often don’t have the resources to develop working partnerships with individual farms or co-ops (which is not to say many are not sources for sustainable coffees).

Hats off to all roasters who strive to follow this philosophy. Working to transform coffee from an anonymous caffeinated beverage to an identifiable crop, nurtured by real farmers on land that sustains people and biodiversity, is a model we’d be wise to adopt for all of our food. Only then can we choose to purchase sustainable products, increasing demand, and in turn take steps to help to transform the world.

Papua New Guinea coffee

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On June 24, 2007

In Coffee regions

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is the eastern half of a large island north of Australia and associated smaller islands. PNG is one of the least explored places left on earth, with dense rainforests, rugged mountains, and many diverse indigenous people (with over 800 languages spoken). PNG holds incredible biodiversity, with 60% of its estimated 11,000 plant species being endemic. Over half of its 762 bird species are also endemic.

Coffee is grown in the mountainous highlands regions of PNG, often at altitudes of over 1,500 m (5,000 ft). The highlands consist of a number of provinces, and much of the coffee is grown in the Eastern Highlands and Western Highlands provinces, more or less in the center of the country. About 70-85% of the coffee is produced by small holders in garden plots; 40% of the population of PNG derives income from coffee farming. There are also larger estates, often owned by Australian or European interests. Here are some of the familiar names in PNG coffee, and the provinces they are grown in:

Western Highlands — Sigri Estate, near Mount Hagen in the Waghi valley; Kalanga, also in the Waghi valley.

Eastern Highlands — Kimel Estate; Arokara Estate; Goroka Estate, near town of same name; Arona Estate; Purosa “estate,” really a co-op of about 2,600 farmers of the Highlands Organic Agriculture Co-operative Ltd (HOAC) in the Purosa/Okapa region.

Morobe Province — Primarily small holders.

Much of the coffee is grown organically, either passive or certified, especially that of small holders.

Some of the coffee stock in PNG came from Jamaica’s Blue Mountain region. Other types grown are the bourbon variety Arusha (Kenya/Tanzania), and the low-growing, higher yield Mundo Novo and caturra. These varied origins give PNG coffee its own character, which is different than that of the regions that surround it. Generally, it is not as earthy or leathery as other Indonesian coffees (although small holder sources may be a bit wilder, due to the hand-processing done in each village). It is a little lighter bodied, with the brightness of Central Americans, and also has a touch of the African mild fruitiness.

We will be presenting short reviews of several PNG coffees soon. The 2007 crop is being harvested, and there will be a “Pride of PNG” competition in October, so we will do further reviews when new coffees arrive at roasters.

I’ve had some PNGs I loved, and some I’ve hated. I think it’s really important to support PNG small holders and the incredible biodiversity there, so the C&C tasting panel is looking forward to bringing you these reviews and more information on their origins.

Coffee review: Allegro Coffee Santa Adelaida

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On June 12, 2007

In Coffee reviews, Latin America

Plainspoken Coffee. A Coffee Review for Ordinary People by Ordinary People, #25.

We enjoy reviewing coffees from El Salvador, a country which has lost over 90% of its native forest cover, with 80% of its remaining tree cover represented by shade-grown coffee. Be sure to check our previous backgrounder on El Salvador coffees, which includes several reviews and the importance of the country to birds, with a number of links. Our latest tasting from El Salvador is Allegro Coffee Roasters Santa Adelaida.

Santa Adelaida cooperative is located south of San Salvador, in the Balsamo mountains near the San Salvador volcano, at an altitude of about 1200 meters. Nearly all the 500 members grow the bourbon variety on approximately 650 hectares.

In 2003, Allegro chose Santa Adelaida as one of their High 5 recipients. The High 5 For Farmers program provides support directly to the farms where the organic coffee is produced by providing $10,000 to growers to complete much needed community based projects in education, health care, agricultural programs and farm development.  The 2003 project helped the co-op recover from hurricane damage.

The coffee is Rainforest Alliance certified and certified organic, and can be purchased at Whole Foods Markets.  It was a light roast, and provided a snappy, juicy start, followed by medium-bodied sweetness.  Tasters detected hints of maple candy and caramel.  It had a really nice, creamy mouthfeel and a lingering finish.  It was a classic Central American, with just enough nuances to be considered a bit more interesting than many others from similar origins and making it our favorite El Salvador to date!  3.75 motmots.

See also Coffee Review’s 2003 review, when it scored 88 points.

Research: Ants eat more coffee borers on shade farms

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On June 6, 2007

In Research on coffee growing

Testing ant predation on the coffee berry borer in shaded and sun coffee plantations in Colombia. I. Armbrecht and M. C. Gallego. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 124:261-267.

The study took place in Apia, Colombia (Risaralda dept.). Prior to the 1990s, this was primarily a shade coffee region, but outside owners came converted farms to sun coffee. Annually about 5% of the crop is lost to the coffee borer or broca, Hypothenemus hampei, an African pest which arrived in Colombia in 1988.

Three shaded and three sun coffee plantations were examined. Canopy cover averaged 79% with 302 shade trees per hectare in shade farms, and 29% and 33 trees per ha in sun farms. A previous study in the same farms found a higher leaf litter ant
diversity in shaded farms than sun farms (32.3 species per square meter
versus 24.3). Although most of the life of the broca is spent inside the coffee cherry, fallen infected cherries are an important source of infestation, so studying the impact of ground ants is relevant. Previous studies in Colombia have also found that ants feed on broca at all their life stages.

More ant species (16) were attracted to broca in shade farms than sun farms (12). More broca adults were removed from traps by ants in shade farms (30.5%) than in sun farms (15.5%).  This provides strong evidence that native ground-dwelling ants are attracted to and feed on broca adults, and that shade management has a positive effect on this biocontrol. The introduction of the broca in Colombia has led to a dramatic increase in pesticide use, which may also be negatively impacting ant biodiversity.

The two shade plantations that had greater than 10 species of shade trees and used no pesticides in this study are la Playita and la Esperanza (not to be confused with the better-known Esperanza estate from Huila, Colombia, H on map). I did not find any sources of coffee from these specific farms, so they may only be contributing to a cooperative.

Recent sustainability awards

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On June 1, 2007

In Coffee and the environment, Coffee awards and competitions, Coffee news and miscellany

Rainforest Alliance Cupping for Quality. This event was started in 2004 as a competition for Rainforest Alliance certified coffees. The most recent cuppings took place last December and in April, with over 100 samples submitted. There are many top-flight sustainable coffees available; I was disappointed to see that most of these coffees scored under 90 points (specialty coffee = 80 or greater).

Here are the top farms:

  1. La Esmeralda, Panama, 90.04. Arguably, the most famous and pricey specialty coffee in the world.  We offered background here and a review here. It also won first place in the SCAA 2007 Roasters Guild Cupping Pavilion Competition earlier this month (for the third year in a row), and the Best of Panama, once again, last month. We have a jar on my desk to save up to try this one again. It just sold at auction for $130/pound, $80 more per pound than last year, it is just not worth it.  It was very distinctive and interesting, but this pricing reflects novelty/celebrity status.
  2. Carmen Estate Coffee S.A., Panama, 88.96.
  3. Santa Teresa, El Salvador, 88.25. (All bourbon coffee from four farms, from western El Salvador in Ahuachapan, is milled at the Santa Teresa Estate.)
  4. Finca Medina, S.A., Guatemala, 87.46 (Antigua;10% of the farm is regenerated native forest.)
  5. Grupo Aguadas de Caldas, Colombia, 87.04.

SCAA Sustainability Awards.  Established in 2004, this award recognizes specialty coffee companies that have created innovative projects to expand sustainability within the coffee world while inspiring others to initiate similar endeavors. These are the winners for 2007 announced earlier this month.

  • Poabs Organic/Biodynamic Estates, India. In the Nelliyampathy hills in the Western Ghats (Palakkad district, Kerala), pioneers of organic farming not only of coffee, but also tea and other crops.
  • Selva Negra Coffee Estate, Nicaragua. Sustainable coffee producer — read about their shade production, which incorporates Smithsonian Bird-Friendly criteria.
  • International Paper Company and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. For producing the first hot beverage cup made from fully renewable resources (ecotainer), a compostable corn-based material produced in a greenhouse-gas neutral manufacturing process.
  • SOPPEXCCA, Jinotega, Nicaragua. Cooperative alliance of coffee producers with many community initiatives, as well as a move from conventional to organic production.

Rainforest Alliance Green Globe Awards. RA honored companies which significantly advanced the goals set forth by the Rainforest Alliance and have integrated environmental and social sustainability into their work at their 20th anniversary gala last month. Honored were:

    • Caribou Coffee. Caribou has made a larger commitment than any other big coffee house to buying RA-certified beans, and they are up-front about exactly how much they use. By 2008, Caribou Coffee has pledged that 50 percent of its coffees will come from Rainforest Alliance-certified farms. Caribou Coffee’s lines that currently bear the seal, and the percentage certified in each blend include:    — Daybreak – 50 percent
      — Colombia – 100 percent
      — Guatemala El Socorro – 100 percent
      — Caribou Blend – 75 percent
      — Fireside Blend – 30 percent
      — Espresso Blend – 75 percent
      — French Roast Blend – 75 percent
      — Reindeer Blend – 30 percent
      — Perennial Blend – 30 percent
      — Amy’s Blend – 50 percent

 

  • NestlÁ© Nespresso SA. Okay, this is why I take a somewhat dim view of some of RA’s work. This recognition is for their AAA Sustainability Program. I’ve read through their whole web site, and the emphasis here is more on quality than environmental practices, and seems to lack stringent environmental criteria. Although this is a partnership with RA, it is not indicated that RA certification criteria are even required.  Some of the individual projects seem quite worthwhile. But even if we could agree that this particular program is completely righteous, it supplies 30% of Nespresso’s beans (50% by 2010).  Nespresso is a subsidiary of NestlÁ© and represents only a small amount of the total  beans purchased by this huge company which has a poor track record on many environmental issues, including pollution, water rights, and recycling (read more at Responsible Shopper).  I just can’t get behind rewarding a company like this unless they make an across-the-board effort to clean up their act.
  • Another award went to innocent, a UK smoothie brand.

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