Certifications / Coffee awards and competitions / Rainforest Alliance

Rainforest Alliance Cupping for Quality 2009

As we did last year, Coffee & Conservation attended the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Coffee Breakfast at the SCAA annual show. The breakfast took place this morning. The winners of the sixth annual “Cupping for Quality” event were announced. These awards recognize Rainforest Alliance (RA) certified coffee farmers dedicated to growing top quality beans, while protecting the environment and the rights of workers.

This year, 80 RA certified farms in 11 countries (Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama) participated. Coffee from 94% of the participating farms received scores of 80 or above, although none scored over 89. The average score for the top 10 farms was 85.08; last year it was 86.39.

Here are the top 10 farms. I’ve provided links and information where available. After the country-based summary, I’ve concluded with some comments.

  1. Hacienda La Esmeralda — Panama (88.99). No surprise here, the Peterson’s farm nearly always grabs the top slot in any contest. Last year it also came in first in this competition, when it scored 89.93.
  2. Santa Elisa Pachup — Guatemala (85.74). In 2007, this farm came in 5th place in the Guatemala Cup of Excellence. From the photo on that site, it looks like the shade is rather sparse — shade monoculture or polyculture. However, 113 ha of the 493 ha total is forest, natural or in the process of being reforested.
  3. La Pampa — Guatemala (84.96). This farm didn’t make the top ten last year, with a score of 84.63.
  4. Finca Santa Anita — Costa Rica (84.92).
  5. Grupo Asociativo San Isidro — Colombia (84.58). A 93-member Fair Trade co-op from Huila. In 2004, researchers found the uncommon endemic Dusky-headed Brush-finch (Atlapetes fuscoolivaceus) in forested land owned by the cooperative.
  6. Sumatra Mandheling Rainforest — Indonesia (84.56).
  7. Fazenda Capoeirinha – Ipanema Coffees — Brazil (84.44). Fazenda Capoeirinha is one of three farms operated under the Ipanema name. This coffee is/was a component in Intelligentsia’s popular Black Cat espresso blend, and Ipanema Coffees are also used by Starbucks. From what I’ve been able to determine, this is not shade coffee but grown in sun like much of Brazil’s coffee.  Brazilian law requires habitat preservation, and the Ipanema web site at one point discussed a reforestation goal of 350 ha by 2014 which will create 68 “micro-reserves.” Although corridors are also mentioned, habitat fragments are not as functional as large parcels of intact forest. Perhaps more promising are the 790 ha of wetlands set aside for biodiversity conservation.
  8. Fazenda Lambari — Brazil (84.31). Another large sun coffee farm, and also undertaking a reforestation project as part of their Rainforest Alliance certification.
  9. Gemadro Coffee Plantation — Ethiopia (84.18).  In 2006, I wrote all about this very large farm, owned by a company belonging to a wealthy Saudi sheik. At the time they weren’t Rainforest Alliance certified and it doesn’t look the web site has been updated, so I don’t know what environmental changes have taken place.
  10. Monte Sion (I think this is the correct name, not Siona) — El Salvador (84.17). A small farm (around 35 ha) in the Apaneca mountains.

Here are how each of the participating countries scored:

  • Guatemala (with six farms participating) 83.83; top 3 –  Santa Elisa Pachup (85.74),  La Pampa (84.96), San Diego Buena Vista (83.75)
  • El Salvador (with six farms participating) 83.30; top 3 – Monte Sion (84.17), Las Mercedes (84.13), San Jose (83.39)
  • Costa Rica (with 10 farms participating) 82.58; top 3 – Finca Santa Anita (84.92), Rincon Socola (83.56), Espiritu Santo Estate Coffee (83.18)
  • Brazil (with 10 farms participating)  82.42; top 3 – Capoeirinha — Ipanema Coffees (84.44), Fazenda Lambari (84.31), Pinheiros — Sete Cachoeiras State Coffee (83.33)
  • Colombia (with 24 farms participating) 82.30; top 3 -Grupo Asociativo San Isidro (84.58), Grupo Aguadas (83.94), Grupo Anserma (83.90)
  • Nicaragua (with six farms participating) 82.13; top 3 –Selva Negra (83.49), Los Placeres (82.97), Finca Organica y Reserva El Jaguar (82.13)
  • Honduras (with 7 farms participating) 80.57; top 3 -El Derrumbo (81.65), La Guama (80.96), El Cascajal (80.83)
  • Mexico (with eight farms participating) 80.25; top 3 – Finca Arroyo Negro (82.87 — they showed a photo of a jaguar taken in the coffee production area at the breakfast — very impressive!), Finca Kassandra (82.64), Oaxacafe (82.61)
  • Panama, Indonesia & Ethiopia each had only one farm participating.

There are some nice farms here, but what is striking is the variety of sizes and levels of shade management represented in these RA certified farms. While RA certification is not wholly concerned with shade or biodiversity, the variation in these farms highlight the differences in RA ecological criteria and that of Smithsonian Bird-Friendly certification. I’ve spoken to a lot of consumers, and their overall impression is that RA certification is an ecological one and they generally believe that it indicates that the coffee is shade grown. This is not always the case (or even the intent). I will echo a sentiment I’ve heard several times from coffee professionals: I wish RA could come out with some sort of tiered or categorical certification scheme that would clarify things for consumers.

That being said, what I love about RA’s Cupping for Quality awards is that they provide extra incentive for producers to move toward sustainable practices. This includes those that preserve biodiversity, even if they are not as rigorous as Smithsonian’s Bird-Friendly requirements. This annual recognition and emphasis on quality (especially with RA’s partnership with the Coffee Quality Institute), is likely to stimulate more price premiums than can be generated by the certification itself. Ultimately, increased profit can be the best motivator for producers to pursue sustainability and certification.

Coffee news and miscellany

C&C hits the SCAA expo

Once again C&C will be at the SCAA‘s Annual Exposition. This year it takes place in Atlanta on April 16 to 19. I’ll be there along with my husband Darrin, permanent member of the C&C tasting panel, fellow coffee farm explorer, and all-around partner in crime. We’ll once again report on news and events related to sustainable coffee, such as the Rainforest Alliance Cupping for Quality award winners, SCAA’s sustainability award, and related lectures such as the one on coffee and climate change. The featured portrait country this year is Nicaragua. We have a lot of thoughts and comments after our recent trip there, and we’re holding off on posting them so we can put them in context after we’ve attended several programs on coffee in Nicaragua.

Research on coffee growing

Research: Coffee and sacred groves in India

Comparing tree diversity and composition in coffee farms and sacred forests in the Western Ghats of India. 2009. S. Ambinakudige and B. N. Sathish. Biodiversity and Conservation 18:987-1000.

The Western Ghats of India is a global biodiversity hotspot with high endemism. And like many other tropical montane regions, a lot of coffee is grown there. This study took place in the Kodagu (a.k.a. Coorg) district of Karnataka state, where both arabica (Coffea arabica) and robusta (C. canephora) coffee are grown. It’s one of the most densely forested areas remaining in India.

There are several types of land tenure and timber rights in the coffee lands of India. On unredeemed land, the coffee farmer owns the land, but the government owns the rights to the trees; tree rights belong to the farm owner on redeemed lands; and sacred groves are forest patches with little human impact used for communal activities that are the most pristine forests left in the region. The study was straightforward: comparing the diversity and abundance of trees in each category of land ownership.

The results regarding tree diversity were unsurprising, with sacred groves containing the more species (62) and more unique species (51) than either of the land tenures planted in coffee. The most common species in the sacred groves was Dimocarpus longan, a native fruit tree.

Redeemed and unredeemed lands had nearly the same number of species (38 and 39), but examination of dominant species showed the influence of government regulations on timber rights. On unredeemed coffee lands, where the government owned the tree rights, rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia), was most common. A high-value native timber tree, it can only be harvested under special license. On redeemed coffee lands, the most common tree was Grevillea robusta. This Australian tree is commonly used as a shade tree in Indian coffee farms. It grows quickly, straight and tall, so it is used as a living trellis for a common companion crop (pepper vines) before it is harvested for timber.

Species composition in these plots is not static, and highlights the ironic destructive nature of laws designed to protect native tree species in this region. In interviews with coffee farmers that were part of this study, it was found that growers were concerned about coffee prices and wanted to plant timber trees to hedge against low prices. Grevillea was not only planted in redeemed lands for this reason, but farmers were also planting it in unredeemed lands because it is easier to get permission to harvest non-native trees (Grevillea is apparently totally unregulated). This is encouraging the planting of Grevillea, where it is supplementing or (more often) replacing native species.

Not only does this diminish tree biodiversity, but diversity of other species as well. Birds, for instance, that depend on insects to eat find fewer insects adapted to feed on non-native vegetation. In another study, an increase in Grevillea from 33% to 55% was associated with 91% reduction in the abundance of one restricted-range, endemic species, the Malabar (Crimson-fronted) Barbet (Megalaima malabarica), shown above.

This has implications for any type of shade certification scheme that might be used in India, as encouragement of “shade” without adjustment to regulations regarding harvesting native species will only further serve to promote planting of more non-native trees, especially Grevillea.

Photo of barbet, taken in Karnataka, by Shiva Shankar. Used by permission.

Coffee news and miscellany

Nicaragua's Finca El Jaguar in the news

On my recent trip to Nicaragua, I was fortunate to have a chance to meet Lili and Georges Duriaux-ChavarrÁ­a, owners of Finca El Jaguar, a forest reserve and shade coffee farm in Jinotega. They were completely charming, and I was impressed with their devotion to bird conservation. We weren't able to visit Finca El Jaguar this time, but definitely plan to do some bird banding there on our next trip.

Eco-Index, an online compilation of Neotropical conservation projects provided by Rainforest Alliance, has a really nice interview with Georges which describes their work with sustainable coffee, community, and conservation. Please check it out. 

I've reviewed their organic, Rainforest Alliance certified coffee, which is available from Allegro Coffee Roasters at Whole Foods. Great coffee from great people and a great place. You can't beat that.