The prize was awarded by an independent international jury of nine experts who chose the best among the winners of the 9 single-origins that make up the recipe of the unique illy blend: Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Nicaragua and Rwanda.

The SMS Cluster ECOM of Nicaragua won the Coffee Lovers’ Choice award, voted for by consumers around the world who in the weeks leading up to the event blindly tasted the same samples in illy coffees.

“For the second year in a row, a Brazilian company that adopts regenerative practices has given us the best coffee in the world. In the Fazenda Serra do Boné, the health of the soil, biodiversity, and water sources are preserved thanks to the use of organic fertilizers, biological control and the reuse of processing by-products,” said Andrea Illy, chairman of illycaffè. “We are once again noticing important signs that confirm how regenerative agriculture is the right path towards a more resilient production capable of guaranteeing productivity and superior quality, of which coffee is the forerunner with the highest growth rates.”

The panel of judges who selected the Best of the Best included Massimo Bottura, chef patron of Osteria Francescana and founder of Food for Soul; Viki Geunes, chef-owner of three-Michelin-starred Zilte in Antwerp; Felipe Rodriguez, head chef at São Paulo’s Rosewood Complex; Vanúsia Nogueira, executive director of the International Coffee Organization (ICO); Q Grader professional tasters Felipe Isaza and Dessalegn Oljirra Gemeda; journalists Vanessa Zocchetti (Madame Figaro), Sebastian Späth (Falstaff), and Josh Condon (Robb Report).

The jury described Fazenda Serra do Boné’s award-winning coffee as creamy, sweet, and full-bodied, with an elegant balance of fresh fruit aromas, caramel undertones, subtle hints of brown sugar, and a persistent chocolate finish with floral notes of jasmine – a beautifully complex coffee that perfectly embodies its Brazilian origin.

This year’s event attracted a diverse group of public figures, including Francis Ford Coppola, Marina Abramović, Pat Cleveland, Alex Riviere, Chiara Maci, Candela Pelizza, Tamu McPherson, Sveva Alviti, Christoph Leitner, Simon e Marina Ksandr, Nick Lowry, Maddy Devita, Justine Martilotti, and Brittany Leigh Ball. The celebration of coffee excellence took place at a gala dinner at Peak in Hudson Yards, hosted by Spanish TV journalist Olivia Frejus Lloyd.

Beyond awards, the Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award fosters global discussions on coffee sustainability. The day began at the United Nations headquarters in New York where representatives from across the coffee supply chain gathered for a roundtable discussion titled “Global Coffee Alliance: Mobilizing a Public-Private Fund to Fight Climate Change.” The panel, moderated by Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation, featured chairman Andrea Illy, Italian Ambassador to the UN, Maurizio Massari; executive director of the ICO, Vanúsia Nogueira; chef and UNEP Goodwill Ambassador, Massimo Bottura; UNIDO project manager, Andrea De Marco; senior director of sustainable coffee at Conservation International, Raina Lang; and UNEP director for the New York office, Jamil Ahmad; who explored initiatives to advance sustainable coffee production in the face of climate challenges.

The panel emphasised the urgent need to transition coffee cultivation to a regenerative model to enhance resilience, improve farmer livelihoods, and reduce environmental impact. A major focus was on establishing a USD $10 billion public-private fund over the next decade, which will target smallholder coffee farmers in tropical regions heavily impacted by climate change.

“Since Expo 2015, we have worked tirelessly to build a framework to protect coffee for generations to come,” said Andrea Illy. “Regenerative agriculture has shown it can produce high yields and quality while restoring natural resources. We must act quickly to scale these solutions globally through an international fund. It is essential we implement regenerative solutions now, as we see they work and deliver positive outcomes.”

Throughout the discussion, panelists underscored the importance of uniting stakeholders from governments, international organisations, and the private sector to bring impactful, lasting change to coffee-growing communities. Reichenbach highlighted that consumer awareness and participation are key drivers in the industry’s sustainability journey.

The post Brazil’s Fazenda Serra do Boné wins the 2024 EIICA ‘Best of the Best’ appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

Producers from nine countries – Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Nicaragua, and Rwanda – have earned spots in the final, with three producers representing each country. The international jury will gather in New York on 12 November to taste and evaluate the coffees, which were selected by illycaffè’s quality laboratories based on rigorous quality and sustainability criteria throughout the 2023/2024 harvest.

The Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award 2024 jury includes Massimo Bottura, chef patron of Osteria Francescana and Casa Maria Luigia and founder of Food for Soul, a non-profit organization combatting food waste and social isolation. In recognition of his humanitarian and environmental efforts, Bottura was appointed goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme in 2020 and most recently as SDG Advocate. In 2020 Osteria Francescana was awarded the prestigious Michelin Green Star for sustainability; Viki Geunes, chef and owner of restaurant Zilte in Antwerp, holder of three Michelin stars, known for his creative and visually stunning dishes; Felipe Rodrigues, head chef of the Rosewood Complex in São Paulo and one of South America’s leading chefs, with experience working under top European and Peruvian chefs.

Three professional tasters, Vanúsia Nogueira, executive director of the International Coffee Organization (ICO) and daughter of coffee producer, with extensive experience in quality coffee markets; Felipe Isaza, Arabica Q Grader and member of the Board of Directors of the Coffee Quality Institute, who has served as an international juror at numerous tastings; Dessalegn Oljirra Gemeda, Ethiopian coffee consultant and Q Grader, with a background working for the Ethiopian Coffee & Tea Authority, Ethiopian Coffee Exchange, and Oxfam.

And three expert journalists: Vanessa Zocchetti, editor-in-chief of the lifestyle section of Madame Figaro, who writes on gastronomy and design, Sebastian Späth, editor-in-chief of Germany´s leading food and lifestyle magazine Falstaff, with a great expertise in art, cuisine, fashion, and design, and Josh Condon, editor-in-chief of Robb Report, a leading luxury magazine.

This multidisciplinary jury combines culinary, technical and journalistic expertise to assess the complex nuances of the world’s finest coffees and choose the ‘Best of the Best.’

In addition, consumers will have the chance to participate by tasting the 9 finalist coffees and voting for their favourite in a series of blind tastings held at illy flagship stores worldwide. The coffee with the most votes will receive the ‘Coffee Lovers’ Choice’ award.

The post Illycaffè announces jury for the Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

After hitting a 50-year low in production in 2021/22,Costa Rica’s coffee output has been rebounding. The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agriculture Service estimates total production of approximately 1.44 million 60-kilogram bags of green coffee in 2023/24, which is up over 15 percent from two years ago. This increase is attributed to better plant management, positive initial flowering, and stabilised fertiliser costs.

Costa Rican producers have been actively innovating for the global specialty coffee market. For example, producers are responding to a trend towards increased product differentiation through microlots, which allow them to capture higher sales prices. The number
of coffee mills has increased from 184 in 2011/12 to 304 in 2021/22,with many new micro-mills
servicing small groups of farms.

Despite production increases, the number of coffee growers in Costa Rica continues to decline. As of 2021/22 (the most recent dataset), there were 26,704 farmers, down nearly 50 percent from 10 years earlier. Factors contributing to this decline include long periods of low coffee prices, aging farmers, and high land prices near urban areas.

The industry faces ongoing challenges with labour supply, particularly for harvesting. Most of the coffee harvest depends on large numbers of temporary foreign workers from Nicaragua and Panama. There have been concerns about changing immigration flows affecting labour availability.

Costa Rica’s economy is increasingly shifting towards services, with the tourism, pharmaceutical, and IT sectors growing rapidly. This economic diversification is providing more attractive employment options for the children of coffee farmers, potentially further impacting the future labour supply for coffee production.

The local Costa Rican currency’s depreciation has also negatively impacted the coffee industry.
The exchange rate has reached its lowest point in 14 years, reducing the competitiveness of Costa
Rican coffee on the international market and causing significant financial losses for exporters and mills.

Improving Resilience
Despite challenges, Costa Rica maintains its reputation for high-quality coffee. The country continues to participate in prestigious events like the Cup of Excellence, with some producers making it to the 2023 finals.

Climate change is threatening coffee-growing areas in Costa Rica, specifically the Coto Brus region. By 2050, absent adaptation measures, experts at the World Resources Institute (WRI) in Washington, DC maintain that climate change “will reduce the global areas suitable for growing coffee by about 50 percent.” An WRI study outlined key findings from this region, including some of the main challenges facing the coffee sector. It also examined existing factors that present opportunities to enhance climate resilience. The study recommends actions that can be taken to improve the sector’s climate resilience and long-term sustainability.
During the course of their research, the WRI’s team of researchers conducted a literature review, interviews, a workshop and field visits with coffee farmers, government ministries, funders, and other stakeholders.
Despite the study’s local focus, the lessons and experiences shared are relevant for other coffee-growing regions and countries: Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Uganda, among others. These are the places where coffee producers are facing some of the harshest the effects of climate
change, and the researchers hope that it will serve as a tool and inspiration for accelerating adaptation action.

Despite the benefits of medium- and long term planning to accomplish the large-scale transformative changes, WRI’s experts concluded that the coffee sector will need to adapt to intensifying climate impacts. However, they found that most producers are integrating smaller, short-term, incremental adjustments that might not be sufficient in the long term.

WRI developed a program to assist Costa Rica’s government as it mapped out short-term, medium-term, and long-term adaptation pathways that are inclusive, equitable, and participatory. WRI developed a framework which underscores that, in some situations and locations, incremental adaptation measures will prove insufficient in the years to come to fully reduce growing risks from climate change impacts. In these situations, more fundamental, or transformative, changes – which may entail creating pathways toward new systems more suitable for changing climate conditions – will be needed to maintain the communities’ livelihoods in the long term. Such changes will often include shifting the mix of crops grown
and livestock raised in particular areas, employing substantially new technology at broad scale, and/or altering the production landscape from one type to another. The first year of WRI’s technical assistance
effort focused on stakeholder engagement, research, and in-country discussions via workshops to introduce the concept of transformative adaptation and establish a dialogue on climate adaptation, vulnerabilities, and impacts. These discussions were held with coffee producers, cooperatives, ministry
officials, research organisations, financing entities, and the private sector, among others.

Findings from these conversations are being used to inform the drafting of a national coffee strategy.
The focus of the second year of the project focused on the lessons learned from the coffee growing region of Coto Brus to better inform, guide, and finance climate resilience efforts for these communities, while extracting insights for other coffee-growing regions in the country.

Reviving Production in Coto Brus

The Coto Brus district, located in the Brunca region, is one of the country’s eight coffee growing areas identified by the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Instituto del Café de Costa Rica; ICAFE) and one of the smallest contributors to national production. Coto Brus was chosen by government counterparts in response to smallholder farmers’ requests for support and because this area has been experiencing a rapid decline in coffee production and is highly vulnerable to climate change. In the second year,
WRI conducted literature reviews, expert interviews, farm visits, and a full-day workshop in Coto Brus with key stakeholders.

By 2050,absent adaptation measures, up to half of the areas currently suitable for coffee cultivation in Coto Brus is predicted to become unsuitable across both low and high emissions
pathways scenarios. (For more details, consult the various research reports and studies published by Oriana Ovalle Rivera of the CATIE – Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza – which is located in Turrialba, Cartago, Costa Rica.) Central areas are projected to be more adversely affected while a few locations are projected to see an increase in suitability.

Efforts to increase Coto Brus coffee farmers’ resilience by addressing the most immediate climate change impacts have begun. However, few farmers incorporate adaptation into their planning and huge implementation gaps persist, despite a broad awareness of sustainable practices. According to interviewees, some farmers are further behind than others — especially smallholders with more limited
resources. Despite the benefits of medium-term and longer-term planning to accomplish the large
scale transformative changes the coffee sector will need to adapt to intensifying climate impacts, most producers and the sector are integrating smaller, shorter-term, incremental adjustments that might not be sufficient in the longer-term.

WRI’s study identified key recommendations to increase the short-term, medium-term, and long-term climate resilience of the coffee sector. The recommendations include:
• Promote adaptation options identified by local stakeholders, provide regular technical follow up, and support farmers in exploring additional medium-term and longer-term measures.
• Establish baselines and monitor the impacts of adaptation measures. Building the evidence of farms’ vulnerabilities while tracking the results of adaptation efforts can help maximise the allocation of limited resources over the short, medium, and long terms and inform where and when transformative pathways will be needed. Transformative pathways are coordinated sequences of short to-long-term actions or projects intended to prepare agricultural systems for unprecedented climate conditions.
• Map when and where coffee is likely to lose viability in the coming decades and explore transformative and equitable pathways toward climate resilience, with stakeholder participation (particularly relevant for MAG, ICAFE, and MINAE). At-risk farmers should be supported to experiment with different crops,
technologies, and even livelihoods like eco tourism that will serve them better over the longer term.
• Reinforce existing institutions and enabling factors to increase the uptake of adaptation measures and build greater resilience in Coto Brus. These include strengthening farmer associations and cooperatives, as well as farmer-to-farmer learning; promoting more strategic cross-sectoral alliances; and strengthening support for programs focused on sustainable practices.
• Develop farmer-tailored skills trainings and guidance to build farmers’ capacities to manage costs and access credit and financing, so they can more easily invest in adaptation measures.
• Create open communication channels within public and private entities to bridge crucial information flow gaps around climate risks, existing vulnerabilities, and options to support the implementation of adaptationmeasures. Providing producers with clear, complete, and practical information on different financing options is also essential.

• Gordon Feller, based in California, travels the world reporting about innovations that can change our economies and strengthen small enterprises. Since 1980 he’s been publishing
  reports and magazine articles about coffee/tea innovations on five continents. He is both an ABE Fellow – Japan Fdn and Global Fellow – The Smithsonian

The post Costa Rican Coffee Faces an Uncertain Future appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

Throughout the year, illycaffè’s quality laboratories analysed samples from the 2023/2024 harvest, selecting the best batches and producers based on both qualitative and sustainability criteria.

The finalists for this edition come from Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Nicaragua, and Rwanda.

“Sustainable quality is the result of a process that begins in the coffee plantations and requires constant innovation, research, and training. It means producing high-quality coffee with respect for the environment, biodiversity, human rights, and social well-being. The Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award has become an annual appointment with our best producers worldwide, with whom we have worked hand in hand for decades to ensure a prosperous future for people and the planet,” commented Andrea Illy, chairman of illycaffè.

The 27 finalists for the Ernesto Illy International Award 2024, listed alphabetically by country, are:

Brazil:

• Fazenda São João – Décio Bruxel e Outros
• Fazenda Serra do Boné – Matheus Lopes Sanglard
• Fazenda Vila Oscarlina – Flávio da Costa Figueredo

Costa Rica

• Coopelibertad R.L.
• CoopeSabalito R.L.
• Finca San Carlos de Marespi S.A.

El Salvador

• Finca Agua Caliente – J.J. Borja Nathan S.A.
• Finca Bolívar – Matorral de S.A. de C.V.
• Finca San Rafael – Comercial Larin S.A. DE C.V.

Ethiopia

• Darimo Washing Station Plc – Asma International Business Pvt Ltd
• Gera Tracon Washing Station Plc – Tracon Trading P.L.C.
• Jemila Amdela Washing Station Plc – Legesse Sherefa Pvt Ltd Co.

Guatemala

• Finca Danilandia – Luis Arimany Monzón
• Finca Santa Leonarda – Plantaciones Agropecuarias S.A.
• Pequeños Productores Santa Cruz Naranjo

Honduras

• Finca Diego Paz – Diego Paz Paz
• Finca Don Miguel – Miguel Angel Pérez Guevara
• Finca El Carmen – Jorge Aníbal Peña Maldonado

India

• Coovercolly Estate – Tata Consumer Products Ltd.
• Kajjehally Estate – S. Vasudevan
• Margolly Estate – Tata Consumer Products Ltd.

Nicaragua

• Finca Santa Ana – Aida Lila Zeledón Palacios
• Grupo productores – Olam Nicaragua
• SMS Cluster ECOM Nicaragua

Rwanda

• Karenge Coffee Washing Station
• Kibirizi Coffee Washing Station
• Rwinyoni Coffee Washing Station

The ranking of each of the nine finalist countries will be announced on 12 November at the United Nations in New York during an event where coffee producers will learn who has won the Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award 2024.

The previous edition of the Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award was won for the first time by Brazil, with the São Mateus Agropecuaria farm. This achievement is particularly significant as the coffee was produced using regenerative agricultural practices, which benefit the environment and health while producing exceptionally high-quality coffee.

The post Finalists of the Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award revealed appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

Over the course of the six auctions, 21,661 bids were placed from buyers for the 192 winning lots. When the three minute clock struck zero at the end of the final auction, over 2.6 million dollars had been raised. Out of the 706 registered bidders 128 were successful placing the highest bid to own a winning lot.

Costa Rica garnered the highest gross auction amount of USD $655,786, almost $271,000 more than in 2023, although every country improved their totals from 2023. Honduras took home the top price of $136.50lb for its first place coffee. Together the 192 total lots averaged $21.54lb. 2024 was the first year that coffees were divided by processing technique. Natural, washed and experimentally processed coffees were all represented in the winning lots having been separated during the competition.

The full programme began in early Spring in Nicaragua with the call for farmer entries and it ended on Tuesday 13th July with Mexico holding its final very busy auction. Each country held a full 3-week competition to determine which coffees would score high enough to be awarded a CoE and sold online to the highest bidder. Coffees receiving a CoE award undergo intense scrutiny from both a national jury and an international jury during the competition process. The lots being auctioned scored between the minimum required score of 87 to a high of 93.62.  A total of 172 professional cuppers from 24 countries scored the winners through the multiple phases of the competition process. A total of 39 lots scored over 90 points, 31 of the winning farms are owned by women and 37 are owned by farmers experiencing their first Cup of Excellence competition.

Sample sets of the winners were sent out to roasters wanting to score the coffees again at their place of business. Almost 500 complete sets of winning lots were sent to companies in North America, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Each lot was also processed to meticulous standards and vacuum packed before the auctions occurred.

Honduras celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. Guatemala held its first CoE in 2001, Nicaragua in 2002, El Salvador in 2003, Costa Rica in 2007 and Mexico in 2012. Identification of farmers, infrastructure development, technical training and quality improvement are often the result of the Cup of Excellence programme.

For more information contact support@cupofexcellence.org

The post Cup of Excellence Central America draws to a close appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

The I-CIP averaged 216.89 US cents/lb in April, a 16.4% increase from March 2024. The I-CIP posted a median value of 221.99 US cents/lb, having fluctuated between 193.39 and 235.50 US cents/lb. The April 2024 I-CIP is above the April 2023 I-CIP by 21.5%, with the 12-month rolling average at 172.01 US cents/lb. The I-CIP grew steadily in April 2024, reaching a 13-year high. Following a similar trend, the Robustas price also hit a 45- year high, reaching its highest level since July 1979, when it averaged 195.90 US cents/lb.

In the first half of April 2024, the I-CIP surged 21.8% from 193.39 to 235.50 US cents/lb on the back of heavy rainfall in Minas Gerais, Brazil, which will affect the country’s 2024/25 supply. Vietnam also continues to face supply difficulties on the back of poor harvests in coffee years 2022/23 and 2023/24. On 26 March, Vietnam’s agriculture department projected that its national coffee production in the 2023/24 crop year could drop by –20% to 1.472 million metric tonnes, the lowest in four years, due to drought. This was reflected in the surging domestic Robusta green bean price in the country, which rose to over 132,000 VND/KG by 26 April from an average of 80,000 VND/kg on 15 February 2024 and 61,000 VND/kg in mid-November 2023. The surge was broken on 19 April on the back of three factors: (i) recovery of ICE warehouse stocks; (ii) profit taking on the paper market (the net long position on the ICE’s Europe market retreated by 5,042 lots between 16 and 23 April 2024); and (iii) the strengthening dollar (moving from 5.29 Real to 1 US$ on 16 April to 5.12 Real to 1US$ on 30 April). As a result, the I-CIP fell to 218.10 US cents/lb by 30 April.

The Colombian Milds and Other Milds increased by 15.0% and 14.8%, reaching 241.80 and 239.73 US cents/lb, respectively, in April 2024. The Brazilian Naturals presented the strongest increase amongst all coffee groups, at 17.8%, reaching an average of 218.77 US cents/lb. The Robustas grew by 16.8% to 193.65 US cents/lb in April 2024, the highest level in 45 years. ICE’s London market was also a strong driver of the growth, increasing by 18.5% to 176.04 US cents/lb, whilst the New York Futures market expanded by 18.1% to 217.97 US cents/lb, a 20-month high.

The Colombian Milds–Other Milds differential expanded from 1.41 to 2.07 US cents/lb. The Colombian Milds–Brazilian Naturals differential contracted 6.0% to 23.03 US cents/lb, whilst the Colombian Milds–Robustas differential expanded 8.4% from March to April 2024, averaging 48.14 US cents/lb. Meanwhile, the Other Milds–Brazilian Naturals differential shrank 9.2% reaching 20.96 US cents/lb. However, the Other Milds–Robustas and the Brazilian Naturals– Robustas differentials both expanded 7.1% and 26.1%, averaging 46.07 and 25.11 US cents/lb, respectively, in April 2024.

The downtrend of the Arabica and Robusta arbitrage, as measured between the London and New York Futures markets, is now over two years long, falling from 130.30 US cents/lb in April 2022 to 41.93 US cents/lb in April 2024, i.e. a 67.8% decline. However, measured against March 2024, the arbitrage expanded by 16.3% in April 2024.

Intra-day volatility of the I-CIP increased by 0.9 percentage points to 8.0% between March and April 2024. The Colombian Milds’ and Other Milds’ volatility increased to 8.5% and 8.2%, respectively. Meanwhile, the Brazilian Naturals’ volatility grew by 0.9 percentage points to 9.0% from March to April 2024. The Robustas presented an average volatility of 9.1% for the month of April. The London Futures market’s volatility also increased by 0.3 percentage points to 9.7%. Lastly, the New York futures market’s volatility moved in the same direction to that of London, reaching 9.1%, a 0.5 percentage point increase.

The London certified stocks expanded by 27.4% to 0.63 million 60-kg bags. Certified stocks of Arabica coffee reached 0.64 million 60-kg bags, a 1.7% increase since March 2024.

Exports by coffee groups – green beans

Global green bean exports in March 2024 totalled 11.87 million bags, as compared with 10.85 million bags in the same month of the previous year, up 9.4%. As a result, the cumulative total for coffee year 2023/24 to March is 62.64 million bags, as compared with 56.36 million bags over the same period a year ago, up 11.1%. The Brazilian Naturals and Robustas were the two main groups responsible for the overall strong growth observed in March 2024, together accounting for 91.5% of the 1.02-million-bag net gain in total exports. This further consolidated their already-dominant positions, increasing their combined share of the total exports to 72.5% in March 2024 as compared to 70.8% in March 2023. For the year to date, the combined share is an even higher 73.4%.

Shipments of the Other Milds decreased by 1.6% in March 2024 to 2.19 million bags from 2.22 million bags in the same period last year. As a result, the growth rate of the cumulative volume decreased to 4.2% in the first six months of coffee year 2023/24 to 9.87 million bags, as compared with the 6.0% growth rate in the first five months. In March 2024, 15 of the 29 origins in this coffee group saw their exports fall, with Costa Rica, Guatemala, Laos and Uganda suffering the largest absolute losses. On the opposite side, Ethiopia, Honduras, Papua New Guinea and Peru saw the highest absolute net gains.

Green bean exports of the Brazilian Naturals increased in March 2024, rising by 19.0% to 3.57 million bags from 3.0 million bags in March 2023. For the first six months of coffee year 2023/24, green bean exports of the Brazilian Naturals amounted to 21.36 million bags, up 17.5% from 18.19 million bags over the same period a year ago. The sharp positive growth rate stems from the 16.1% increase in exports of the Brazilian Naturals from Brazil, the biggest producer and exporter of this group of coffee, which rose to 3.07 million bags in March 2024 from 2.64 million bags in March 2023.

Exports of the Colombian Milds increased by 12.8% to 1.07 million bags in March 2024 from 0.95 million bags in March 2023. As a result, exports of the Colombian Milds for the first six months of coffee year 2023/24 are up 11.5% at 6.25 million bags, as compared with 5.6 million bags in the first six months of coffee year 2022/23. The double-digit growths, for both the current month and coffee year to date, are a consequence of the 11.9% weather-driven fall in exports in coffee year 2022/23 and subsequent normalization of supply conditions in Colombia, the largest producer and exporter of the Colombian Milds. For the current month and cumulative total to March 2024, the country’s exports of the Colombian Milds are up 12.4% and 13.1%, respectively.

Green bean exports of the Robustas were up 7.8% to 5.04 million bags in March 2024 from 4.68 million bags in March 2023. The cumulative total for the first six months of coffee year 2023/24 is up 8.9%, at 25.16 million bags, as compared with 23.1 million bags in the first six months of coffee year 2022/23. The main driver of March’s Robustas increase was Brazil, which shipped 0.85 million bags as compared with 0.11 million bags in March 2023, up 686.1%.

Exports by regions – all forms of coffee

Exports of all forms of coffee from Asia & Oceania decreased by 9.7% to 4.54 million bags in March 2024. The two main sources of the near double-digit downturn are Indonesia and Vietnam, which saw their exports fall by 33.5% and 10.2%, respectively, to 0.31 million bags and 3.22 million bags in March 2024. As a result, Indonesia’s exports to date in coffee year 2023/24 are down 21.8% at 3.04 million bags, the lowest level since coffee year 2018/19. The fundamental reason behind the fall is the shortage of local supply due to the poor harvest in coffee year 2023/24, which is estimated at 10.0 million bags as compared with 11.98 million bags in the previous coffee year. Vietnam’s latest performance is mitigated by the unusually high exports seen in March 2023, when the country shipped 3.58 million bags, the second highest March exports on record. To put this into perspective, the March 2024 exports of 3.22 million bags are above the average March volume from 2019 to 2023 (3.12 million bags).

Exports of all forms of coffee from Africa increased by 12.6% to 1.19 million bags in March 2024 from 1.06 million bags in March 2023. As a result, the cumulative total of 6.22 million bags for the first six months of coffee year 2023/24 is up 0.6% as compared with the 6.18 million bags shipped in coffee year 2022/23. Ethiopia was the driving force behind the region’s growth in March 2024, with its own exports having increased by 112.8% to 0.38 million bags from 0.18 million bags in March 2023. The size of the rebound is due to a favourable base effect and a comparative normalization of market circumstances. Contract disputes arising from a mismatch between local purchasing prices and global market prices had previously affected the volume of exports, leading March 2023’s shipment to be the lowest since 2012.

In March 2024, South America’s exports of all forms of coffee increased by 33.1% to 5.49 million bags. As a result, the cumulative total of 33.56 million bags for the first six months of coffee year 2023/24 is up 28.7% as compared with the 26.07 million bags shipped in coffee year 2022/23. The source of the strong positive growth is Brazil, which saw its exports increase by 38.8% in March 2024 to 4.31 million bags. The size of the latest growth of Brazil’s export volume remains a reaction to the 20.2% fall in the March 2023 exports (3.1 million bags). Fundamentally, South America’s and Brazil’s strong export performance reflects Brazil’s good harvests in coffee years 2022/23 and 2023/24, estimated to be up by 8.4% and 9.2%, respectively.

In March 2024, exports of all forms of coffee from Mexico & Central America were down 1.9% to 1.78 million bags, as compared with 1.82 million in March 2023. As a result, the cumulative total exports are down 3.0% from October 2023 to March 2024 at 5.74 million bags, as compared with 5.91 million bags for the same period a year ago.

Exports of coffee by forms

Total exports of soluble coffee decreased by 4.8% in March 2024 to 1.06 million bags from 1.11 million bags in March 2023. In the first six months of coffee year 2023/24, a total of 6.16 million bags of soluble coffee were exported, representing an increase of 4.0% from the 5.92 million bags exported in the same period during the previous coffee year.

Soluble coffee’s share in the total exports of all forms of coffee for the year to date was 8.9% in March 2024, down from 9.5% in the same period a year ago. Brazil is the largest exporter of soluble coffee in March 2024, having shipped 0.35 million bags.

Exports of roasted beans were up 11.5% in March 2024 to 68,467 bags, as compared with 61,396 bags in March 2023. The cumulative total for coffee year 2023/24 to March 2024 was 0.37 million bags, as compared with 0.36 million bags in same period a year ago.

For the full report, visit: icocoffee.org.

The post Robusta prices reach 45-year high in April appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

The I-CIP averaged 186.36 US cents/lb in March, a 2.4% increase from February 2024. The I-CIP posted a median value of 185.64 US cents/lb, having fluctuated between 181.39 and 193.26 US cents/lb. The March 2024 I-CIP is above the March 2023 I-CIP by 9.6%, with the 12-month rolling average at 168.82 US cents/lb. The I-CIP grew steadily in March 2024, reaching an 18-month high. Remarkably, the Robustas have reached their highest level since October 1994 when they averaged 169.43 US cents/lb.

The Colombian Milds increased by 0.4% whilst the Other Milds remained stable with a 0.0% change, thereby reaching 210.27 and 208.88 US cents/lb, respectively, in March 2024. The Brazilian Naturals presented a decline of 0.5%, reaching an average of 185.77 US cents/lb. However, the Robustas grew by 8.2% to 165.84 US cents/lb, the highest level in almost 30 years. The Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE) London market was also a strong driver of the growth, having increased by 4.3% to 148.53 US cents/lb, whilst the New York Futures market contracted by 0.4% to 184.59 US cents/lb.

The Colombian Milds–Other Milds differential expanded from 0.75 to 1.39 US cents/lb. The Colombian Milds–Brazilian Naturals differential grew 7.5% to 24.51 US cents/lb, whilst the Colombian Milds–Robustas differential shrank 21.1% from February to March 2024, averaging 44.43 US cents/lb. Meanwhile, the Other Milds–Brazilian Naturals differential grew 4.9% reaching 23.12 US cents/lb. However, the Other Milds–Robustas and the Brazilian Naturals–Robustas differentials both contracted 22.5% and 40.5%, averaging 43.04 and 19.92 US cents/lb, respectively, in March 2024.

Arbitrage, as measured between the London and New York Futures markets, retracted by 16.0% to 36.06 US cents/lb in March 2024.

Intra-day volatility of the I-CIP increased by 0.3 percentage points to 7.1% between February and March 2024. The Colombian Milds’ and Other Milds’ volatility decreased to 7.5% and 7.7%, respectively. Meanwhile, the Brazilian Naturals’ volatility declined by 0.7 percentage points to 8.1% from February to March 2024. The Robustas presented an average volatility of 8.8% for the month of March. The London Futures market’s volatility also decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 9.4%. Lastly, the New York futures market’s volatility moved in the same direction to that of London, reaching 8.6%, a 0.3 percentage point decline.

The London certified stocks expanded by 22.1% to 0.49 million 60-kg bags. Certified stocks of Arabica coffee reached 0.63 million 60-kg bags, an 80.8% increase since February 2024.

Exports by Coffee Groups – Green Beans
Global green bean exports in February 2024 totalled 10.43 million bags, as compared with 9.52 million bags in the same month of the previous year, up 9.5%. These are the largest February exports on record, beating the previous record set in 2019 of 10.34 million bags. The magnitude of the latest increase in exports of green beans, however, is more a reflection of a favourable base effect and a comparative normalisation of supply. From December 2022 to June 2023, the exports of green beans fell consecutively, with the cumulative total decreasing by 8.2% to 66.92 million bags, the lowest level seen for those same seven months since December 2016 to June 2017.

The cumulative total for coffee year 2023/24 to February is 50.82 million bags, as compared with 45.5 million bags over the same period a year ago, up 11.7%. Brazil was the main origin driving the growth, with exports expanding by 59.9% in February 2024 to 3.38 million bags from 2.11 million bags in February 2023, while among the different groups, the Brazilian Naturals were responsible.

Shipments of the Other Milds increased by 4.2% in February 2024 to 1.91 million bags from 1.83 million bags in the same period last year. Peru, the second largest producer and exporter of the Other Milds, continues to be the main driver of the growth of this group of coffee, with the origin’s exports thereof increasing by 178.6% to 0.18 million bags from 0.06 million bags in February 2023, representing an increase of 65.5% for the year to date (2.27 million bags). Peru’s exports of the Other Milds are on track to be the third biggest on record. As a result, the cumulative volume of total exports of the Other Milds also increased by 6.6% in the first five months of coffee year 2023/24 to 7.72 million bags, versus 7.24 million bags over the same period in 2022/23.

Green bean exports of the Brazilian Naturals increased in February 2024, rising by 36.6% to 3.16 million bags from 2.59 million bags in February 2023. For the first five months of coffee year 2023/24, green bean exports of the Brazilian Naturals amounted to 17.73 million bags, up 16.7% from 15.19 million bags over the same period a year ago. The sharp positive growth rate stems from the 38.4% increase in exports of the Brazilian Naturals from Brazil, the biggest producer and exporter of this group of coffee, which rose to 2.77 million bags in February 2024 from 2.0 million bags February 2023.

Exports of the Colombian Milds increased by 14.7% to 1.12 million bags in February 2024 from 0.98 million bags in February 2023. As a result, exports of the Colombian Milds for the first five months of coffee year 2023/24 are up 13.1% at 5.27 million bags, as compared with 4.65 million bags in the first five months of coffee year 2022/23. The double-digit growths, for both the current month and coffee year to date, are a consequence of the 11.9% weather-driven fall in exports in coffee year 2022/23 and subsequent normalization of supply conditions in Colombia, the largest producer and exporter of the Colombian Milds. For the current month and cumulative total to February 2024, the country’s exports of the Colombian Milds are up 15.4% and 13.2%, respectively.

In contrast to the Arabicas, green bean exports of the Robustas were down 3.7% to 4.24 million bags in February 2024 from 4.4 million bags in February 2023. Despite this, the cumulative total for the first five months of coffee year 2023/24 is up 9.2%, at 20.11 million bags, as compared with 18.41 million bags in the first five months of coffee year 2022/23. The main driver of February’s Robustas decrease was Vietnam, which shipped 2.54 million bags as compared with 3.17 million bags in February 2023, down 19.9%. Indonesia’s Robusta exports were also down 48.1%, with a net fall of 0.13 million bags.

Exports by Regions – All Forms of Coffee
Exports of all forms of coffee from Asia & Oceania decreased by 17.0% to 3.97 million bags in February 2024. The main source of the double-digit downturn is Vietnam, which saw its exports fall by 19.7% to 2.73 million bags in February 2024 from 3.4 million bags in February 2023. The size of the fall is the result of an unfavourable base effect, with the February 2023 export volume 1.04 million bags larger than the February average of the past six years (2.36 million bags).

On balance, Vietnam’s February 2024 export volume should be deemed at a healthy level, benefitting from high and rising local prices (the local green bean price increased to an average 80,000 VND/kg on 15 February 2024, from 61,000 VND/kg in the middle of November 2023) and triggering the release of stocks as farmers took advantage. Moreover, the Tet (lunar new year, which fell on 10 February 2024) would have brought additional supply to the market as farmers sought extra income for the most important social calendar date for the country and its people.

In February 2024, South America’s exports of all forms of coffee increased by 41.7% to 4.93 million bags. The source of the strong positive growth is Brazil, which saw its exports increase by 51.0% in February 2024 to 3.64 million bags – the second highest February exports on record for the origin. The overall recovery of Brazil’s export volume remains a reaction to the 31.8% fall in the February 2023 exports 2.41 million bags, the lowest February exports since 2.23 million bags in 2013. In coffee year 2022/23, Brazil’s exports declined by 7.9% to 36.5 million bags, the lowest level since the 32.69 million bags shipped in coffee year 2017/18. To date, Brazil’s exports are up 24.6% to 12.84 million bags.

Exports of all forms of coffee from Africa increased by 14.6% to 0.98 million bags in February 2024 from 0.86 million bags in February 2023. However, the cumulative total of 4.99 million bags for the first five months of coffee year 2023/24 remains down 2.5% as compared with the 5.1 million bags shipped in coffee year 2022/23. Ethiopia was the driving force behind the region’s increased exports in February 2024, with its own exports having increased by 103.9% to 0.2 million bags from 0.1 million bags in February 2023. The size of the rebound is due to a favourable base effect and a comparative normalization of market circumstances.

Contract disputes arising from a mismatch between local purchasing prices and global market prices had previously affected the volume of exports, leading February 2023’s shipment to be the lowest since 2010.

In February 2024, exports of all forms of coffee from Mexico & Central America were down 2.7% to 1.45 million bags, as compared with 1.49 million in February 2023. As a result, the cumulative total exports are down 3.9% from October 2023 to February 2024 at 3.94 million bags, as compared with 4.1 million bags for the same period a year ago. Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala were the main origins behind the region’s negative growth, with exports down 24.5%, 40.3% and 5.7%, respectively, and a combined net loss of 58,812 bags. Partly counterbalancing these origins were Honduras and Mexico, with a combined net export gain of 24,756 bags in February, up 2.0% and 6.5%, respectively.

Exports of Coffee by Forms
Total exports of soluble coffee decreased by 18.2% in February 2024 to 0.85 million bags from 1.04 million bags in February 2023. In the first five months of coffee year 2023/24, a total of 5.05 million bags of soluble coffee were exported, representing an increase of 5.0% from the 4.81 million bags exported in the same period during the previous coffee year.

Soluble coffee’s share in the total exports of all forms of coffee for the year to date was 9.0% in February 2024, down from 9.5% in the same period a year ago. Brazil is the largest exporter of soluble coffee in February 2024, having shipped 0.26 million bags.

Exports of roasted beans were up 14.1% in February 2024 to 56,425 bags, as compared with 49,439 bags in February 2023. The cumulative total for coffee year 2023/24 to February 2024 was 0.32 million bags, as compared with 0.3 million bags in same period a year ago.

For the full report, visit: icocoffee.org.

The post ICO reports that Robusta levels surge; South America exports jump 41.7% appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

The coffee industry is well known for its strong collaborative community, where individuals gather to discuss opportunities and challenges, share successes, and brainstorm solutions. The concept of collaborative roasting takes this a step further, with roasters joining together to share both space and equipment. The creation of these spaces has helped to make coffee more accessible, while also becoming incubators for advancements in the industry, providing a space to explore new technology and equipment as the costs are shared amongst multiple members.

The Canadian Roasting Society (Montréal, Canada) has adopted the collaborative roasting model to propel the coffee industry forward in its local region. Established in 2018, partners Andrew Kyres and Scott Rao wanted to advance the coffee industry in their local community, including providing space and equipment. Today, they have created a modern roasting facility with a 5,000 square foot warehouse and the ability to store 75,000 pounds of coffee.

The space is open for individuals or companies to use their resources, including a custom-built Probat roasting machine, weighing, filling and sealing machines, reverse osmosis filtration systems, storage space for green coffee, coffee tasting and brew laboratory and access to qualified personnel and on-site data analysis. There is a pre-established fee, avoiding the high start-up costs that individuals in the industry.

Breaking down barriers

The standard process for collaborative roasting involves a founder making a significant capital investment and then sharing their resources with others in the coffee community for a pre-set fee.
Leonardo Azeredo, founder of Co-Roasting, based in France, was intrigued by the concept of this model but pondered if it could be done differently; specifically, if instead of renting a space and the equipment for roasters to use, there was equipment in his community that was currently not being maximised. In 2018, while Azeredo was completing his executive MBA, he began researching if this type of model would be possible. His research, which involved interviewing over 100 roasters in France, revealed that more than 80 percent said that they used their equipment only two days a week.

The collaborative roasting model proposed by Co-Roasting was centered around maximising the existing resources by developing a digital platform that could pair individuals seeking a roaster with owners of roasters that were not used to their total capacity. “If they want to be a host, it’s not only a matter of having equipment that is not being used to its full capacity, but also about having a willingness to share knowledge to help develop the competence of someone looking to get into the field,” said Azeredo. Specifically, he is seeking members who are aligned with the Co-Roasting community’s core values of integrity, respect, sharing, and empathy and are willing to share their equipment and become part of an entrepreneurship incubator.

Checking coffee beans during roasting at Cafés Muda. Images credit: Co-Roasting

“I strongly believe that people need to have accountability for their decisions, and if someone is looking to quickly start their business, collaborative roasting is a good way to start,” said Azeredo. “We can do things differently and continue to innovate with a collective intelligence; our vision is to create a full value chain of collaboration.”

This includes extending the collaborative model beyond the individuals who use the equipment and the hosts of the equipment to other key players in the industry, including equipment suppliers, software manufacturers, and producers. “Our vision is to create this kind of ecosystem, to help accelerate the process of being able to provide and give access to good coffee to the consumer.” Currently, Co-Roasting has close to 50 members, including users, hosts, producers, and equipment manufacturers, in France, Belgium and Brazil, and it plans to expand into other regions.

Building bridges

Could producer ownership be a new form of collaboration? On 22 February 2024, Paso Paso opened its doors, presenting the coffee community with a new version of collaboration involving producer investment. Bram De Hoog, the visionary of this concept, actively sought out producers from across the globe to develop a company centered around producers coming together to co-own a roastery and, in turn, empower producers to represent themselves in the European market.

“Each business has its complications, challenges, and the investments that it needs to succeed, but I could see some of our clients from the importer side opening up a coffee shop and expanding their roasting business from purchasing ten bags to 100 bags over the course of only a few years,” said De Hoog. “I just didn’t see the same potential for growth on the coffee producer side.” All participants, which currently includes five producers and De Hoog, are registered shareholders of the company based in Germany and are actively involved in making decisions and profit-sharing.

“I wanted to be very egalitarian and very straightforward – basically, if you invest money in the roastery, you will get shares in it, there’s no further complication to it,” said De Hoog. The roastery, which is based in Hannover, Germany, is currently being operated by De Hoog, while the producers, who reside in their respective countries, are involved in all company decisions, which includes committing to monthly meetings to discuss strategy and financing.

The producers, who are currently located in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ethiopia and Nicaragua, each have unique limitations that they face within the coffee industry but jointly shared that they were seeking a solution that would actively make a difference in their lives. Part of the motivation for launching Paso Paso was to prove to the industry that the existing model can be changed; specifically, the industry should actively seek ways to increase producer involvement across the entire coffee chain.

De Hoog, who has extensive experience as a green coffee buyer, had previously established positive relationships with each producer involved in the project. He hand-picked the participating producers, who stood out for their dedication, passion, and open-mindedness to challenge the status quo.

“I was inspired by Bram because it really is a unique business model. It is very different from what we see out there and the normal way of selling coffee. We’re feeling like pioneers,” said Diego Baraona, coffee producer at Los Pirineos, El Salvador. “It’s kind of like a redistribution of power, giving a bit more to the producers and essentially starting to change the industry.”

The producers shared that one of the unexpected benefits of creating the company has been gaining insights from the different perspectives of each investor and then using these insights to make decisions about the company. “We are combining our knowledge in our specific fields and putting a team together that is going to make sure that this project will [move] forward,” said Daniela Vega, producer of Roble Negro, Costa Rica. “The business model is so different itself, [which makes it] attractive, [so] you want to participate and give your ideas to help the company grow because it’s your company as well.” Vega explained that she has felt a shift in the coffee industry as a whole as more individuals recognise the value producers provide to the industry and the necessity for increased economic acknowledgement.

Sorting coffee at Bette Buna farm in Ethiopia. Image credit: Hester Westerveld

The journey from concept to company launch has been a complex path. However, the producers have learned a lot about the industry and the logistics that come into play when developing a company with multiple owners from across the globe. “We’re showing already that you can make the impossible possible, and my only hope for the future is that this team will become even tighter,” said Hester Syoum Westerveld, coffee producer at Bette Buna in Ethiopia. “People talk about doing things differently and taking action, but we are actually just doing it and showing that it is possible. It has not been an easy process to start.”

Signing the paperwork, for example, required using embassies and notaries in respective countries or flying to Germany to complete all the documentation. De Hoog shared that he went to 13 separate banks before finding one that would agree to sign on with the company. However, all members persevered in transforming the company from concept to reality. They are now looking forward to a future where there are opportunities for producers to play a more active role in the industry.

“We’re able to break that supply chain and set it up differently. Our goal is to create stability for our producers and develop an integrated loop between what we are producing, what we are roasting, and what we are selling,” said De Hoog. [We] hope to grow the company so that, say, in five years from now, the roastery is buying all of the coffee from a producer and expanding the opportunity to others.”

The continued adoption of the collaborative roasting model will challenge the industry to break down traditional boundaries and continually reinvent how the market can share a good cup of coffee. Coffee has always been a collaborative industry, with players coming together to develop solutions that will help ensure that the industry is sustainable. The model of collaborative roasting is another piece of the puzzle providing current and future players with tools and resources to propel the industry forward.

• Anne-Marie Hardie is a freelance writer, professor and speaker based in Barrie, Ontario. She may be reached at: annemariehardie1@gmail.com.

The post Strengthening the coffee community: collaborative roasting appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

The award, named after the visionary leader of illycaffè and the son of the company’s founder, celebrates the work that the Trieste, Italy-based company has been doing every day for the last 30 years, side-by-side with coffee farmers, to offer the best possible sustainable coffee. The award was presented to the winner by illycaffè chairman Andrea Illy during an event held at the New York Public Library in New York.

EIICA celebrates the finest Arabica coffees sourced from all over the world. This event aims to recognize growers for the quality coffee they tirelessly work to produce. The award was assigned by an independent panel of nine experts who examined the best batches from the 2022-2023 harvest through a blind tasting of nine coffees from the nine finalist countries: Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Nicaragua, and Rwanda. Prior to being evaluated by the panel, each batch of coffee was analysed by illycaffè’s quality control labs and rated in terms of richness and aromatic complexity, the elegance and balance of its flavour and intensity of its aroma.

Guatemala’s Finca Danilandia di Luis Arimany Mondonico won the Coffee Lovers’ Choice Award, assigned by a panel of consumers who, in the weeks prior to the event, carried out blind taste tests of the coffee samples in illy cafés in Trieste, Milan, Paris, London, Sao Paolo and New York and ranked their preferences.

“The absolute victory of the Brazilian coffee coming from regenerative agriculture – chosen blindly among the nine best coffees in the world – fills me with joy. Indeed, the history of the Ernesto Illy Award began in Brazil in 1991 and this confirms that the rewards received, by illycaffè for having transformed Brazil from a leader in quantity to a leader in quality are well-deserved,” said Andrea Illy. “After more than 25 years of neverending and tireless work by our team of agronomists and the University of Coffee, the leap has finally happened thanks to regenerative agriculture, which we decided to develop in 2018 for the benefits it brings to the environment and everyone’s health.”

The panel that voted for the Best of the Best award included Guatemala’s professional taster Silvia Escobar; the President of Federação dos Cafeicultores do Cerrado, Brasilian Glaucio De Castro; the director of the CoffeeLab quality laboratory, Indian Sunalini Narayan Menon; chef Ricard Camarena, who has been awarded two Michelin stars and a green star for his dedication to sustainability at his Ricard Camarena Restaurant in Valencia; American chefs Carrie and Rupert Blease, who manage the Michelin-starred Lord Stanley restaurant in San Francisco; Andrea Aprea, a Michelin-starred chef with a restaurant bearing his name in Milan; French writer and journalist Adelaide de Clermont-Tonnere, editor-in-chief of Point de Vue magazine; Inga Griese, founder and editor-in-chief of ICON, the style supplement of the German newspaper Welt Am Sonntag; Angelina Villa Clarke, a journalist contributing to prestigious English-language publications including Forbes.

Commenting on the winning coffee, the jury said, “This year’s Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award winner is a rounded, wholesome, and fully bodied cup, with rich yet mellow flavors of a balance of chocolate, caramel, brown sugar, and toasted almonds on a bed of refined brightness, with a lingering finish of mild, gentle, yet harmonious sweetness. It truly represents the finest taste characteristics of its origin.”

Martha Stewart, Matilda De Angelis, Pat Cleveland, Coco Rocha, Candela Pelizza, Tamu Mc Pherson, Carlo Sestini, Simon and Marina Ksandr, Nick Lowry, Tesa Pesic are some of the celebrities who attended the gala event at the New York Public Library, hosted by chef and TV star Marcus Samuelsson, to celebrate the best coffee producers who work behind the unique illy blend.

The Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award is also an unmissable networking opportunity for all those involved in the coffee industry, from producers to exporters, from traders to institutional representatives. In the morning they all met at the United Nations Headquarters to attend a panel discussion on protecting the future of coffee. Alongside illycaffè chairman Andrea Illy, speakers included Vanusia Nogueira, executive director, International Coffee Organization; Jeffrey Sachs, professor of economy at Columbia University and co-chair at the Regenerative Society Foundation; Oscar Schaps, president of the Latin American division of Stone X Financial Inc; and Glaucio de Castro, president of the Federação dos Cafeicultores do Cerrado Mineiro. (For a full recap of the event at the UN, see the Editor’s Blog: “The time is now” to invest in regenerative agriculture (teaandcoffee.net).

The post Brazil’s São Mateus Agropecuaria wins top award at the 2023 EIICA appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

Green Coffee Price
The ICO Composite Indicator Price (I-CIP) averaged 153.13 US cents/lb in September, posting a median value of 152.74 US cents/lb and fluctuating between 147.86 and 160.17 US cents/lb.

The Robustas remained at a near-record high in September, staying firmly above the 120.00 US cents/lb mark. The Colombian Milds and Other Milds decreased by 1.4% and 1.7%, to 184.98 and 183.52 US cents/lb, respectively, in September 2023. The Brazilian Naturals and Robustas both contracted by 0.3% and 0.6%, reaching an average of 154.19 and 123.89 US cents/lb, respectively. ICE’s New York market fell by 1.9%, whilst the London Futures market shrank by 2.0%, to 153.55 and 109.14 US cents/lb, respectively.

The Colombian Milds-Other Milds differential grew 79.1% to 1.46 US cents/lb. The Colombian Milds-Brazilian Naturals differential shrank 6.4% to 30.79 US cents/lb, whilst the Colombian Milds-Robustas differential also contracted 2.9% from August to September 2023, averaging 61.09 US cents/lb. Meanwhile, the Other Milds-Brazilian Naturals and the Other Milds-Robustas both contracted 8.6 and 4.0%, reaching 29.33 and 59.63 US cents/lb, respectively. However, the Brazilian Naturals-Robustas differentials expanded 0.9%, averaging 30.30 US cents/lb in September 2023.

In September 2023, the Colombian Milds-Other Milds Arabica differential fluctuated between positive and negative.

Arbitrage, as measured between the London and New York Futures markets, narrowed by 1.8% to 44.41 US cents/lb in September 2023. This marks the lowest point since October 2019, when arbitrage sat at 44.07 US cents/lb.

Intra-day volatility of the I-CIP followed a consistent downtrend, reaching 6.3%, a 0.7 percentage point decrease between August and September 2023. The Robustas presented the strongest volatility decrease, with a 1.3 percentage point drop, averaging 7.4% for the month of September. The Colombian Milds’ and Other Milds’ volatility also contracted to 6.5% and 6.8%. Meanwhile, the Brazilian Naturals’ volatility dropped by 0.7 percentage points to 8.1% from August to September 2023, whilst the London futures market’s volatility also decreased by 2.1 to 7.3%. Lastly, the New York futures market’s volatility moved in the same direction as London, retracting by 0.9 percentage points and reaching 7.7% for New York.

The New York and London certified stocks moved in opposite directions, where London grew 25.7% to 0.73 million 60-kg bags, whilst certified stocks of Arabica coffee reached 0.49 million 60-kg bags, a 13.8% decrease.

The absence of market participants, as evidenced by the falling exports (see Exports by Coffee Groups – Green Beans), continued to prevail over the I-CIP, explaining the overarching trajectory of the I-CIP in September. However, currency movements, market sentiments, dwindling supplies, weather and the fundamentals all played their part in the coffee price movements in September, which saw the I-CIP rally, before falling once again due to foreign exchange movements.

From 22 August to 19 September 2023, the I-CIP recovered, increasing from a low of 148.79 to 160.17 US Cents/lb, ie, an increase of 7.6%. This came on the back of reports of heavy rain in Brazil and a continued fall in the certified stocks held at the New York ICE warehouses. Somar Meteorologia, a Brazilian meteorology company, reported on 5 September that Brazil’s Minas Gerais region, the country’s largest coffee producing region, received 22.8 mm of rain in the past week, or 308% of the historical average, leading to speculation regarding a delay in the completion of Brazil’s coffee harvest. Meanwhile, ICE’s Arabica inventories fell to a low of 0.49 million bags in September. The impact of these positive factors was more profound on the prices of the Arabicas, particularly the Brazilian Naturals which rallied by 5.3% and 81.%, respectively.

Nevertheless, this rally was halted and reversed by the sharp weakening of the real against the US dollar. From 19 to 29 September the real depreciated by 3.2%, from 4.87 to 5.03, while the I-CIP fell by 7.1% over the same period. Once again, the negative impact was felt relatively more by the Arabicas (-8.1%) and particularly the Brazilian Naturals (-9.3%) as compared with Robustas (-5.9%). The price of the Robustas fell at a relatively slower rate due to Vietnam’s current dwindling supply (see Exports by Regions – All Forms of Coffee), with supply from the 2023/24 harvest still at least two months away in November at the earliest.

Exports by Coffee Groups – Green Beans
Global green bean exports in August 2023 totalled 9.36 million bags, as compared with 9.07 million bags in the same month of the previous year, up 3.2%. As a result, the cumulative total for 2022/23 to August is 102.9 million bags, as compared with 108.26 million bags over the same period a year ago, down 5.0%.

Shipments of the Other Milds decreased by 9.7% in August 2023 to 1.99 million bags from 2.2 million bags in the same period last year. As a result, the cumulative volume of exports continued to fall, decreasing by 12.2% in the first 11 months of coffee year 2022/23 to 20.56 million bags, versus 23.42 million bags over the same period in 2021/22.

Green bean exports of the Brazilian Naturals increased in August 2023, rising by 10.2% to 3.06 million bags. For the first 11 months of coffee year 2022/23, green bean exports of the Brazilian Naturals amounted to 31.5 million bags, down 8.0% from 34.22 million bags over the same period a year ago. Changes to the fortunes of the Brazilian Naturals are mainly due to changes in Brazil’s total green bean exports, the biggest producer and exporter of the Brazilian Naturals, which also increased in August 2023 (27.6%) to 3.35 million bags from 2.63 million bags in August 2022.

Exports of the Colombian Milds decreased by 2.1% to 0.84 million bags in August 2023 from 0.86 million bags in August 2022, driven primarily by Colombia, the main origin of this group of coffee, whose exports of green beans were down 5.6% in August 2023. This is the fourteenth consecutive month of negative growth for the Colombian Milds and, as a result, the exports of this group of coffee for October 2022 to August 2023 were down 12.5%, at 9.9 million bags, as compared with 11.32 million bags in the first 11 months of coffee year 2021/22.

Green bean exports of the Robustas amounted to 3.47 million bags in August 2023, as compared with 3.22 million bags in August 2022, up 7.3%. This is the fifth consecutive month of positive growth for the Robustas and, as a result, the exports of this group of coffee for October 2022 to August 2023 were up 4.2%, at 40.94 million bags, as compared with 39.31 million bags in the first 11 months of coffee year 2021/22.

Exports by Regions – All Forms of Coffee
In August 2023, South America’s exports of all forms of coffee increased by 13.0% to 4.98 million bags. This is the first positive growth rate for the region since the 0.3% expansion in June 2022. The source of both the positive and strength of growth is Brazil, which saw its exports increase by 24.4% to 3.67 million bags from 2.95 million bags in August 2022. More specifically, it was the Robustas from the origin, which in August increased by 388.1% to 0.7 million bags from 0.14 million bags, that drove the region’s positive growth. The August 2023 exports are Brazil’s highest on record for Robusta coffee, beating the 696,873 bags exported in December 2014.

Fundamentally, the region’s turnaround is due to the recent downturn in Asia and Oceania, especially in Vietnam, the world’s largest Robusta producer and exporter. Pointedly, Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of Robustas in South America, and it has been taking advantage of the reduced volume of Robustas coming out of Vietnam. It is pertinent to note that Brazil is the fifth biggest exporter of Robustas in the world, having shipped 1.87 million bags in coffee year 2021/22 as compared with the 25.44 million bags exported from Vietnam or the 4.89 million, 4.28 million and 4.03 million bags from Uganda, India and Indonesia, respectively, the second, third and fourth largest exporters. However, in August 2023, Brazilian Robusta exports were second only to Vietnam with 1.34 million bags. To put this into perspective, in August 2023 Brazil exported the equivalent of four-and-half months’ worth of Robustas in a single month (as measured against the total Robusta exports in coffee year 2021/22).

Exports of all forms of coffee from Africa increased by 10.9% to 1.37 million bags in August 2023 from 1.23 million bags in August 2022. For the first 11 months of the current coffee year, exports totalled 10.84 million bags as compared with 12.31 million bags in coffee year 2021/22, down 1.5%. This is the third consecutive month of positive growth rate for the region. The continued global demand for Robustas, as reflected in the latest cumulative positive growth rates for Robusta green bean exports, is the fundamental source of Africa’s positive export growth rate in August. However, like the situation in South America, the reduced volume from the Asia and Pacific region, and more pointedly Vietnam, explains this growth.

Uganda, the largest producer and exporter of Robusta coffee in Africa, took the opportunity to fill the gap in the market left by Vietnam, increasing its exports by 48.4% to 0.74 million bags in August 2023 from 0.5 million bags in August 2022. This represents the second largest monthly exports on record, just behind the 0.79 million bags exported in March 1973.

In August 2023, exports of all forms of coffee from Mexico and Central America were down 2.0% to 1.23 million bags as compared with 1.26 million in August 2022. As a result, total exports are down 2.6% from October 2022 to August 2023 at 14.57 million bags, as compared with 14.96 million bags for the same period a year ago. The relatively shallow negative growth rate of the region masked the dynamic changes at the individual country level.

Two origins experienced strong positive growth rates (Honduras and Nicaragua), with a combined 37.2% increase in August 2023, while three others experienced sharp negative growth rates (Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico), with a combined 20.5% decrease. Honduras and Nicaragua outperformed both the region and group of coffee (Other Milds) to which they predominantly belong in August. This may reflect their competitive edge over other origins in Mexico and Central America – the average export unit value of Arabica green beans for Honduras and Nicaragua was 157 US cents/lb for coffee years 2017/18–2021/22, while it was on average 63 US cents/lb higher for the others (excluding Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica) at 220 US cents/lb.

Exports of all forms of coffee from Asia and Oceania decreased by 14.9% to 2.72 million bags in August 2023 and but were up 1.3% to 41.28 million bags in the first 11 months of coffee year 2022/23. August’s downturn was mainly due to Vietnam, with exports down 23.6% to 1.44 million bags from 1.98 million bags. This is the lowest month of August exports since the 1.4 million bags shipped in 2012. The decrease can be attributed to the depletion of available supply, reflecting the strength of its exports in the first 10 month of the current coffee year, where between October 2022 and July 2023 Vietnam shipped 25.98 million bags –3.3% higher than the same period in coffee year 2017/18, a record exporting year when the origin shipped 29.73 million bags over the full year.

Exports of Coffee by Forms
Total exports of soluble coffee decreased by 4.6% in August 2023 to 0.89 million bags from 9.3 million bags in August 2022. In the first 11 months of coffee year 2022/23, a total of 10.46 million bags of soluble coffee were exported, representing a decrease of 5.7% from the 11.09 million bags exported in the same period during the previous coffee year.

Soluble coffee’s share in the total exports of all forms of coffee for the year to date was 8.6% in August 2023, down from 9.2% for the same period a year ago. Brazil is the largest exporter of soluble coffee, having shipped 0.32 million bags in August 2023.

Exports of roasted beans were down 39.9% in August 2023 to 58,226 bags, as compared with 96,937 bags in August 2022. The cumulative total for coffee year 2022/23 to June 2023 was 0.66 million bags, as compared with 0.77 million bags in same period a year ago.

Production and Consumption
Under the current circumstances, the estimates and outlook of production and consumption for coffee years 2021/22 and 2022/23 remain the same.

World coffee production decreased by 1.4% to 168.5 million bags in coffee year 2021/22, hampered by the off-biennial production and negative meteorological conditions in a number of key origins. However, it is expected to bounce back by 1.7% to 171.3 million bags in 2022/23. Increased global fertiliser costs and adverse weather conditions are expected to partially offset the positive impact of biennial production from Brazil, explaining the relatively low rate of growth in coffee year 2022/23. The impact of biennial production is anticipated to drive the outlook for Arabica, which is projected to increase by 4.6% to 98.6 million bags in coffee year 2022/23, following a 7.2% decrease in the previous coffee year.

Reflecting its cyclical output, Arabica’s share of the total coffee production is expected to increase to 57.5% from 55.9% in coffee year 2021/22. South America is and will remain the largest producer of coffee in the world, despite suffering from the largest drop in output for almost 20 years, which fell by 7.6% in coffee year 2021/22. The recovery in coffee year 2022/23, partly driven by biennial production, is expected to push the region’s output to 82.4 million bags, a rise of 6.2%.

World coffee consumption increased by 4.2% to 175.6 million bags in coffee year 2021/22, following a 0.6% rise the previous year. Release of the pent-up demand built up during the Covid-19 years and sharp global economic growth of 6.0% in 2021 explains the sharp bounce back in coffee consumption in coffee year 2021/22. Decelerating world economic growth rates for 2022 and 2023, coupled with the dramatic rise in the cost of living, will have an impact on the coffee consumption for coffee year 2022/23. It is expected to grow, but at a decelerating rate of 1.7% to 178.5 million bags. The global deceleration is expected to come from non-producing countries, with Europe’s coffee consumption predicted to suffer the largest decrease among all regions, with growth rates falling to 0.1% in coffee year 2022/23 from a 6.0% expansion in coffee year 2021/22.

As a result, the world coffee market is expected to run another year of deficit, a shortfall of 7.3 million bags.

The outlook is taken from the newest publication of the Statistics Section of the Secretariat of the International Coffee Organization (ICO), the Coffee Report and Outlook (CRO). The full CRO can be downloaded from the ICO website: icocoffee.org. For further information, contact the Statistics Section at stats@ico.org.

The post Arabicas drop slightly while Robustas remain firmly above 120.00 US cents/lb appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

Starting this fall, the lab will offer the first wave of educational programming to select Arizona State University (ASU) students and Starbucks partners. The first wave will leverage ASU’s leading educational technology and world-class faculty to enrich the student experience, including study abroad opportunities tied to existing ASU degree programs, such as Sustainability, Sustainable Food Systems, Global Agribusiness, Environmental and Resource Management, among others. Starbucks lab is expected to physically open within the next three years.

For more than a decade Hacienda Alsacia, the company’s first and only company-owned and operated coffee farm, has focused on the sustainability of coffee. The farm is dedicated exclusively to research and development, where the Starbucks team is creating new coffee varieties, testing disease-resistant coffee trees and developing and sharing agricultural practices to produce a higher yield and ensure the future of coffee. While the research and development at Hacienda Alsacia will continue, the lab will expand the capabilities and collaboration needed to cultivate positive social and environmental change beyond coffee.

“This is an opportunity for us to advance Starbucks environmental promise to give more than we take and our farmer promise to ensure the future of coffee for all,” said Laxman Narasimhan, Starbucks chief executive officer. “We know we cannot do this important work alone, and the possibilities in front of us to scale solutions, partner with thought leaders and serve as a global hub for innovation are limitless.”

Starbucks mission extends well beyond its customers, partners and cafes. As a company that buys 3% of the world’s highest quality and ethically sourced arabica coffee from more than 400,000 farmers in more than 30 countries, Starbucks understands its future is inextricably tied to social and environmental challenges. The company has a long-standing commitment to work alongside communities to become a resource positive company, including cutting its carbon, water and waste footprints in half by 2030. In partnership with others, Starbucks is committed to identifying new ways to give more than it takes with the belief that the company can build a great business that scales for good and has a positive impact on the future.

Starbucks and ASU have a long-standing partnership of working together to build educational and innovative programming. Most recently, Starbucks and ASU reached a milestone of graduating more 10,000 partners through the Starbucks College Achievement Program.

“This is an exciting new chapter in our nearly decade-long partnership with Starbucks,’’ said Arizona State University president Michael Crow. “The new sustainability learning and innovation lab will expand on our collaboration together, working closely to tackle critical challenges with a collective commitment to seek new and sustainable approaches that impact global communities.”

The post Starbucks to open sustainability learning and innovation lab in Costa Rica appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

Average prices for all group indicators decreased in November 2022. The Colombian Milds and Other Milds, decreased by 14.8% and 10.9%, respectively, month on month in November. The former averaged 223.22 US cents/lb in November 2022, whilst the latter averaged 213.85 US cents/lb. The Brazilian Naturals fell by 13.4% to 166.54 US cents/lb. The Robustas fell below the 100 US cents/lb mark, averaging 92.59 US cents/lb for the month of November, a 10.1% decline from the previous month. The downturns are in part due to the average 2nd and 3rd positions of the ICE New York futures market, which lost 14.0% in November 2022 over October 2022. The average of the 2nd and 3rd positions of the ICE Futures Europe for the Robustas also shrank by 10.3%. The Colombian Milds-Other Milds differential suffered a month-on-month loss of 57.2%, closing in at 9.37 US cents/lb for November 2022.

The Colombian Milds-Brazilian Naturals and Colombian Milds-Robustas differentials declined by 18.7% and 17.8% to 56.68 and 130.63 US cents/lb in November 2022, respectively. Falling the least was the Other Milds Brazilian Naturals differential, declining by only 1.0%, to 47.31 US cents/lb. The Other Milds Robustas differential lost 11.5% from October to November 2022 reaching 121.26 US cents/lb. The Brazilian Naturals-Robusta differential retracted 17.2% to 73.95 US cents/lb for the aforementioned period.

The arbitrage between the New York and London Futures markets shrunk by 17.5%, falling to 82.13 US Cents/lb in November 2022 from 99.56 US cents/lb in October 2022 precipitated by the faster rate of price decline of Arabica compared with Robusta.

Intra-day volatility of the I-CIP increased 2.2 percentage points between October and November 2022, reaching 9.3%. Robustas and the London futures market were the least volatile amongst all group indicators, at 7.2% and 7.1%, respectively, in November 2022. The Brazilian Naturals’ volatility was the highest amongst the group indicators, averaging 11.9%, a 2.3 percentage point increase from the previous month. The variation in volatility of the Colombian Milds and Other Milds for October to November 2022 is 3.6 to 11.0% and 2.0 to 9.6%, respectively. The New York futures market remained the most volatile, posting an increase of 2.7 percentage points, averaging 12.5% for the month of November 2022.

The New York certified stocks increased by 45.3% from the previous month, closing in at 0.59 million bags, whilst certified stocks of Robusta coffee reached 1.45 million bags, representing a decrease of 4.6%.

Exports by Coffee Groups – Green Beans
Global exports of green beans in October 2022 totalled 8.5 million bags, compared with 8.72 million bags in the same month of the previous year, down 2.5%. The downturn was spread across most of the coffee groups, with the Brazilian Naturals alone starting the new coffee year on a positive footing with an uptick of 0.5%, the third consecutive months of positive growth, exporting 3.44 million bags of green beans.

The positive start to the new coffee year made by the Brazilian Naturals was driven by Brazil, the biggest producer and exporter of the Brazilian Naturals, with a 1.9% increase in the exports of green beans, outweighing the downturns of the other major origins of the Brazilian Naturals group – Ethiopia (-10.9%), Uganda (-6.0%) and Vietnam (-19.5%).

Exports of the Colombian Milds decreased by 4.1% to 0.94 million bags in October 2022 from 0.98 million bags in October 2021, driven by the contractions in Colombia and Tanzania whose exports of green beans were down 6.0% and 2.3%, respectively. Within this coffee group, Kenya alone started the new coffee year on a bright note, exporting an additional 46.2% of green beans in October 2022 as compared with October 2021. The decline in October 2022 is the fourth in a row for Colombia, and another month in which production is at fault for the decreasing exports – in October 2022 Colombia’s coffee output fell by 12%. The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) attributed the decline in production to excess rains due to the La Niña event, which translated into excess water, less sunlight, and fewer blooms in coffee plantations.

Shipments of the Other Milds decreased by 4.3% in October 2022 to 1.3 million bags from 1.36 million bags in the same period last year. Guatemala (-28.0%), Honduras (-49.2%) and Peru (-8.4%) were behind this fall. In Honduras, the coffee industry continues to struggle with leaf rust, which is affecting production, while Guatemala’s output is being hampered due to climatic reasons and the availability of labour, all of which are having a knock-on effect on the countries’ exports.

Of the four coffee groups, the Robustas have recorded the worst performance in the new coffee year 2022/23, with exports falling by 4.8% to 2.82 million bags from 2.96 million bags. Except for India and Indonesia, all major origins within the Robustas group saw their exports of green beans fall in October 2022 – Uganda (-6.0%) and Vietnam (-19.5%). Uganda is still facing drought in most of its coffee-growing regions, which has led and is continuing to lead to lower outputs and, subsequently, lower exports.

Exports by Regions – All Forms of Coffee
In October 2022, South America’s exports of all forms of coffee decreased marginally by 0.2% to 4.99 million bags. The marginality of the growth rate was largely the result of increases in the exports of Brazil (1.1%) and Ecuador (48.3%), edged by the decreases in exports of Colombia (-2.3%) and Peru (-9.4%).

Exports of all forms of coffee from Asia and Oceania totalled 3.17 million bags in October 2022, 10,000 bags greater than in October 2021. The region’s miniscule growth rate, however, belies the strong growth rates amongst the major origins; India and Indonesia made gains of 15.1% to 0.54 million bags and 34.5% to 1.12 million bags, respectively, while Vietnam suffered a 19.5% fall to 1.37 million bags.

Exports of all forms of coffee from Africa decreased by 2.4% to 1.1 million bags in October 2022 from 1.13 million bags in October 2021. Ethiopia and Uganda were the two main origins behind the region’s downturn in exports in October 2022, with the respective growth rates of shipped coffee at -10.9% and -6.0%. The fact that Africa’s decrease of exports was softer than as suggested by the growth rates of the region’s top two biggest exporters is down to the counterweights of Burundi (316.7%), Côte d’Ivoire (83.2%) and Kenya (46.3%). However, the greater-than-normal growth rates of the three origins do not reflect fundamental changes to the respective domestic coffee industries but are technical anomalies due to large negative growth rates in October 2021. Burundi’s exports of all forms of coffee were down 66.5% and Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya by 79.1% and 54.1%, respectively.

In October 2022, exports of all forms of coffee from Mexico and Central America were down 14.6% to 0.49 million bags as compared with 0.57 million in October 2021. Of the 12 origins in the region only the Dominican Republic (10.5%), Mexico (1.1%) Nicaragua (24.6%) and Trinidad & Tobago (259.2%) saw exports increase in October 2022. Honduras exports fell by 49.2% in October 2022, with the volume of all forms of coffee shipped decreasing to 40,842 bags as compared with 80,328 bags. The origin continues to suffer from the impact of leaf-rust which affected the output of coffee year 2021/22 and is now having an adverse effect in the supply available for export. Of the region’s major origins (million bags and over), Costa Rica suffered the steepest fall, with its exports falling by 68.9% in October 2022 to 9,216 bags, as compared with 13,052 bags in the same period a year ago. The volume shipped in October 2022 is the lowest since September 1976, when 7,093 bags were exported. Costa Rica’s coffee institute, ICAFE, cites lower-than-expected production in coffee year 2021/22 as the reason for the drop in exports.

Exports of Coffee by Forms
Total exports of soluble coffee increased by 10.9% in October 2022 to 1.19 million bags from 1.07 million bags in October 2021. The share of soluble coffee in the total exports of all forms of coffee was 9.5% (measured on a moving 12-month average) in October 2022 as compared with 8.9% in October 2021. Brazil is the largest exporter of soluble coffee, and the country shipped 291,345 bags in October 2022, down 6.2% from 310,731 bags in October 2021. The second and third placed origins, India and Indonesia, however started the new coffee year at a gallop, with their soluble coffee exports up 25.0% and 33.7%, at 180,000 bags and 397,805 bags, respectively, in October 2022.

Exports of roasted beans decreased by 18.0% in October 2022 to 61,226 bags from 74,697 bags in October 2021.

Production and Consumption
The latest provisional outlook for total production in coffee year 2022/23 remains unchanged at 167.2 million bags, a 2.1% decrease as compared to 170.83 million bags in the previous coffee year.

World coffee consumption is projected to grow by 3.3% to 170.3 million 60-kg bags in 2022/23 as compared to 164.9 million for coffee year 2020/21. In 2022/23, consumption is expected to exceed production by 3.1 million bags.

For the full report, visit: ico.org.

The post Despite a 12.3% setback in November, coffee prices stabilised appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

Costa Rica, one of Central America’s largest Arabica coffee growing countries, has maintained a top-tier coffee-nation status over the years, a position that could well be under siege from diverse emerging trends such as an aging coffee-growing population, recurring coffee diseases, changing coffee pricing dynamics and a muted economic performance exacerbated by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The former Spanish colony, whose coffee roots date back to the 1700s, has recently posted a decline in production by at least 7 per cent during the 2021/2022 marketing year to 1,275,000 60-kg bags, said to be “one of the lowest coffee-producing levels on record and the lowest in 50 years.”

This fall in output has several facets to it including fragile global coffee prices, shrinking coffee plantation acreage and growing unpredictability of the coffee picking labour market particularly because of political and economic upheavals in neighbouring Nicaragua, the biggest supplier of coffee-picking manpower for Costa Rica’s coffee farms.

Nevertheless, the latest industry reviews, including a May 2022 coffee annual report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), predict a more than 7 per cent increase in Costa Rica’s coffee production for the 2022/2023 marketing year to 1,365,000 60-kg bags “as early rains arrived in sufficient volumes to support robust flowering in key growing areas.”

The increase in coffee output could also be boosted by the higher prices noted in the early days of the 2022/2023 coffee growing season, “signaling a strong return to on-farm investments in fertilisation and management practices.”

When the Covid-19 pandemic started to spread globally in the first and second quarter of 2020, the International Coffee Organization (ICO) composite indicator price recorded a decline of 4.1 per cent to an average of $1.0445 USD per pound, particularly in May, reaching a high of $1.0729 on 11 May, and a low of $0.9868 on 29 May. Although the fall in price was partly attributed to uncertainties triggered by the pandemic, the trend was also to do with the larger than expected output from Brazil’s 2020/21 crop.

Actually, by December 2021, the ICO had reported coffee prices reaching “a new multi-year high as the monthly average of the ICO composite indicator price broke through the 200 US cents/lb mark, averaging 203.06 US cents/lb.” This increase was equivalent to 4 per cent compared to 195.17 US cents/lb for the preceding month.

“The price levels during coffee year 2021/22 so far mark a return to the higher levels experienced in 2011,” ICO noted.

In May 2022, ICO reported a rebound of the Composite Indicator Price (I-CIP) of over 200 US cents/lb, the first time since February, hence gaining 4.5 per cent from May to June 2022, averaging 202.46 US cents/lb for June.

Export prices for Costa Rican coffee spiked in CY 2021/2022. Image: Starbucks

To cushion coffee farmers from the vagaries of fluctuating coffee prices, the Costa Rican government has recently developed “infrastructure needed to obtain higher prices for smaller lots of better quality coffee” according to USDA.

Moreover, achieving good prices for smaller lots of coffee has been made possible because of growing popularity of the practice of product differentiation that allows smallholder coffee producers “to capture higher sales prices.”

Anticipating export growth

This surge in global coffee prices could also coincide with an anticipated growth in Costa Rican coffee exports for the 2022/2023 marketing year. The USDA predicts the country’s coffee exports to reach 1,160,000 60-kg bags “the highest level since 2015/2016 as production volume rebounds and high quality Costa Rica coffee remains in demand globally.”

Costa Rica, whose coffee exports has its roots in the mid-1800s when pioneer industry players such as English captain William Le Lacheur Lyon sent hundreds of bags of Costa Rican coffee to Europe, particularly Britain, reported a 25 per cent increase in export price for the coffee sold during the 2021/2022 through April 2022 period to an average of USD $328.9 per bag.

However, the USDA said the price increase may not translate to a boom for Costa Rican coffee producers due to “lower production levels” during the period.

Export price for Costa Rica’s coffee spiked 1.56 per cent and 24.1 per cent from $261.30 to $265.40 and $328.90 between 2019/2020 to 2020/2021 respectively. The driving factors are those that have sustained Costa Rican coffee at the top of global coffee market chart such as high-quality coffee, deployment of environmentally friendly production practices, high level of coffee traceability and transparency, and equity in sharing coffee earnings among players along Costa Rica’s coffee industry value chain.

Young coffee trees growing in Costa Rica. Image: Vanessa L Facenda

Elsewhere, smallholder coffee producers, who are about 45,000 of the 70,000 registered Costa Rican coffee producers, have received sustainability labels such as Fairtrade through their primary cooperatives, translating into higher prices associated with coffee produced by farmers who promote environmental, social and economic sustainability, as well as shade-grown and organic coffee according to ICAFE, the non-profit organisation that oversees and promotes the quality and sustainability of Costa Rican coffee, and which is funded by a 1.5 per cent tax on every pound of coffee exported from Costa Rica.

Fairtrade certification, has in most instances, boosted the bargaining power of the cooperatives in areas such as Santa Elena, Buenavista, Sarapiquí, Tilarán, Montes de Oro, Pilangosta, Llano Bonito, and Coopeldos leading to better coffee prices.

The higher export prices, combining with Costa Rica’s anticipated economic turnaround with growth projections of 3.2 per cent in 2022 and 2.6 per cent in 2023, is likely to spur increased domestic coffee consumption, especially in the 2022/2023 coffee season.

“Domestic demand will strengthen moderately in 2022 and exports will benefit from the reactivation of the tourism sector in the last quarter of 2022 and 2023,” says an economy snapshot on Costa Rica by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Costa Rica, whose coffee the government says in one report “is prized as some of the world’s best and is shipped everywhere from Austin to Amsterdam,” is likely to post an increase in its domestic coffee consumption projected to reach 420,000 60-kg bags for the 2022/2023 period. The increase is 5 per cent higher than the 400,000 60-kg bags for 2021/2022 season.

Previously, the consumption declined to 196,000 60-kg bags in the 2020/2021 coffee year, excluding imports, the lowest since 1994/1995 with ICAFE, which in 1985 succeeded the 1977-established Costa Rica Coffee Research Centre (CICAFE), attributing the drop to “sharp economic contraction in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The economic contraction was exacerbated by a global recession that was triggered by the pandemic, which damaged the Costa Rican tourism industry, with expectation the recovery would “be protracted, with the economy estimated to grow by 2.6 per cent in 2021, following a strong contraction in 2020” according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Furthermore, the USDA report says during the pandemic “restaurants, cafeterias, hotels and other coffee-serving outlets were closed during different periods of time or were required to operate under limited conditions.”

Challenging but optimistic

Moving into the future, Costa Rica’s coffee sector is expected to focus on finding solutions to some glaring challenges that could constrain growth in production, leading to instability in export and domestic consumption levels.

A case in point are the recurring fungal diseases such as coffee leaf rust and anthracnose in coffee-producing provinces such the San José, Alajuela, Puntarenas, Heredia, and Cartago, despite the perfect coffee growing conditions there such as plentiful volcanic soils that are not only acidic but also extremely fertile and have altitudes between 1200m and 1700m.

Shaded coffee plants growing in Costa Rica. Image: Vanessa L Facenda

These conditions have been seen to encourage cooler climates that have in recent times given way to “higher than normal precipitation levels” linked to the damage of the young coffee fruit. “Continued high moisture levels and high temperatures supported the development of fungal diseases,” states the USDA report with the worst affected region being the mountainous Los Santos.

“Although there are more coffee rust-tolerant varieties available, adoption has been slow given the substantial costs involved in renovating plantations, especially among small producers who can least afford to forego income until the new plants begin producing,” the report explains.

Furthermore, there is has been a notable decline in the number of coffee producers due to what USDA says is “long periods of low coffee prices, aging farmers, and high land prices near urban areas.” The report further states that most of the remaining coffee growers – 86 per cent in 2020/2021 marketing year – are small farmers, who produce the equivalent of fewer than 100 bags of coffee each year.

In a related trend, the acreage under plantation coffee production has been shrinking as growers fall further behind the ‘ideal plantation renovation plan’. According to the USDA, the plan requires a plantation coffee farmer to replant 5 per cent of their plantation area annually, hence completely renovating the entire plantation in 20 years.

However, recent strong coffee prices decrease the incentive for farmers to replant, which, the USDA notes, takes area out of production for three years, and farmers have exhibited reluctance to plant new varieties that may have higher rust-resistance or higher yields until they can verify the results on someone else’s land nearby. “These factors, combined with access to credit and available genetic material have contributed to the steady aging of Costa Rica’s plantations, which has already contributed to persistently lower yields,” the report adds.

But the future of Costa Rica’s coffees, with the most classic being mild and softly acidic, looks as bright and promising as ever with some growers said to be currently experimenting with new flavours that are brighter and fruitier according to ICAFE.

The commitments of the Costa Rican government to promote transparency along the coffee industry’s value chain, coupled with state-supported coffee producer incentives, and growing interest in this market by local and international brands are likely to shape the Central America country’s coffee market supply-side and demand trends in the long term.

• Shem Oirere is a freelance business journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. He has spent more than 25 years covering various sectors of Africa’s economy including the region’s agribusiness. He holds BA in International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of South Africa and earned a higher degree in journalism from the London School of Journalism and is also a member of the Association of Business Executives (ABE).

The post Costa Rica strives to remain at the top of global coffee map appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

This is the first ever private auction from Costa Rica. The auction, operating on the Sensible Development auction platform, will be held on Thursday, 24 June 2021. It will be an auction of special nanolots.

This auction provides market access for all the coffee producers and their families managed by Exclusive Coffees, which provides milling, quality assurance and exporting services to these producers.

“In a collective approach with our Q-grading team and boutique coffee producers, we have organised this private auction, focused on purely aromatic and complex varietals; giving a rebirth to our genetic heritage, stimulating our coffee communities of consumers to the tasting of this exclusive varietal selection” said Francisco A Mena, Exclusive Coffees, Costa Rica. “We invite you to join us and thank you for your continuous support to our country and coffee families!”

The auction will contain coffees with cupping scores of 88+ which have been cupped and audited independently. There will be 40 coffees for auction, split into Classic and Exotics coffees, each of quantities of 1-4 boxes (50 lbs).

Key information for this auction:

• The auction will take place on Thursday, 24 June 2021.
• Lot size: 1-4 boxes x 50.7 lbs each (all vacuum packed).
• Up to 40 lots will be available through the auction.
• 4 processes: Natural, Honey, Anaerobic & Washed.
• Lots of a single variety.
• 88 + cupping score.
• Coffees will be judged and selected by a panel of three Q Graders, under the observation of three independent producers.
• The cupping process will be regulated through third-party auditing and sample coding, with the presence of three Observing Coffee Producers, which will guarantee traceability and transparency from sample to shipment.
• Exclusive Coffees will keep supporting, sponsoring and participating as an active member in ACE in the annual Cup of Excellence Costa Rica Auction.

Register and buy samples at: auction.exclusivecoffeecr.com/en.

For more information, visit: www.exclusivecoffeecr.com or www.sensibledevelopment.com.

The post Costa Rica hosts first private auction on 24 June appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

Over the last six months, coffee prices have recorded a steady increase in monthly averages despite a few daily slumps. Relatively firm prices seem to encourage sales as world coffee exports grew in March, as did shipments in the first half of coffee year 2020-21. However, cumulative exports from April 2020 to March 2021 are provisionally estimated to decrease versus April 2019 to March 2020. According to the ICO, world consumption for coffee year 2020-21 is projected to increase 1.3% in coffee year 2019-20 but remain 2% below total production in coffee year 2020-21.

Coffee prices continued their upward trend as the monthly average of the ICO composite indicator rose to 122.03 US cents/lb in April, 1.4% higher than in March 2021 and 12% higher than in April 2020. This level also represents the sixth consecutive month of increase and the highest monthly average in over three and a half years. In April, the daily composite indicator fluctuated between 114.22 and 130.87 US cents/lb. The linear trend has gotten steeper every consecutive month since the start of the coffee year in October 2020. Market fundamentals are one of the main drivers of the current price trends as the imbalance between consumption and total production is getting smaller. Arabica supplies are expected to tighten in the near future, with Brazil’s production projected to decline by more than 30% in its 2021-22 off-year crop. Moreover, various restrictions due to the ongoing pandemic affecting particularly the movement of population are expected to be gradually eased soon.

Average prices for all group indicators increased in April. Prices for Colombian Milds and Brazilian Naturals confirmed their steady upwards trends since October 2020. Colombia Milds rose by 2.4% to 181.70 US cents/lb and the average price for the Brazilian naturals increased by 1.7% to 124.18 US cents/lb. After slipping in November 2020, the average price for Other Milds regained its upward trend and an increase of 1% was observed in April 2021 to 168.65 US cents/lb against 167.05 US cents/lb in March 2021. The differential between Colombian Milds and Other Milds increased by 25% to 13.05 US cents/lb and the differential between Other Milds and Brazilian Naturals decreased by 0.9%.

As for the Robusta group, mixed price movements have been observed since October 2020. However, an increase of 0.8% to 74.47 US cents/lb was recorded in April 2021 in comparison with 73.86 US cents/lb in March 2021. Nevertheless, this monthly average price for Robusta is 16% higher than the level of 63.97 US cents/lb recorded in April 2020. The differential between Colombian Milds and Robusta increased by 3.5% to 107.23 US cents/lb. In April, the arbitrage between Arabica and Robusta coffees, as measured on the New York and London futures markets, increased by 4.7% to 71.01 US cents/lb.

Intra-day volatility of the ICO composite indicator price decreased from 7.7% in March 2021 to 7.3% in April. The volatility for all indicators decreased in April, with Robusta experiencing the highest decrease of 1.1%. While the volatility of the London Futures market has decreased by 1.5% to 7% in April, it has remained unchanged in the New York Futures market at 9.3%, the same level recorded in March. In April, certified stocks of Arabica for New York Futures exchange were 2.07 million bags and certified stocks of Robusta coffee for the London Futures Exchange were 2.53 million bags, representing an increase by 5% and 1% respectively. Total production in coffee year 2020-21 is estimated to rise by 0.5% to 169.63 million bags, with Arabica production increasing by 2.6% to 99.42 million bags.

The production of Robusta coffee is expected to decrease by 2.4% to 70.21 million bags. At the regional level, a slight decrease of 0.8% is expected for Africa at 18.54 million bags in coffee year 2020-21 in comparison with 18.68 million bags in the previous coffee year. Production for Asia & Oceania is forecast to fall by 1.1% from 49.48 million bags in 2019-20 to 48.95 million in 2020-21. Production for Mexico & Central America is expected to decrease slightly by 0.1% at 19.54 million bags against 19.56 million bags in coffee year 2019-20. An increase of 1.8% in production is expected from South America at 82.59 million bags, compared with 81.12 million bags in 2019-20.

World coffee consumption is projected to increase by 1.3% to 166.34 million bags in 2020-21 compared to 164.20 million bags for coffee year 2019-20. The negative impact on coffee consumption experienced during coffee year 2019-20 with the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic is fading as consumption is regaining its normal trend. Consumption in importing countries and domestic consumption in exporting countries is expected to grow by 1.3% and 1.4% respectively. Consumption in Africa is expected to increase by 1.8% at 12.24 million bags. Consumption in Asia & Oceania will increase by 1.4% at 36.50 million bags. In the region of Mexico and Central America, consumption is expected to increase by 0.7% at 5.36 million bags. As a result, the surplus of total production over world consumption is expected to be reduced at 3.28 million bags, compared with 4.6 million bags in the previous coffee year.

Global exports in March 2021 totalled 11.94 million bags, compared with 11.66 million bags in March 2020. Exports in the first half of coffee year 2020-21 reached 65.4 million bags, representing an increase of 3.5% compared to 63.2 million bags during the same period in coffee year 2019-20. Cumulative exports of Colombian Milds over the first half of coffee year 2020-21 increased by 2.6% to 7.75 million bags, while exports of Other Milds decreased by 8.3% to 10.4 million bags from 11.35 million bags in 2019-20. Total exports of Brazilian Naturals increased by 19.2% to 23.66 million bags, compared to 19.84 million bags recorded over the first six months of coffee year 2019-20. Shipments of Robusta over half of coffee year 2020-21 fell by 3.5% to 23.59 million bags.

The increase in exports was primarily driven by shipments of green coffee, which rose 4.3% to 59.32 million bags in the first half of the coffee year compared to the same period in the previous year. Exports of roasted coffee fell by an estimated 4% to 336,172 bags, while those of soluble coffee fell by 3.4% to 5.72 million bags. In regional terms, exports of all forms of coffee from Africa in the first half of coffee year 2020-21 decreased by 8.9% to 5.96 million bags, as shipments from Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya declined by 28.5%, 49% and 9.5% respectively. Uganda, the largest regional exporter, has recorded an increase of 11.5% to 2.8 million bags. It should be noted that in March 2021, exports of Uganda totalled 572,839 bags, its highest volume of exports in a single month, generating over USD 53.55 million in export value.

Asia & Oceania’s coffee exports declined by 6.3% to 19.3 million bags in October 2020 to March 2021. Vietnam’s exports during this period declined by 13.2% to 12.58 million bags, while Indonesia’s shipments increased by 20.2% to 3.7 million bags. Exports from India, the region’s third largest producer, recorded a small decrease of 0.5% to 2.55 million bags compared to 2.56 million bags in 2019-20.

Compared to the first six months of coffee year 2019-20, exports from Mexico & Central America fell by 12.2% to 6.06 million bags as parts of the region have not yet recovered from the severe impact of hurricanes Iota and Eta. Notably, shipments from Honduras, the region’s largest producer, decreased by 20.9% to 2.19 million bags while those from Nicaragua fell by 12.7% to 1.05 million bags. Guatemala’s exports declined by 15.9% to 1.05 million bags. Total exports of Costa Rica and El Salvador also declined by 7.2% and 28.2%, respectively. Indications of a recovery have nevertheless been observed in recent months, particularly in Honduras which exported 807,506 bags of coffee in March 2021, an increase of 4.5% compared to March 2020.

From October 2020 to March 2021, South America’s exports increased by 17% to 33.74 million bags. During this period, exports of all forms of coffee from Brazil rose by 23.3% to 24.66 million bags. Brazil is nearing the end of its 2020-21 crop year, which was an on-year for its Arabica production. Exports from Colombia increased by 3.5% to 7.09 million bags. Ecuador recorded a relatively stable level of its exports at 1.75 million bags.

For the full ICO April green coffee report, visit: www.ico.org.

The post Coffee prices rally in April 2021 appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

The protagonist of the month is “El Diamante” from Finca El Cerro in Costa Rica run by the Fernández Morera family with agronomist Esteban Villalobos Corrales, pioneer of the anaerobic fermentation process.

Finca El Cerro extends over 14 hectares of land at San Rafael de San Ramón, in the province of Alajuela, Costa Rica. The owner Carlos Fernández Morera manages the lands and all the post-production steps together with his family and in close collaboration with the agronomist Esteban Villalobos Corrales, who calibrates the fermentation phase. Morera is a member of Café de Altura de San Ramón Especial SA (Café de Altura), an association founded in 2004 which currently has more than 3500 members, who receive technical support to increase the quality and productivity of their coffee.

Finca El cerro’s coffee has an exotic, sweet and spicy taste that has reached high levels of quality over the years and scored 90 SCA points, reaching the eighth position at the Cup of Excellence in 2018. “El Diamante” variety is an example of how innovation and research can bring enormous benefits to all small producers. What makes this quality unique is the particular processing that takes place through a careful anaerobic method: the coffee, after being de-pulped, is put to ferment covered by its own mucilage in an airtight tank. Temperature, Brix, PH, time and pressure are carefully controlled to enhance the flavours. After 24 hours of fermentation, it is transported to greenhouses for drying, exposed to the sun for 4 days and then in the shade, on african raised beds, for 18-22 days. As a last step, it is left to rest hermetically sealed for three months. Villalobos’ method spread rapidly all over the world and was taken up by many producers.

Says Esteban Villalobos Corrales: “The idea was realised during the 2013/2014 season, with the production of the first batch processed anaerobically. A project made of passion, ambition and inspiration. Knowing today that the process has spread all over the world makes me really happy because it shows that the technique improves quality in a positive way, adding value to the final product.

“I agree that other countries or companies carry out the process,” he continues, “it is a question of ‘supply and demand’; we have great coffee and customers who request it. Our profile remains very distinctive even if other people make anaerobic coffees; there are many differences due to the factors involved such as origin, country, temperature, variety, ripeness and other variables.

“There has been a huge shift in demand and interest in our coffee since we started. Coffee has gained popularity in the country and around the world. Many Barista champions have used El Diamante for national and international competitions (WBC and Brewers Cup), obtaining excellent results and always placing themselves in excellent positions.”

On the meeting with Ditta Artigianale, Corrales says: “Victor, a friend who worked for ICAFE (Costa Rica’s Coffee Institue), went to Honduras. The goal of the trip was to discuss and share news and culture about coffee and he asked me for an anaerobic sample to take with him to have a cupping during the meeting. Francesco was one of the people who would attend and when he tasted it he really liked it. The result was an excellent feedback and the contact with Ditta Artigianale. From that moment our collaboration began and every year El Diamante reaches Italy.”

On the world of innovation, he adds: “The aspects to discover are still many on the coffee world, innovation has no limits: what has been demonstrated so far is only the tip of the iceberg. We are really proud of our work but repeating the same thing over many years is not going to turn you into a pro. Constancy, perseverance, discipline and passion can make the difference and let always be one or two steps ahead. The Specialty Coffee industry must break paradigms and expand to new processing techniques, encouraging producers to innovate not only in the way coffees are processed, but also in precision agriculture with which they could be more efficient (in traceability, quality, yields) and much more competitive.”

Life inside the farm begins early and ends only late in the evening; with the arrival of Covid-19 it was not always easy to manage the supply chain in the best possible way: “I usually get up at 7:00. Once I arrive at the office, I greet my colleagues and of course I make a Chemex or a V60 to start the day with energy, then the batch checks and checks at the mill start up into the night — the hard part of the pandemic was taking care of the visitors; it is an aspect we particularly care about and that we have continued to do with all our commitment. It is not taken for granted in this period.”

On new projects, he reveals: “Among the projects I’m working on is a new anaerobic fermentation with different varieties such as SL28, Geisha, Hybrids H1, H17 and Milenium, yellow Catuai, Bourbon. The idea is to have different, very exclusive and unique profiles. I already have my own batch of anaerobic H17, grown, collected and processed by myself. I’m so proud: I can’t wait to keep growing in terms of production and quality every year”.

Costa Rica El Diamante is available on the online store www.dittaartigianale.it and at the coffee shops in Florence.

The post Ditta Artigianale’s journey around the world continues with El Diamante coffee from Costa Rica appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.

In its first year Ethiopia alone exceeded all expectations with a $28.44 average price and over $1.5 million in gross revenue. Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica each topped their previous average price by several dollars per pound, confirming that even in a global pandemic rare quality is extremely valuable.

The 50 semi-finalists know as National Winners sold at an alternative auction from the Cup of Excellence winners also received prices well above expectations. The average price per pound for these lots has increased 17.75% over last year, with the top prices reportedly averaging above $10 per pound.

Even as Covid-19 spread around the globe and the competitions became increasingly uncertain, over 2,100 farmers sent in their coffees to be judged during the five competitions. Cup of Excellence staff developed rigorous rules to ensure safe cupping and scoring for the national jury. The international jury stage of the competition was completely reorganised due to global travel restrictions and instead coffee samples were sent to several international companies and cuppers known for their experience. Using the competition’s strict protocols, the Global Coffee Centers (GCC) awarded coffees scoring at least 87 points with a Cup of Excellence and the awards ceremony went virtual in each country.

Global support for Cup of Excellence and membership in The Alliance For Coffee Excellence has been growing steadily over the last six months and has been extremely strong during the present crisis. The Cup of Excellence supported TAZA knowledge series that started during Covid-19 and continues to gain popularity with educational pieces on anaerobic coffee, genetic discovery and interviews with coffee producers. The innovative web programme will expand as the year progresses.

“Contrary to what many thought would be a tough year for our competition entries from coffee producers and lackluster auction results, Cup of Excellence has absorbed much of the uncertainty with exceptional results and higher than average producer involvement. ACE continues to reinvent our programming in education and training, our Private Collection Auction and our beloved Cup of Excellence programme,” said ACE executive director, Darrin Daniel.

The next four months for the Cup of Excellence programme will also see competitions in Colombia, Peru and Brazil. The Global Coffee Centers (GCC) will remain in place as an option for these future COE competitions and for the ACE sponsored regional and estate “Private Collection” auctions.

For more information about upcoming auctions and to get involved, visit: allianceforcoffeeexcellence.org.

The post Half-year Cup of Excellence results provide huge hope for farmers appeared first on Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.