“This campaign resonates deeply with me because it highlights the rich history and connection we share as a community over a simple cup of coffee,” said third-generation Community Coffee owner Donna Saurage. “It reminds me that every sip is not just about the beverage, but about the relationships and values that bind us together.”

The campaign commercial opens with an image of the F.L. and H.N. Saurage General Merchandise Store, which was run by Community Coffee founder Henry Norman “Cap” Saurage and his brother. Cap blended coffee for store customers according to his own secret recipe — a recipe that became Community Coffee in 1919. After five generations,​ Cap’s family is still roasting smooth, rich coffee that builds community​ one cup at a time.​

“Sharing a cup of coffee with an old neighbour or a new friend is as relevant and rewarding today as it was in the past,” said fourth-generation owner Matt Saurage. “So often, it’s through conversations over coffee that people share ideas, relationships are built and communities are inspired.” 

Kicking off the partnership, the campaign was produced by TMA, a marketing and creative agency based in Dallas and aims to connect Community Coffee with a new generation of coffee drinkers while paying respect to those that came before.

The campaign spotlights two of Community’s best-selling coffees: Breakfast Blend and the year-round Mardi Gras King Cake, a flavoured coffee that celebrates the brand’s Louisiana heritage.

Community Coffee’s commitment to giving back is referenced in the commercial’s 1980s classroom scene. Since 1988, the Community Cash for Schools program has raised over USD $8.5 million for students and teachers by enabling schools to redeem product proofs of purchase for funds. The company also recognises community leaders through the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Community Leader Award, which celebrates educators and administrators positively impacting student-athletes, and the H. Norman Saurage III Service Award, established in partnership with Dream Teachers to honor exceptional Louisiana teachers.

In addition to education, Community Coffee gives back to military service members and disaster relief while being a proud founding member of World Coffee Research.

To view the “Generations’ campaign, click here. To learn more about Community Coffee, visit www.communitycoffee.com.

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“The production environments are changing so fast that what we do today is not going to work 30 years from now,” said Hannah Neuschwander, director of communications and strategy, World Coffee Research (WCR). “So, you must have a pipeline that is continuously responding to those changes; the way of doing things in the past where the breeding program dissolves after you get one or three good varieties is no longer going to work.”

By 2030 ,WCR will release 100 new varieties. Currently, there are 119 registered varieties, including Arabica and Canephora varietals. However, there is the capacity to release an additional 100 every three years. “We are continuously taking the best and ditching the worst,” said Jennifer (Vern) Long, CEO of World Coffee Research. The pipeline that we have now activated includes nine government partners. It is going to change the narrative completely.” World Coffee Research has recently introduced speed breeding to allow farmers to add seeds instead of seedlings to their production, significantly reducing transportation challenges that some of the farmers faced with hybrids. The method of speed breeding accelerates the seed cycle, tweaking environmental factors, such as water, light, and temperature, to get a plant that flowers as soon as possible. “We will be releasing 100 candidates
in 2030 that will be available for trialling,” said Long. The intent is to provide farmers with several options to help determine which varietal they want for their production.

Dr Steffen Schwarz, director and founder of Coffee Consulate in Germany, is a passionate collector of coffee species and varietals. Currently, he has over 320 different varieties, from several species of coffee, that he cultivates with colleagues and over 120 in a living collection in a greenhouse in Germany. When exploring coffee, Dr Schwarz stressed the importance of understanding both the industry’s challenges and potential, which includes looking into the possibility of integrating a variety of coffee species into commercial production.

“The challenge we have, which impacts all agricultural crops, is climate change,” said Dr Schwarz. “Anything we’re using now has been adapted to other situations.” In coffee, most of the discussion about resiliency is centred on Arabica. However, he stressed that the coffee industry must also consider the challenges that Canephora faces. “Canephora has 90 percent of its roots in 30 centimetres of the soil, which means it’s super narrow, and if there’s a drought, there is no reservoir that Canephora can connect to.”

The changing climate impacts the microbiome and nutrients in the soil. The different environmental conditions, whether wet, dry, hotter or cooler, change which plants can live in that space. “Plants are not simple organisms. They have an active transport that goes by the microbes and bacteria that move into
it and carry the substances and nutrients into the plant,” Dr Schwarz explained, stressing that by investing the time to understand the various species, and in particular the root system of these plants, the industry can learn both about the resiliency of the plant, while also gaining insight into the flavour profile.

He pointed out that Canephora has a much more narrow, aromatic feel than the Arabica, whose roots go much deeper. “And Liberica’s roots go even deeper, which is why it comes out with wild notes that are incredible, but because it has so much sugar, it ferments,” shared Schwarz, adding, “so if you don’t control it after harvest, ideally within 30 minutes from picking, then you may end up with a coffee that has these strange wild flavours that are due to the uncontrolled fermentation.”

Root research can deepen the understanding of the various coffee species themselves and bring to
light the potential of bringing two species of coffee together through grafting. “One of the reasons we’re interested in root research is we see some really positive benefits from grafting Arabica and Robusta onto Excelsa because of its extensive root system,” said Aaron Davis, senior research leader, Crops and Global Change, Kew Gardens, Sussex, United Kingdom. “If you can swallow the costs of doing it, then grafting could be a viable and useful option for many farmers.”

Digging into Wild Species: Liberica, Stenophylla and Excelsa

Challenges with Robusta and Arabica crops, including pests, disease, and overall resiliency, have resulted in other countries looking at alternative species, specifically Excelsa and Liberica, both of which were planted as border crops to draw out pests. When coffee wilt devastated the Robusta plants in Uganda, shared Davis, the farmers discovered that the Excelsa species were resistant. In India, farmers also found that Excelsa appeared to survive drought episodes. There are several trial plots of Excelsa in Uganda, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, and India. “They needed something that is going to be viable, particularly when they’ve witnessed the drought episodes in Uganda in the last couple of years,” said Davis. “Farmers recognised that these species could help bridge production volumes.”

Excelsa’s growth has been rapid, with Davis’s team working with approximately 250 farms. In Uganda, an additional 100 farms, including cooperatives, are either growing or inquiring about acquiring Excelsa, and the government supports these investments. In South Sudan, approximately 1000 hectares are dedicated to growing Excelsa.

“People are flipping the script when it comes to Excelsa, shifting it from a cheap filler to a priced commodity with the potential of becoming a specialty coffee,” said Michael Mazzotta, co-founder, Excelsa Coffee, San Diego, California. “It’s finally getting the image that it deserves.”

Excelsa Coffee’s online shop, which launched earlier this year, immediately garnered consumer interest and quickly sold out the product. However, it has also resulted in several Excelsa producers from across the globe reaching out, hoping to export their products to America. “One of our biggest challenges is simply lack of consumer awareness and understanding,” said Olin Patterson, co-founder, Excelsa Coffee. “We’ll keep networking, having events and drinking Excelsa every day. We love it, but the reality is it will take several years for the market to understand that there are nuances in coffee.”

Excelsa Coffee can be purchased through several online channels in the United States, including Amazon, Walmart, and social media platforms, with plans to open its retail shop in early 2025. Patterson and Mazzotta are also working with producers in Central America and South Sudan and researchers at UC Davis and the University of Florida to deepen their understanding of Excelsa and its potential as a commercial product.

“Coffee is a very sophisticated field, with so many different varieties, said Dr Carmen Ablan Lagman, researcher and professor at De La Salle University, Manilla, Philippines. “But we are focusing on one group, Arabica, because that’s the high value item.

“Lagman stressed that Liberica, with its unique flavour profile, has the potential of moving into the specialty sector. “What we have to do now is convince [producers] that quality is very important,” said Lagman. “It’s difficult to get from normal to specialty, but then the ROI from that is a huge difference.”

Today, there are at least three substantial producers of Liberica in Malaysia, with production expanding
in the Philippines and India. “In the Philippines, we are not up against coffee versus some other plant or product; we’re talking about coffee versus subdivision or store fronts,” said Lagman. “We have to be strategic in a way that we develop coffee so that the return from doing this is bigger than people buying the land for subdivisions.” This includes considering both the benefits that these species provide, and their limitations.

Understanding the Alternate Species

“There are several intrinsic limitations with Liberica because of the biology of the plant; it has a very thick pulp, it also has very large seeds, and the out-turn from fresh cherry to clean coffee is very low,” said Davis. Left on their own, these plants can grow over 30 feet tall, making it difficult to harvest. Although there are several similarities between Liberica and Excelsa, Davis shared that next-generation sequencing methods confirm that these are, in fact, two distinct species. “They’re different not just on the molecular side, but also on the basic characteristics in terms of seeds, fruits, flowers,” he said.

Kew Research currently has three research projects on Excelsa and Liberica, including one large project focused on genotyping and DNA sequencing work. “I think there will be gains in breeding for both
Arabica and Robusta, with some being more resilient than others.” Davis wants to ensure that farmers have access to other species of coffee, especially when Canephora and Arabica may no longer be an option.

Understanding the story of these alternate species is vital to unearthing the possibilities in coffee and rewriting the coffee landscape. However, the future coffee story does not need to be an ‘either/or’ option; instead, the industry would benefit by considering how these species can become a part of the experience. “What’s really heartening and exciting is that people are really excited about the wild species,” said Neuschwander, “We want all of these species to be explored and utilised, to continue to provide that diversity that makes coffee interesting and an important livelihood option for many people.”

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

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The 2024 Sustainability Awards are a way to celebrate for-profit and non-profit companies that showcase innovation, collaboration, and positive impact across the entire coffee value chain.

The companies, organisations, projects, and people receiving these awards have not only dedicated themselves to confronting the challenges facing the specialty coffee industry—from climate change to gender inequality—but also to collaborating across geographies, cultures, and value chain roles, and to sharing the lessons they have learned for the benefit of the entire coffee sector.

A committee comprised of SCA staff has selected the finalists in each award category after receiving an overwhelming amount of submissions. Previous SCA Sustainability Award winners will now help select the winner in each category. Winners will be announced on SCA channels in late-March 2024, and recognised at Specialty Coffee Expo in April and World of Coffee Copenhagen this June.

2024 Sustainability Award Finalists

For-profit

• REBUILD WOMENS HOPE COOPERATIVE
• Black Baza Coffee Co.
• Fazenda Três Meninas
• Neighbors & Crops
• Sancoffee
• Amavida Coffee and Trading Company

Non-profit

• International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA)
• Root Capital
• Blockchain Coffee Beans
• World Coffee Research
• TechnoServe
• Community-Led Development Incubator Program by The Chain Collaborative

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The USD $225 billion US coffee sector and more than 1.6 million US jobs rely on coffee supplies from around the world. Coffee growers in Hawaii and Puerto Rico that supply the lucrative specialty coffee market in the US, as well as growers in low-income countries, are particularly vulnerable to pests and disease. The CPHIAA will accelerate agricultural research to help overcome these challenges while maintaining flavour and quality.

“More Americans (66 per cent of adults) drink coffee each day more than any other beverage,” said William “Bill” Murray, president and CEO of the NCA. “As agricultural research and development plays a key role in the future of America’s favourite beverage, the NCA urges Congress to advance legislation that prioritises coffee as a key contributor to Americans’ daily lives, farmers’ livelihoods, and the US economy.”

“From Kona to Maui to Mayaguez, coffee is woven into our island cultures and drives over $500 million in benefits to our communities,” said Suzanne Shriner, administrator of SHAC. “Hawaiian growers have been devastated by diseases such as leaf rust, which arrived in 2020 and cut crop yields in half after causing $1 billion in damages globally and forcing farm workers, particularly in Central America, to abandon farms and even migrate. This bill focuses needed research attention on our biggest problems, while helping our small farmers stay in business.”

Legislators are seeking to include the CPHIAA in the 2023 Farm Bill to amend a programme established in the 1990 Farm Bill that focused exclusively on the coffee berry borer pest. The bill authorises the USDA to fund research on coffee diseases and pests broadly. “The existing Coffee Plant Health Initiative Act does two things: first, it says ‘coffee plant health’ is a priority of the industry, therefore ‘should’ receive support, but it limits that directive to supporting research on coffee berry borer,” said Hanna Neuschwander, strategy and communications director, World Coffee Research told T&CTJ. “The amendment, which is what we’re talking about here, maintains the coffee plant health priority, but broadens the mandate to cover all coffee diseases/pests, not only coffee berry borer.” In effect, she said, “the bill authorises Congress to fund this work, but it doesn’t allocate money to it, that is a separate process.”

Chris Manfredi, executive director of the HCA explained that “this important legislation will help Hawaii target resources toward the most immediate threats to our coffee. By also anticipating

future threats, it will enable researchers to quickly pivot as they emerge and ensure the survival of one of Hawaii’s most important crops.”

“CPHIAA will enable much-needed research at a time when coffee is under severe strain. Public research aligned with industry needs is critical to securing the future of coffee,” said Vern Long, CEO of World Coffee Research.

The USDA focuses on programs/projects that impact US farmers, so projects typically either involve Hawaii and Puerto Rico coffee farmers and/or US university researchers. However, Neuschwander shared that there is the potential for any funding of research to benefit farmers globally. “For example, a current research program funded by USDA’s FFAR program is working on sequencing the coffee rust genome. This is US public funding helping deliver a critical global public good that will advance other countries’ ability to tackle rust.”

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The announcement was made by World Coffee Research at the annual Sintercafe coffee expo in Costa Rica, accompanied by coffee roasters funding the program and some of the countries that plan to take part in the breeding network. World Coffee Research has welcomed participation from nine countries: Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, Rwanda, Uganda, and the United States. The network will expand for other interested countries to join in the future.

The Innovea network is funded by over 200 coffee companies around the world that comprise WCR’s membership. The network builds on a decade of groundwork laid by World Coffee Research to drive science-based agricultural solutions to urgently secure a diverse and sustainable supply of quality coffee.

“Agricultural science is critical for securing the global supply of high-quality coffee in the face of the climate crisis,” says Jim Trout, chair of WCR’s board of directors and head of Coffee R&D for J.M. Smucker, the maker of Folgers. “WCR created this network because roasters know we can’t wait another day.”

“Coffee faces a crisis of innovation that makes the industry’s sustainability, quality, and supply assurance goals impossible to achieve if we stay on the path we are on,” says WCR CEO Dr. Jennifer (Vern) Long. “But as we have seen with Covid-19, incredible solutions to urgent, global problems are made possible with scientific collaboration. ”

“With this network we will be able to achieve results that would not be possible conducting breeding within the borders of a single country. Costa Rica is very excited to participate. It will allow us to develop more and better varieties and make them available to farmers faster,” says Xinia Chaves Quiros, director, ICAFE Costa Rica.

Innovea’s unique collaborative design provides tremendous value to countries to enable them to tackle the challenges of climate change together while maintaining their individual competitive positions. The network gives participating countries unrestricted access to new genetic materials, training in modern breeding approaches, and shared tools while also connecting researchers across national boundaries to achieve results that would be impossible for programs working in isolation. At the same time, it leaves coffee producing countries in the driver’s seat for finished variety development and release and provides avenues for countries to connect with roasters and buyers to ensure that new varieties are tailored for market demand.

Through the network, WCR will create new, improved breeding populations using modern genomic selection approaches that countries can use without restrictions on their use. Depending on the performance of the material, some countries could release new varieties as early as 2033, although most will take several more years. (Because coffee is a tree crop, the breeding process can take anywhere from 10 to 30 years for finished variety development, depending on the breeding approach used). After that, new varieties can be released in a country as often as every 3-5 years.

“The network brings together a wide diversity of high-performing varieties from Africa, Asia, and the Americas that have never been bred together before,” says Dr. Senthil Kumar, director of research, Central Coffee Research Institute (CCRI). “India is enthusiastic about the opportunities this network provides for us to develop varieties that address farmers’ needs and to ensure our success in achieving climate resilience.”

To date, two technical workshops of participating countries have taken place (the first in Rwanda in August 2022, and a second this week in Costa Rica), and the first crosses for the network have already been made. Those plants will be distributed to network partners for evaluation in 2023, and subsequent improved crosses will be made every six years. The first cycle of crosses were designed to bring together high-priority traits such as yield, disease resistance, and cup quality. In the next two decades, multiple countries will have a basket of improved varieties that are more productive and climate resilient, better tasting, and more diverse than all of today’s current varieties.

“Accelerating the development of better varieties is absolutely essential for tackling climate change,” says Dr. Long. “We have to do it and we have to start today. If we don’t, in 20 years, farmers will have left coffee for more productive crops and we will be left drinking synthetic coffee.”

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Carbon, and in turn, the carbon footprint, has been recognised as one of the leading causes of human-induced climate change. Over the past few decades, companies have shifted their infrastructures to reduce the negative impact, hoping to protect plants, waterways, and animals. However, when carbon is in the soil, it improves its ability to retain water and its overall fertility. So, the challenge is how do we get carbon out of the air and back into the earth? The solution is regenerative agriculture.

Bringing soil to the forefront

For decades, the climate change conversation centered around harm reduction with the goal of shifting agricultural practices to become carbon neutral. The challenge with this model is that it simply maintains the environment where it is today, which means that the current challenges plaguing the industry, including climate unpredictability, drought, and pest infestations, remain. Minimising harm is no longer enough to mitigate the risks of climate change; the environment needs to improve. Instead of adopting methods that will sustain, the focus needs to be repair and regeneration, beginning with adopting agricultural practices that will build healthy soil.

Regenerative farming begins with recognising soil’s role in the health of the planet and those living on it. “Conventional, which is the majority, this is where we have been, and sometimes it is where we are still stuck, but the method is destructive and unsustainable,” said Michael Ham, president, Well AP, Mt Kisco, New York. “Sustainable, which is achieving net zero, will maintain the status quo, but we need to reverse the damage that has been done and the only way to do that is through regenerative. This is where the focus needs to be in the next decade for us to really bring things back to where they should be. “Recognising the benefit, both for the earth and farm itself, Ham shared that their Korean tea farm Wild Orchard made the commitment to shift its practices from organic to regenerative. This past May, Wild Orchard obtained the Regenerative Organic Certification, becoming the first tea farm to receive this certification.

Curious deer traipsing through tea plants that are surrounded by other plants and wildflowers. Image: Wild Orchard

“Regenerative agriculture takes it one step further by focusing on the health of the soil,” said Ham. The model emphasises that soil requires living microbes to achieve its optimal health, which is obtained through various methods, including crop cover, minimising the amount of tillage, biodiversity, and intermittent grazing techniques, can grow nutrient-dense plants and reduce the amount of carbon in the environment.

In 2014, the Rodale Institute, Emmaus, Pennsylvania, released the white paper “Regenerative Organic Agriculture and Climate Change: A Down to Earth Solution to Global Warming,” urging the agricultural sector to consider the long-term impacts of its practices and to adopt regenerative methods. According to the Rodale Institute, most agricultural soil has lost between 30 to 75 per cent of its organic carbon. The loss has been linked to the atmosphere and conventional farming practices. Six years later, the Rodale Institute published “Regenerative Agriculture and the Soil Carbon Solution,” reiterating the harm in conventional practices, and urged the agricultural industry to adopt regenerative practices to build healthy soil, and in turn, reduce the levels of carbon in the atmosphere.

Dr Rattan Lal, director of carbon management and sequestration centre, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, and winner of the 2020 World Food Prize, has extensively studied soil health. He continues to emphasise the importance of protecting the soil, both for the health of the environment and to improve food security. He explained the interdependency between the health of soil and the health of the planet, stating that if the health of the soil goes down the health of everything else goes down with it.

Making the shift to regenerative practices

In November 2020, the World Coffee Research organisation invited both Dr Lal and Andrea Illy, chairman of illycaffè, Trieste, Italy, to discuss soil health, and more specifically regenerative agriculture and the need for the coffee industry to shift its farming practices to mitigate the risks of climate change. Over the last five years, several coffee and tea manufacturers have adapted their sustainability strategies to focus on regeneration and soil health. Starbucks launched a holistic sustainability project with a focus on regenerative agriculture in Nariño, Colombia, with 100 smallholder farmers. Nestlé committed to investing 1.3 billion dollars, over a five-year period, to aid farmers with the transition to regenerative practices.

illycaffè announced its goal of becoming a carbon-free company by 2033, including zero-emission coffee plantations in both Guatemala and Kokkere, Ethiopia, where the farmers are adopting the principles of regenerative agriculture. While Unilever released its five regenerative agriculture principles, which would serve as a model of standards that they would use to help educate suppliers and guide their farmers.

Tazo launched a regenerative organic tea line in August. Image: Tazo Tea

This past August, Tazo Tea (formerly owned by Unilever, now owned by ekaterra) launched a regenerative organic tea line made with ingredients grown with regenerative agriculture practices. The product launch included four Tazo original tea blends relaunched as regenerative organic blends. The commitment to becoming regenerative included not just the farms themselves but also a focus on developing resilient communities and replenishing the planet’s resources.

“Tazo has always been a brand that challenges the status quo, and this regenerative organic transition is no exception,” said Laraine Miller, president, ekaterra Americas, New York. “For too long, business as usual has been killing our planet. It is time for every company, including the entire tea industry, to overhaul their means of production to combat climate change and help people and planet thrive.”

The tea and coffee industries are taking action, adopting strategies that focus on regeneration, beginning with educating farmers on the importance of soil health and providing the resources that will support them with making this transition. However, the path to become regenerative, is still in its infancy. “Regenerative agriculture might be the new buzzword on the block, but the key aspect behind it to shift the focus of sustainable farming from ‘doing no harm’ towards delivering positive impact is urgent and garnering more corporate commitment,” said Piet van Asten, head sustainable production systems-coffee, Olam Food Ingredients (OFI), Singapore. “This momentum is proving powerful in driving efforts around decarbonisation and pesticide reduction.”

The message from both the tea and coffee communities is clear. Instead of sustaining, we need to reduce the amount of carbon in the environment, a term, called decarbonisation, and the adoption of regenerative practices provides a strategy to help achieve this goal.

For regenerative practices to be viable at the farm level, the strategies adopted need to be responsive to the particular needs of the farmer.

“From our experience, it’s important to present it to farmers as an extension of what they already do well, rather than as a requirement to change existing practices,” said Van Asten. “To encourage uptake, we need to go beyond the buzzwords by translating what ‘regenerative,’ ‘climate-smart’ or ‘agro-ecological’ practices mean on the ground in terms of better productivity and livelihoods.”

OFI strives to do this through education, including highlighting the benefits that some of these shifts, that may initially appear counterintuitive, like integrated weed management, can provide. For example, through education, the farmers begin to see soil erosion, recycle nutrients, and harbour natural predators to control insect pests. “Educating farmers and supporting them to meet demand by shifting to more eco-friendly production makes what might initially seem a daunting task, an economically viable route in the long-term,” said Van Asten.

From an economic standpoint, this model is being looked at for its potential in developing more resilient crops, and in turn, aiding with food security. However, converting to this model requires farmers to look at the entire process, from soil to the harvest, including both the short- and long-term outcome of each of the techniques that are used. Machine harvesting, for example, traditionally uses fossil fuel emitting these toxins into the environment, which in turn, enters the soil, and the plants. However, innovation in agrotech is looking at eco-friendly alternatives to respond to these challenges so that large scale farms have an option that will maintain their productivity without causing harm to the environment.

At Olam AtSource agronomist shows the benefits of a properly pruned coffee plant. Image: Vanessa L Facenda

Currently, the tea at the 1000-acre farm of Wild Orchard is hand-picked, however, the company is looking at investing in battery powered harvesting machines to pluck their second and third flushes of their crops. The hope is that by incorporating these types of tools into their operation will help accelerate the amount of regenerative tea that enters the supply chain.

The long-term benefits of regenerative agricultural practices continue to gain recognition throughout the tea and coffee industries. On a positive note, each shift that is made at the farm level, whether it is increasing biodiversity, integrated weed management, or maintaining cover crops, will help to feed the soil, and over time, reduce the amount of carbon that is emitted into the atmosphere. The launch of the regenerative organic alliance certification is a tool that will help increase consumer recognition of this agricultural model. However, now, it is up to the industry to share the positive actions that their companies are taking so that the products that are grown through the regenerative model receive both the recognition and the economic value that they deserve.

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

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“Twenty years ago, farmers could tell you exactly the date when it was going to rain, but
that is no longer the case, which means that the quality of harvests are also unpredictable,” said
Jan Dellwisch, tea department and supervisor, organic division, Kloth & Köhnken Teehandel,
Bremen-Europahafen, Germany. “There are many biological phenomena which are highly unpredictable, coupled with political instability; tea buying has never been associated with so many risks.”

Producers must cope with climate unpredictability and a volatile market, including roadblocks within the supply chain preventing them from obtaining imported solutions like pesticides and fertilizers. Using fertilizers can help insulate plants from environmental stressors by improving the overall resiliency of the plants. However, access to fertilizer, particularly potash, which primarily comes from Russia, has become increasingly challenging, with some suppliers restricting access.

“The actual impact of this supply challenge is still unclear, but certain countries that previously relied heavily on fertilizers have been struggling with fulfilling their supply,” said Hanna Neuschwander, director of strategy and communications, World Coffee Research. “Other countries where the cultural norm is not to use fertilizers will be less impacted by this challenge.”

As imported resources, like fertilizers, become increasingly more challenging to access, farmers are
beginning to look for local alternatives to nourish their harvest and build their plants’ resiliency. The
strategies may include integrating resistant strains, applying pesticides, or putting the foundation in
place for integrated pest management.

As a buyer, Dellwisch shared that diversification, buying tea from a variety of origins, has become
a necessary strategy. Currently, the company is working with suppliers in Africa for their green
tea to provide another source outside of Asia. “As traders and suppliers to many international brand
owners, we have to decide which purchase path we are going to take,” said Dellwisch. “The path that
we’ve chosen is that we are not going to restrict ourselves to single estates because of the risks; we
are going to use a variety of sources to maintain availability and the quality of our product.”

Enhancing the plants’ resiliency has become increasingly critical as the volatility of biological
challenges continues to escalate. Regenerative agriculture, specifically improving soil health,
continues to gain attention as producers look at developing an environment that can aid plants
in combatting pathogens. “Farming extracts so much energy out of the soil, and it is not always being properly reapplied, which means that the quality of the soil is becoming poorer and poorer,” said Dellwisch. “In the long term, organic farming will mitigate the risk; the soil is much more fertile, and the plants are healthier, which means that they will be better equipped to resist outside threats. However, in the short term, we do not have the specific answer.”

Understanding Pathogens

One avenue that tea and coffee researchers are investigating is whether there are biological
pathogens that can be integrated at the farm level to combat these challenges. Studies, such as the
one sponsored by the World Coffee Research (WCR) in 2014, have identified natural enemies to pathogens. The WCR survey, which took place in Brazil, identified several mycoparasites; one in particular, Calonectria hemileiae, appeared to promote defense responses against rust when applied to coffee plants.

Brazilian researchers at the Federal University of Vicosa, Brazil, also looked at biological pathogens to rust, specifically whether the hexane extract, from the medicinal plant Garcina gardneriana, which is known for its antimicrobial activity, could potentially be used as a natural antifungal product against coffee leaf rust. Although the research is still in its infancy, these biological solutions may help insulate the plants from the catastrophic damage that coffee leaf rust can cause.

Understanding the genetics of the pathogens themselves may also help researchers determine the best method to combat them. Dr Catherine Aime, a mycologist from Purdue University, specialises in fungi that cause rust disease, and is currently tracing the genome. The team has already identified the aggressive strain of coffee leaf rust impacting Hawaii.

“The ultimate goal is to provide the knowledge, based on genomic and population analyses, about
how the rust manages to erode host resistance so quickly,” said Aime in a recent article published
by Alliance for Science. “Once this is understood, then we can better plan strategies to mitigate
outbreaks, whether that involves changes in management, or breeding strategies. Rust fungi cause some of our most serious diseases of agricultural crops and forest products. So, any insights into how they overcome host resistance may help to inform strategies to control them in other systems.”

In tea, researchers are studying several pathogens, including identifying the whole genome in teal leaf spot to determine its evolution to develop solutions to combat it. The fact that tea is often grown as a monoculture crop increases its risk for pathogens and pests. Pathogens like blister blight, previously only seen in the tropical provinces, have expanded into the subtropical regions in China. Tea’s natural defense mechanisms, including caffeine and catechin levels, decrease when tea is grown at higher temperatures. Introducing grasses and shade trees, like the Guatemala grass, is one strategy that is being used in Sri Lanka and India to help develop a more resilient environment.

The Role of Research

Research has played a critical role in providing both tea and coffee producers with strategies to help minimise the negative impact from pathogens. Strategies include data analysis and implementing technology to help detect the threat before it reaches catastrophic levels. These tools can be used to track both weather patterns and pathogens while also providing a way to connect with local producers to help prevent the pathogen from spreading.

Research in Central America and Hawaii has been focused on developing early detection systems for coffee leaf rust, which includes studying the relationship between meteorological conditions and the rust epidemic. Hawaiian researchers Luis Aristizabal and Melissa Johnson launched a monitoring program in Kona to assist growers with the early detection of coffee leaf rust to determine the patterns of the disease in the region.

Weather-based disease forecasting models and remote sensing techniques have also been developed to respond to the challenge of blister blight in Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia. However, forecasting systems are not enough to address the challenges that tea faces. Dr Abhay Pandey, mycologist, Tea Research Association, India, emphasised that detailed multi-seasonal field trials are required at both nursery and field levels to identify resistance sources against major diseases of tea plants, including using this data to develop climate-resilient tea cultivars.

Integrating resilient strains continues to be a proactive solution for farmers across the globe. The most recent coffee strain that has been drawing attention is RAB C15, a varietal that was originally introduced in 2015. The variety was released after eight years of field testing and experiments to determine its resilience against coffee leaf rust and coffee berry borer disease, and how well it adapted to the environmental conditions of Rwanda. World Coffee Research reports that this varietal is a tall, high-yielding varietal that is both rust and coffee berry disease resistant. It has been gaining interest from
farmers in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda to see if it could potentially alleviate the stress of coffee berry disease.

The challenge is that over time, the strains that were once resistant will no longer be so, and so new varietals must be continually researched and produced. World Coffee Research is launching a new global breeding program to provide supply partners with germplasm. “Modern genetics allows us to look inside the genes and identify the good combinations which will be the ones that we will cross, with the hope that additional learnings from the crops will reduce the amount of time it takes for new varieties to be put into the market,” said Neuschwander.

The plants will be grown in multiple coffee-growing regions, exposing the strains to a range of environmental variabilities while also allowing farmers to better predict if the strain will respond well to the evolving climate in their region. Neuschwander shared that the response to the upcoming program has been extremely positive and is hopeful that the program will be up and running, including secured partnerships and field sites, by early 2024.

The harsh truth is that biological challenges show no sign of dissipating; however, the solutions to address these challenges are evolving. Farmers are implementing long-term strategies, including
increasing the diversity of vegetation on the farm, focusing on soil health, introducing resilient strains, and integrating predictive technology to prevent outbreaks. These strategies will continue to evolve as knowledge about the environment and the challenges that we face grow.

By Anne-Marie Hardie

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As research cites coffee as a crop significantly threatened by climate change (per Grüter et al, 2022: “Expected global suitability of coffee, cashew and avocado due to climate change.”), Enveritas’s data-based system measures conditions at the point of origin to identify farmers and communities most in need of agronomic and other assistance, and tracks progress of impact projects to ensure community support is effective.

“This responsible sourcing achievement is the result of a multi-year data collection process to verify the conditions and practices of the more than 59,000, mostly small coffee farms in 24 regions around the world who supply coffee beans for Peet’s Coffee,” said Doug Welsh, vice president and roastmaster of the Emeryville, California-based roaster retailer.

In 2016, Peet’s Coffee began working with Enveritas because the non-profit offers a different way of addressing sustainability – an approach where producers access free verification of their practices, while encouraging a deeper understanding and commitment to solving the most challenging sustainability issues in their local community. Working collaboratively, Peet’s and Enveritas designed a custom coffee-specific verification program that uses, among other techniques, artificial intelligence (AI) and geo-spatial technology to gather independent, data-rich reports of conditions on coffee farms.

These conditions are verified against 30 sustainability standards set by Enveritas, which has performed more than 20,000 annual audits across Peet’s coffee supply chain. Peet’s shares the results of these audits with its suppliers and, if issues are identified, collaborates with importers, governments, non-profits, competitors and, most importantly, its farmer partners to develop impact projects tailored to the needs of farmers and their communities. Peet’s currently operates 39 social and environmental impact programs in 24 regions.

“Coffee is more than a source of energy or enjoyment for the millions of people worldwide who farm coffee for their livelihood, as a family legacy and way of life,” said Welsh. “At Peet’s, responsible sourcing requires that we identify challenges, invest in projects that improve lives, and then measure that progress. The reach of this accomplishment – applying consistent sustainability standards to all the coffee we roast – is just the beginning. If we can achieve this across our global system at Peet’s, other coffee roasters can as well. Our collaborative approach will help advance progress and create more tailored, relevant support for coffee farmers and their home communities.”

Over several decades, Peet’s Coffee’s sourcing experts, led by Welsh, have worked to better understand challenging social and environmental conditions on coffee farms and the impact on smallholder farmers, who produce more than 60% of the world’s coffee. Peet’s Coffee has established viable sourcing systems and partnerships with highly credible organisations including World Coffee Research, TechnoServe and Enveritas to inform the company’s practices and achieve greater reach in improving coffee production.

“Many coffee companies are satisfied with paying for a label that says their coffee is certified, but few companies are actually tracking that data to determine opportunities for change and real progress,” said David Browning, CEO of Enveritas. “Peet’s Coffee came to us several years ago with the challenge to customise a data collection system to track actual practices in the regions where they source coffee beans. The company wanted to know with certainty how Peet’s coffee is grown and then help improve conditions within each community through targeted projects. The verification audits we perform are rigorous, and the data details actual practices in place for accuracy and year-over-year analysis. It is a model that will help individual producers and the industry evolve to better address climate change and other associated, complex challenges.”

Accelerating Peet’s Coffee’s pioneering collaboration with Enveritas, global partner, JDE Peet’s, the parent company of Peet’s Coffee, recently announced it will increase its responsibly sourced coffee from 30% to 80% by the end of 2022.

Peet’s Coffee will continue to provide timely updates on its efforts to drive positive impact. For more information about Peet’s verification process and Sourcing with Impact programs, visit: peets.com/impact.

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The Shade Catalog was jointly produced by Conservation International, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and World Coffee Research, with funding from The Starbucks Foundation. Its collaborative development involved the expertise of over two dozen agroforestry, tree biology, coffee industry experts and farmer groups.

“We hope to encourage farmers and industry decision-makers to implement agroforestry systems that sustain both people and the environment,” said Dr Ruth Bennett, research ecologist at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. “Coffee is a unique crop because it can be grown with trees, to benefit climate, biodiversity and farmers alike. This catalog is a starting point for similar work in coffee-growing regions around the world.”

Shade trees on coffee farms are an integral resource for farmers, wildlife and the coffee crop itself. But farmers and practitioners often lack information about the tree species found in coffee landscapes: do they have economic uses, like timber or food production? Do the trees compete or complement coffee production? Do they support biodiversity and wildlife?

“As the climate crisis worsens conditions for farmers around the globe, retaining and replanting trees in coffee landscapes will play an increasingly critical role for sustaining coffee agriculture and livelihoods,” said Raina Lang, senior director of Sustainable Coffee at Conservation International.

The Shade Catalog gathers existing data on trees found in coffee landscapes – from the species’ main attributes, uses and benefits to propagation and management tips – and makes it freely accessible to support whole-farm planning.

“Tools like The Shade Catalog are critical for supporting coffee agroforestry to help combat the effects of climate change and support income diversification strategies,” said Vern Long, CEO of World Coffee Research.

The Catalog’s first edition focuses on Indonesia, one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of coffee with nearly 2 million smallholder coffee farmers managing 1.2 million hectares of coffee land in one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet. Future editions of the Catalog will expand to cover other critical coffee producing countries, beginning with Peru in 2022.

The Catalog is intended to be a living document and will be updated as more information or research becomes available for the included tree species.

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Michael Keown, chair of the WCR board of directors, said: “Vern is joining WCR at a time of strong momentum. What was once a fledgling organization has surpassed everyone’s expectations and created a capacity we now recognize the coffee industry can’t do without.  We are thrilled to welcome her and look forward to all that’s to come.”

Dr. Tim Schilling, the founder and outgoing chief executive officer of WCR, will work side-by-side with Long through the end of the year, then step into a new role as president of WCR’s European subsidiary branch and a member of the board of directors. Long will take the helm of WCR on June 1 2019.

“With Vern, WCR is in exceptionally capable hands,” said Dr. Schilling. “She is deeply knowledgeable and passionate about international agricultural research, is a natural leader and entrepreneurial thinker, and is an experienced organization builder. She’s the perfect fit. The coffee world doesn’t know her yet, but it will.”

Long will lead the organization to achieve its mission to grow, protect, and enhance supplies of quality coffee while improving the livelihoods of the families who produce it. WCR aims to achieve stable funding of $10 million by 2022.

“I am humbled and excited to join an organization as dynamic, focused, and innovative as World Coffee Research. Coffee production faces numerous challenges in the coming years, which agricultural research and development are uniquely positioned to address. I am eager to build on Tim’s success in establishing WCR as one of the leading coffee organizations in the world,” said Long. “I look forward to engaging across the coffee community to grow WCR, so together we can position coffee production to be sustainable in the long term, particularly for the farmers who make the business of coffee possible.”

“Our industry likes to talk about sustainability a lot. But in World Coffee Research, we have brought into being a global organization that is charging ahead to address some of the fundamental problems stopping us from achieving it, especially low profitability for farmers,” said Mario Cerutti, president, ECF/chief institutional relations and sustainability officer, Lavazza. “Farmer-focused agricultural innovation is fundamental. We cannot be a sustainable industry in the long term without it. It is why so many international companies, like Lavazza, have joined this precompetitive effort. We are so excited to watch this organization grow to realize its full potential under Vern’s leadership.”

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