After
reading over my last post, I realized that I forgot to introduce myself! My
name is Harry, and I am a barista from Australia. I have been working in the
specialty coffee industry for the past few years as a barista and roasters
assistant, so I have a decent understanding of coffee from the tail end of the
production chain. However I only have a bit of theoretical knowledge of the
rest of the production chain, hence why I am at the Tio Conejo finca getting a
bit of hands on experience.
Early yesterday
morning Don Ivanov and I went to Guática to meet up with John Jairo López from the Comite de
Caficultores de Risaralda and Jonathan Barrientos from the Alianza Productiva
for a presentation to a group of local producers on cup quality and
cooperatives. The drive from Manizales was spectacular; we passed through deep
valleys, flowing rivers and lush green cloud-covered mountains, not to mention
some charming towns perched on impossibly steep ridge lines. Apart from the plains
at the base of the valleys where it is too hot to cultivate anything apart from
livestock, it was coffee coffee coffee for as far as the eye could see. Some of
the farms at lower altitudes had ripe cherries bursting off the trees, and the
workers were diligently picking them one by one, meticulously picking the
mature cherries for processing later that day, and leaving the not-quite ready
ones to ripen in the coming days and weeks.
Just one section of the endless coffee farms between
Manizales and Guática
Once we got to Guática, we met John and Jonathan for breakfast and a
chat before the day’s activities. John was to work as a sort of MC for the day,
while the bulk of the presentations were to be done by William Ollas and his
team from La Cristalina, a local
cooperative that is working to raise the quality of the coffee for member farms so as to fetch better prices for green bean from
exporters, roasters and international and national companies, while at the same
time improving the livelihoods of the members and their families. Between presentations
from the members of La Cristalina, Don Ivanov was to do a presentation on the
Ecotact bags, which are used for storing hulled coffee before and during
exportation (more on this later).
The morning started with Amanda,
the secretary and logistics director of La Cristalina, explaining the history
of La Cristalina and the aims of the cooperative. Founded eight years ago by
William, La Cristalina takes its name from the national park of the same name
located on the outskirts of Guática.
It aims to ‘develop a coffee culture under the standards or criteria of economic,
social and environmental sustainability, with goal of becoming more competitive
in the specialty coffee market’. There was particular emphasis on the
development of social capital, with the ultimate goal of improving the
livelihoods of the farmers and their families.
La Cristalina
Amanda then went on to explain the
services that La Cristalina offers to growers who choose to opt in. For a
one-off fee of $COP 50 000 (around $USD 16) and an annual membership fee of
$COP 15 000, La Cristalina offers:
- Low interest (1%/month) loans for agricultural inputs (fertilizer, seeds etc.)
- Technical and agricultural support to farmers in order to improve the farming practices and the overall quality of their crops
- A guaranteed price for their coffee that is above the free market value
- A flat rate additional payment (per arroba, roughly 12.5kg) for high quality coffee (unfortunately I didn’t ask what a coffee has to score to be in this category, but I got the impression it was anything from mid-80’s and above)
Naturally, the participants had
many questions about the logistics of the cooperative and what the benefits of
membership would be, each of which were expertly and articulately answered by
William, Amanda and John.
Once this section of the
presentation was done, Ivanov gave his presentation on Ecotact bags. The Ecotact bag is a special type
of impermeable hermetic bag used to store green coffee after it has been hulled
and before it is roasted. To understand the importance of hermetic bags in the
storage and transport of specialty coffee (as well as cocoa, tea and a number
of other agricultural goods for that matter), I need to explain a couple of
things.
Once a coffee has been picked and processed,
it has to be dried until its internal moisture level reaches 11-12% of its
total weight. This number is very important, as coffees with moisture levels
that drop below 10.5% become ‘flat’ and ‘bland’, losing the defining
characteristics that distinguish them from other coffees. By the same token,
coffees with moisture levels above 12% are vulnerable to fermentation and
disease, which is equally damaging to the ‘profile’ of the coffee. In both
cases, the value of the coffee plunges dramatically.
After the bean has been dried, it is
encased in a naturally occurring husk (as well as mucilage and other plant
material, depending on how the coffee was processed). The green coffee bean
inside is much like a sponge- it absorbs moisture from the air around it and
odours from its surroundings. The coffee can be stored in this husk, but high
quality coffees will be sorted by bean size and density,
then roasted, cupped and priced based on the quality of each individual grouping. Before this sorting process can be done, the coffee bean must be removed
from this protective husk, and immediately becomes vulnerable to a number of environmental factors such as humidity and rodents. Even once a price for ‘x’ amount of coffee has been agreed upon between
buyer and seller, it is not uncommon for the buyer to request that the coffee
be sent in installments; as such the hulled coffee can be left in storage for
months before it is sent to the buyer and roasted.
Lower grade coffees are stored in
jute sacks, where they remain vulnerable to such environmental factors. Specialty
coffee is also stored in jute sacks, but it is absolutely necessary that it be stored in an impermeable hermetic bag (which goes inside
the sack) such as the Ecotact to ensure that the humidity level of the beans do
not change, that they are not tainted by rodents, insects or other pests, and
that they do not absorb odours from their surroundings.
Once Ivanov had finished explaining
the bags, John Jairo went on to highlight how they were indispensable for
companies that were paying a premium for high quality coffee. While the bags
aren’t cheap, they are discounted if bought in bulk, and La Cristalina have an
arrangement with the exporters they work with so that all the bags that are
sent with coffee inside are replaced with empty bags that are returned to the
farmer, so the purchase of the bags are a one-off investment for the farmer. They advantage that the Ecotact has over other hermetic bags is that they are simply tied off with cord rather than heat sealed, so they can be reused. In my experience with heat sealed hermetic bags, they are simply cut with knives and thrown in the bin.
Farmers checking out the Ecotact bags
After a quick lunch break, we went
down to the warehouse to see how and where the coffee was stored. The grading
process for the coffee was explained, and the attendants were shown how and why
the coffee that is brought in is checked for defective beans. There are
numerous reasons why a bean can become defective- excessive moisture, bad
storage practices and broca, to name
a few. Unfortunately, coffee with a high percentage of defective beans cannot
be sold as specialty coffee, and will instead be sold as commercial grade,
which fetches a lower price for the farmer.
In the warehouse Ivanov
demonstrated how the Ecotact bags are filled and sealed. It’s very simple- the
bag is put inside a jute sack and filled as normal. All the excess air is
squeezed out by pressing down on the bag, then it is twisted off at the top and
tied with a cord or leather strap, both of which are cheap and easily found.
Finally, the jute sack is sewn shut as per usual bagging practices.
Don Ivanov demonstrating the Ecotact bag
The final session of the day was in
the laboratory where all the cooperative coffees are cupped and evaluated. Here
the participants were explained sample roasting, the SCAA
cupping protocols and the role of the cupper in the pricing of coffee.
Amazingly none of the producers in attendance had cupped before, so it was a
great exercise to demonstrate the final stage of the product that they
themselves were producing. We had three coffees from Guática on the table- one made up of a mix of old, low
quality beans, the second with 70% of the beans affected by fermentation due to
bad storage practices, and finally a delicious, sweet, balanced coffee (83
points). The exercise was designed to show the participants how remarkably
different coffee can be, and demonstrate the importance of good post-processing
storage practices.
Cupping in the lab
Finally, John Jairo reiterated the
goal of La Cristalina in raising the quality level of ALL members of the
cooperative. There are outliers in the cooperative- one coffee from the May
harvest scored over 90!- but William, John Jairo and co. are aiming to raise
the standard of the entire Guática
area and improve its reputation as a producer of high quality specialty coffee
so as to better compete with neighbouring regions such as La Águila, which buyers often favour over Guática
due to their better reputations.
That was it for the day. Phone
numbers were exchanges, hands were shaken, and in the true spirit of day the
growers organized to meet up again in the near future to exchange ideas and
discuss ways to move forward collectively to improve their practices and coffee
quality. All in all it was a very productive day for everyone involved.
