Sustainable Growth in Specialty Coffee Industry
…what it is and what can we do.
Yesterday there was an important panel discussion on Stronghold, dedicated to the topic of sustainable growth in the specialty coffee industry. It impacted me deeply, and I decided to take my time today and write about what I learned and what it made me think about. I shared the link on top, so I hope they’ll have english subtitles soon, and I highly recommend to watch it to all of you who are deeply curious about coffee as an industry.
What impacted me the most is the fact that if we do nothing in the following couple of years for promoting specialty coffee, we will encounter ourselves dealing with the problem of overproduction of specialty coffee lots that wouldn’t be able to be sold at the price the farmers hope to sell them.
The fermentation craze started not so long ago, and boomed recently, and many farmers are now learning how to do it, seeing that green coffee importers or coffee roasters who do the direct trade, they are ready to be paying higher prices for the funky lots. We as an industry are learning a ton about coffee because of these experiments.
The problem is that first, the production of specialty is predicted to be growing faster than consumption. The production is growing roughly 10% per year, but the consumption is far from that.
And what it can lead to is farmers, small farmers, failing to sell those lots, and or going broke in the worst case scenario, or coming back to producing simpler coffees that they know will always find the customer.
That was the first thing that made me think.
That we should stop thinking that we are not connected, that there are producers, clients, customers, etc – and see the big picture. We are all connected, and the farmers are doing their part, risking their money investing in equipment, growing other more expensive, or new and tricky varieties.
And what are we doing? How are we helping?
I am actually asking myself.
The second issue that made me take a fresh look at the situation was what Timur Dudkin said. About coffee hunters.
Some years ago there was a whole profession. Coffee hunter, A person who travelled a lot, looking for the coffee gems, talking to people, finding those farms and those farmers. There was a certain idea behind it – good coffees are there, hidden, and have to be discovered and then hunted. For nobody else to have it, only you. A very romantic profession, at least it looked like it. Lots of adventures, meeting new people, speaking various languages.
It’s needless to say that this is over.
We entered the time now, when we see the full picture, or at least we are really trying, and we understand that instead of hunting for great coffee, the best thing you can do is to help to cultivate that great coffee. Secure the crop, invest into the necessary equipment, help with the knowledge and training, and most importantly make sure that the producer can work calmly for the next couple of seasons, without a constant thought if his labour will get fairly paid.
This is a completely different level of “we are paying the fair prices and maintaining close relationships with the farmer”, the slogan so many coffee companies use, when the only thing they actually do is buying coffee from the green coffee importer, and buying the one that is cheaper. This is no different than shopping at the supermarket – if one won’t have what you need, you’ll go to another one in a blink of an eye.
It is not enough anymore, and, more importantly, it is not sustainable.
We, who are on the other side of the chain, have to add more value to the specialty coffee. But how? Should we travel to the origin, visit the farms and post on instagram, showing how close we actually are with the farmer and how much we care? Should we buy extremely expensive lots? Should we charge more for coffee?
Or should we stay where we are, and work our own territory? Our own coffee shops, roasteries, blogs and instagrams? To grow sustainably from this end?
I am asking myself these questions too. How can I help? Here, now, and, most importantly, with integrity.
Integrity is not the last thing here. You have to act from the heart, even when you are doing marketing and sales, otherwise it is simply not sustainable for you – you won’t last.
If I had to start somewhere, I would try to make specialty coffee look more achievable for the normal people, and less “hipsterish” and elitistic.
More approachable. More fun, Easy to enjoy. Because it actually is. Specialty coffee in the majority is produced by people who love every single bean they grow and every single piece of the lands where they live – take the “pura vida” way of living in Costa Rica, for example. Grateful for life.
And why on the other side not to simply connect it with people who enjoy every single cup they drink? With all the differences between us, this is certainly one thing all us can relate to. That moment when the world slows down, and you are enjoying a damn good cup of coffee.
Coffee Freshness – How Fresh is Too Fresh?
Specialty Coffee has been with us long enough for us to remember the rules of buying coffee for home.
“Look for the freshest roast, buy in beans, grind before making”.
Today I would like to talk about looking for the freshest roast.
Of course, as with any other rule in life, the idea is to learn the rule, follow the rule, and understand where it comes from. And only afterwards become independent enough to know WHEN you should apply the rule, and when and how you can BREAK it.
The rule of fresh roast is exactly the same. The whole idea of the roast being fresh – well, to start with, it distinguishes specialty coffee from more commercial coffee, if you allow me to put it this way. Run a test yourself, grab a bag of coffee in the supermarket – how much information about what’s inside will you find? You most definitely won’t find the information about when the coffee was roasted. Only “best before date”.
On the other side, the whole cycle of specialty coffee is built around freshness. Freshness of the beans, the harvest being this year and not past crop (this is the topic for the next time, because very few of those who work with coffee know that coffee harvest starts in September. If coffee is harvested in October of 2023, it will be Harvest 2024. and there are many other details).
and, well, yes, the freshness of the roast.
Looks like in specialty we are always running against the clock, trying to get the freshest green beans first, and then, when the coffee is roasted – well, the idea is to sell it faster, because when you roast it, you basically start the timer. Timer of “not too fresh”.
It comes to a degree when people are refusing to buy coffee that is perfectly fine, but was roasted a week ago. “7 days is too much, probably coffee has already passed its peak”.
But does fresher coffee mean better coffee?
I will repeat here – of course, we need to follow the rule first, so if you were never looking at the roast date when buying coffee, it is the place to start. But if you are wondering if a coffee that was roasted 2-3 weeks ago is already too old, and isn’t worth the money paid, or is still fine – and you are ready to break the rule, keep reading.
So does fresher coffee mean better coffee?
Well, not necessarily.
Probably in the beginning of the popularity of specialty coffee, yes, it made all the sense.
But there are other factors at play now. Other factors that ideally allow you to buy coffee from certain roasters that will last fresh enough for a couple of months.
So probably you are wondering what has changed?
Four major things changed in the industry.
Three of them are connected with how coffee is treated before being roasted, one – with roasting it.
If you think about it, it is amazing how what happens to coffee BEFORE roasting influences the shelf life of the same coffee. We used to think that “the clock starts to tick” when we roast the coffee, and we have to rush to drink it, because with every single day it just becomes worse and worse – but what if the “useful time” of coffee after roast slowed down?
First reason why coffee will now last longer after roasting is fermentation.
The producers are doing an amazing job implementing controlled fermentations – not only for the flavor purposes, although fermentation can make coffee taste more complex, but also with the perks like longer shelf life. And I am not talking only about the coffees that taste funky (using more risky fermentation) – I am talking about the industry in general starting to control the fermentation process (that happens in every coffee processing) better.
And alongside with the fermentation what producers started to control better is the drying phase of coffee processing. Finally, the drying protocol started to make part of the coffee processing, and what matters is not only the final moisture content we get in the parchment beans before milling and exporting, but also – how we got to these numbers. Was it an aggressive mechanical drying that affected the cell structure of the coffee beans, or gentle one? What were the temperatures used?
The wonderful thing is that more even and controlled fermentation actually leads to coffee drying more evenly – and eventually being easier to roast.
Third factor is the storage of the beans. We improved at storing the beans before roasting them. Grain pro or similar type of packaging is used in almost all the coffee imported, some exporters are even using vacuum bags (that has its own pros and cons). The way beans are stored before being roasted (it is a live matter, after all) influences how the roast will go and the shelf life of the coffee.
In other words, well processed coffee with controlled fermentation and drying will taste fresh for longer. Longer than the fresh crop, that was not properly fermented and dried.
Fourth factor is – well, the industry improved at roasting coffee. We have a better understanding of what is going on inside the bean and inside the machine while roasting, and how correctly roasted coffee can stay fresh for weeks, sometimes reaching its potential by 3rd or 4th week. Yes, you saw it right – some coffees are actually becoming better one month after being roasted.
The way of discovering which ones is by trial and error, and talking to people who are constantly exploring different roasters. But nowadays it is not uncommon to find that the roasting style is to make coffee last and open up slowly – and not show everything 2 days after roasting and then die day by day.
I hope I managed to make you at least reconsider looking at the roast date under a different angle, and experiment a bit more.
Complexity of flavor, quality and price of coffee – what if they are not connected anymore?
What if the complexity of the flavor, quality and price are not connected anymore? What now? How to buy coffee now? What is a fair price to pay for 1 kg of green beans? And for a 250 gr bag of roasted coffee?
These questions are both for roasters who are busy creating their seasonal offer, and for coffee lovers.
Looks like we are entering a new era.
I am being asked, over and over again, both by roasters and consumers, the question “why”?
And both are talking about the same problem, both are facing the same issue, just from the different sides.
Roaster is buying a coffee for a price considered “elevated” – expecting a certain complexity of flavor for that price, and not getting it.
Coffee lovers are in the same situation. Is more expensive better? Which price is the fair price? “I paid 18 euros for the bag, and this coffee is worse than one that I got for 15. Why does it cost more if it is not better?”
Scores are only adding up to the confusion. Both coffees are 87 points – so ideally they should be the same price, right? And yet they are not.
Can the company that is selling the coffee (green coffee importer or coffee roaster) score the coffee they are selling (when they have the interest of selling for the highest price? Is it fair? Should a third party do the scoring instead?
And does it make any sense to mention the score at all, if the price is not connected to it anymore?
All those questions are not easy questions to answer – and I am not intending to answer them now, but I really would like to point them out. We are currently facing a new situation.
Quality is not connected to price anymore. The same with complexity of flavor.
How rare the coffee is, how much demand there is for this kind of coffee, how much the competitors are charging for something similar, how much was paid for it to the producer, how expensive it was to produce this coffee. These things are probably coming first, and afterwards – the profit.
What can we do? As coffee professionals and coffee lovers, to make less mistakes and buy expected, or close to expected quality?
First, we need to stop expecting. 89 point coffee can cost 20 euros and can cost 100 euros per kilo, and it doesn’t mean that the second one is 5 times better than the first one. Probably it is more rare, there are more buyers who want to have it, there is a story behind it that allows it to be sold at this price. There is an added value to it, that the market is ready to pay, or is expected to be ready to pay.
Roaster
understand that quality (score) and complexity are not connected to the price anymore. They may be, but not necessarily are.
get a clear understanding of what you are looking for – quality, profile – and what is the price range for this coffee now. Take in consideration that some origins can be more expensive than others, historically, like Kenya, for example.
make sure that you are calibrated and scoring coffee regularly – it will help you to understand how different your scores are from the scores of the importers, and if you understand the quality in the same way. Not to say that someone is right, and someone is wrong – but just to simply be aware of the difference in perception, and use it when buying coffee
make sure you know to taste the defects in green coffee, and how to grade the coffee
Coffee lover
find a roaster you trust (via some trial and error), whose style of roasting and buying you like, and stick with it, if you like stability
if you like to explore – understand that there is no guarantee, even if the brand is quite famous, there is no guarantee that the coffee will be superb
the communication of the company, the design, the interface of the webpage, the expectations you might have – all of it influences your perception of quality. take it easy.
high price does not always guarantee the complexity of flavor
getting better at brewing and tasting, being exposed to very different coffees, together with someone who could guide you through the tasting is a big plus. It will give you a solid foundation, and help you to understand what you like and what you are looking for in coffee.
before you judge the quality of the coffee and the quality of the roasting – make sure you are brewing it correctly, using quality equipment and proper water.
And keep exploring!
Coffee is much bigger than simply flavor and a score, coffee has a story, and probably we are entering the era when we start paying more attention to the story of the coffee bought, and not only at the high score or new ways of processing.
Probably that is the bright side of it all, when we finish playing with diversity of flavor, to start paying attention to what’s behind it – people, region, country, system. Coffee still has a “colonial” feel to it – the best of it is being exported out of the countries where it was produced, raw, to then be roasted and sold. Sometimes we have the situation when people in coffee growing countries have not even tasted the best that their land produces.
Probably we could focus on that more.
Flavor is an easy and approachable entry point – all of us like to savor and enjoy food, so it is not a surprise that specialty coffee is getting all that attention.
So, when we finally have the attention – probably there are better ways to use it?
Probably coffee can be something bigger?