Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/612330
STiR tea & coffee industry international 31 By Dan Bolton A Greener Green Coffee Bag A lighter, tougher, cheaper, easy to handle new bag that is 100% recyclable Pinhalense mechanical siphon in operation separating ripe cherry Photo courtesy Pinhalense Specialty coffee exporter Bourbon Coffees has unveiled an innovative new recyclable plastic-lined paper sack that holds 30 kilos of green coffee. The innovation bag is based on tough multi-ply paper sacks used for concrete. Bour- bon, a specialty wholesaler and warehouse headquartered in Poços de Caldas, Minas Gerais, added a zip open bottom and machine sewn opening. The interior plastic lining is heat sealed to keep the coffee dry during shipping and storage. The bags are easier to handle than 60-kilo jute and they afford better protection of coffee quality. Brazil's Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA) showcased the bags during the most recent Cup of Excellence competition. A presentation by Fernando Silveira Bruno for bag manufacturer Klabin described the process and science behind the bags which took more than three years to develop. The bag was perfected with the help of researchers at the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), he said. Klabin is Brazil's largest paper producer and exporter. An international panel of cuppers on the final day of the competition evaluated coffee samples stored in conventional bags against the identical coffee stored in the new paper bags. Unprotected, the green coffee picked up unpleasant flavor notes from the jute. Cuppers penalized the coffee an average five points. The same coffee, sealed a year ago in the new sack, retained its original score. Gabriel C. Dias, a principal at Bour- bon and the owner of Fazenda Cachoeira da Grama, said the company, concerned about protecting its best micro-lots of coffee "first used vacuum bags, then the 20kg plastic bags (modeled on bags use to hold dog food, but stronger)" before achieving success with the new paper/ plastic 30 kg bags. The bags are less expensive than jute lined with plastic, quicker to close on the fill line and fully recyclable. "All you need to do after zipping open the bottom is to reach in and grab the plastic liner which gives way readily," he demonstrated. The paper and plastic is then recycled. to treat water either for reuse in the mill or for farm irrigation. The current and next generations of ecosystem-friendly "dry" pulpers could enable small farmers to provide coffees of the quality specialty buyers expect with less pollution than was possible before. This win-win scenario might well be a key part of creating and sustaining greater economic independence for growers and the workers they employ. However, the industry as a whole needs to continue applying pressure to create legal and economic incentives, or to encourage enforcement of water quality regulations where they exist, if a general movement towards drier wet processing is to happen.