STiR coffee and tea magazine

48 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 2, 2020 (April / May) 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2,624.1 535.9 209.3 360.1 399.8 374.3 141.5 1,825.5 1,616.2 1,736.9 1,847.5 620.6 Vietnam 30% EE.UU. 45% Colombia 23% EE.UU. 11% Brasil 4% Belgica 9% Espana 3% Alemania 3% Guatemala 3% Other 32% Other 37% 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2,624.1 535.9 209.3 360.1 399.8 374.3 141.5 1,825.5 1,616.2 1,736.9 1,847.5 620.6 Vietnam 30% EE.UU. 45% Colombia 23% EE.UU. 11% Brasil 4% Belgica 9% Espana 3% Alemania 3% Guatemala 3% Other 32% Other 37% National Union of Coffee Producers (CNC), the Nation- al Coalition of Coffee Producers' Organizations, and the National Coordinator of Coffee-Growers' Organizations, and have, since the late 1990s, begun to tap into markets for Fairtrade and organic-certified coffees. Ironically, one silver lining of the demise of INMECAFE was that small- holders, who make up the vast majority of Mexican coffee producers, were no longer able to afford chemical fertiliz- ers. As a result, Mexico is now the world's biggest producer of organic coffee, though not all of it is certified as such. Current topography Today, there are about half a million small (two-to-three hectare) coffee-producing entities in Mexico, with more than five million people depending on coffee nationwide. The southern half of the country accounts for 90% of pro- duction, with 44% of those in Chiapas, where about one million people, or 30% of the state's population, rely on coffee. Almost one-third (29%) of production comes from Veracruz; Oaxaca and Puebla contribute 11% each. Coffee from Chiapas and Oaxaca is identified as "altura," or high- grown, and is considered very high-quality, among the best in the Americas. Harvesting usually begins in September and ends by March. The US is still the biggest importer of Mexican coffee, though not of its specialty coffees, which tend to go to Europe, mainly Germany. According to the Mexico Statis- tics Bureau, INEGI, production in 2017 hit 858,039 tons, with exports going to 40 countries, with the US, Canada, Japan, Cuba, Germany, and Italy topping the list of import- ers. And internal consumption is looking better and better. Even despite higher domestic coffee prices and an inflation rate of 6.7% in 2017, consumption increased. Since then, inflation has dropped to 3.8% in 2019, and domestic consumption increased from 2.28 million 60kg bags in 2018 to 2.75 million in 2019. The USDA 2018-19 projection for coffee production in Mex- ico was 4.5 million 60/kg bags, a substantial in- crease over the previous year's 4.0 million 60/kg bags. As a sign that Mexico is becoming visible again, the Cup of Excellence held the competition in Mexico for the first time in 2012. This kind of visibility contributes to grow- ers gaining knowledge of specialty markets and raises awareness of Mexico's potential among buyers. Since then, other private initiatives have been drawn to Mexico, the flashiest being Nestlé building its biggest processing plant in Veracruz in 2019, investing US$154 million in the state. The importance of specialty coffee On the coattails of the producer and industry ini- tiatives, and with the realization that specialty cof- fee can trump low commodity prices, the Mexican government has started to pay attention. In 2006, it resuscitated the Coffee Institute now called AMECAFE, an umbrella for 25 private and pub- lic organizations responsible for the Sistema Pro- ducto Café. Its purpose is to coordinate the many other entities scattered through the states and in niches of government. The federal government has also issued many lengthy reports of varying quality and usefulness (one, from the Mexican Congress in 2019 heavily quoted data from 2012). However, USDA credits the Mexican govern- ment's 2016 implementation of PIAC (Integrated Coffee Plan) for helping increase production from a low of 2.2 million 60/kg bags in marketing year 2015/16 to 4.0 million bags in MY 2017/18. The PIAC distributes technological packages including "nutritional inputs," fungicides, and physical tools. In 2017, PIAC handed out more than 150,000 technological packages. But the wheels of govern- ment are slow, and producers feel there are more reports than action. During the 2019 National Coffee Growers' Forum, the growers' main representatives pub- licly exhorted the government to do more — spe- cifically, to provide more technical and financial support, a new regulatory board for coffee pro- duction, and most importantly, they stressed the need for an autonomous entity with the teeth and resources to defend the needs of the sector before state institutions. They also brought up the Price Compensation Fund, which has been discussed since the last administration and is not yet in place. "The sector requires investment, inter-institu- tional agreements, accords with national industry, with exporters and retailers to raise prices," said Santiago Arguello Campos, director of Agricul- tural development at the Ministry of Agriculture. "But we also need federal government authorities to act on the world stage where these issues are discussed." States producing Coffea arabica with commercial processing States producing Coffea arabica without commercial processing (Credit: Marrovi) Exports and Imports Production Cafe Mexico Export Cafe (miles 60 kg) Export Cafe 2017/18 Import Cafe (miles 60 kg) Import Cafe 2017/18

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