STiR coffee and tea magazine

STiR coffee and tea 19 Holger Preibisch (Deutscher Kaffeeverband e.V): Will there be enough coffee in the desired qualities in the future? There are five major challenges to be solved: climate change; working conditions in cultivation for the current and next generation; increase demand for quality; higher demands on agro-economic conditions; and increasing demand on shrinking acreage. Will we succeed in positioning coffee as a modern, healthy lifestyle beverage in the future? Only then will consumers continue to enjoy coffee with pleasure, with enjoyment, and with the knowledge of benefits to their health. Everyone in the entire coffee community is called upon to ask themselves every day what they themselves are contributing to answering these key questions for the bright future of the coffee sector. Dr. Monika Beutgen (Tea & Herbal Infusions Europe): The European Green Deal is the biggest upcoming challenge for the tea and herbal infusions industry – in the European Union (EU) and beyond. Although the goals set by the Green Deal primarily concern the EU, the clear intention is to export the ideas to the world. Environmental impact shall be a key criterion in decisions on setting maximum residue levels for substances in tea from now on. How does that get along with WTO rules? How can a fair system for controlling emissions be found? There are a lot of open questions. Nevertheless, the Green Deal is not only a challenge it is also a chance for the tea industry. Tea and herbal infusions are products which meet a lot of the requirements of the Green Deal and its Farm to Fork strategy: they are healthy beverages, affordable for everybody and – grow- ing herbal materials is biodiversity per se. Doug Bishop (BUNN): From a business standpoint, technology is going to play an even greater role in coffee and tea. Modern equipment offerings are able to Marcus Clausen (Dethlefsen & Balk): Climate change and the inherent threat to the cultivation of coffee and tea as well as tea ingredients is one of the main challenges that we will have to face and address in the coming years. In addition to sustainable and ecological agriculture, social responsi- bility will become vital, as consumers are much more educated about living and working conditions in the origins and will choose much more carefully who they will support with their purchases. Our strong ties with the origins as well as membership in the German Tea Association with their Code of Practice based on the International Labor Organization by the United Nations have already allowed us to put a strong focus on sustainability in the past, but the industry also needs to act as a whole to secure ethical working conditions in tea and coffee cultivation. Mansoor Akarbally (Akbar Brothers): The shift to organic fertilizer will lead to a major drop in tea quantities in the near future for which we (and all exporters in Sri Lanka) will have to brace ourselves for and strategically overcome. The ever-increasing cost of logistics (sea and airfreight) has been a major obstacle over the last 12-15 months and based on what we have heard, they will likely continue to keep rising until early 2022. This will burden exporters further as they have by-and-large had to absorb all these costs without passing anything on to export customers around the globe, experiencing challenges of their own. Increasing nationalism poses a major threat to globalism as countries across the globe continue to embrace protectionism. This creates uncertainty for exporters and international brands whose success has largely been attributed to globalization. provide even greater ease of use for both the consumer and the operator going forward. The consumer is going to be looking for quickness and consistency in preparation and ease of pay (digital) to make their experience smooth and easy. Operators will also benefit from the updated technology which will help reduce labor shortages and waste reduction. Equipment will continue to be connected to the "cloud" and will become self-monitoring. If any equipment is need of service it can send information to a call center that can then determine the appropriate solution without management or staff involvement. Ralf Torenz (Neuhaus Neotec): The new dominant theme is climate- neutral production. Machine and plant manufacturers for the coffee sector must also face this challenge. New technologies in exhaust gas cleaning and exhaust heat utilization are available and a new generation of highly efficient power units allows for a significant reduction in energy costs at the same high machine performance. While the use of fossil fuels for energy supply in roasting was still the rule a few years ago, new energy manage- ment concepts are being developed in the engineering departments of roaster producers that may allow complete plant operation with ecologically generated energy in the near future."

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