STiR coffee and tea magazine

STiR coffee and tea 59 of modern coffee equipment and machines. Fur- thermore, Africa's domestic coffee consumption is still low with heavy reliance on imported pro- cessed coffee that constrains market demand for coffee machines such as coffee makers. "While the rest of the world is increasing its consumption of coffee, with the exception of Ethiopia, only a small proportion of coffee is con- sumed in the African coffee producing countries," said Kawuuma. "There is also the challenge of slow uptake of new technology in coffee processing for example as most coffee buyers want to maintain old tradi- tional processing to meet demands of already es- tablish markets," adds Odhiambo. Meanwhile, just like most other internationally traded commodities, global coffee prices are quite volatile, with producers having to contend with depressed margins hence undermining capacity to meet demand for coffee value chain equipment and machines. "This has led to reduced production in some countries like Kenya, with farmers opting to convert farmlands into other real estate invest- ments," says Matthias Grabe, managing director North East Africa at Buhler Group. The tendency by small-scale coffee farms to dominate Africa's coffee industry could be a constraint in growing demand for coffee value chain equipment and machines due to the farms' preference to deploy manual farming techniques that lead to low quality raw coffee. "This results in the requirement for high performance cleaning and sorting technologies to meet stringent international coffee quality re- quirements," says Grabe. Moreover, coffee being a seasonal crop, where the majority of processing happens during a peak period in the year hence requiring "high capacity, high yielding, and reli- able processing technologies to handle demanding production needs at certain times of the year." Ac- cording to Grabe "access to affordable finance is also a challenge that limits most producers from investing in the required equipment/machines technologies" There are several players in Africa's coffee pro- cessing equipment/machines market with some having local partners to distribute their products such as coffee grinders, brewers, and accessories. Some of the suppliers active in the African mar- ket include Buhler Limited, Penagos Hermanos, McKinnon & Co. Ltd, Cimbria East Africa Ltd, Delta Technology Corporation, JM Estrada, Palini @ Alves Ltd, Pinhalense S/A Maquinas, Guarany, John Deer, New Holland (for tractors only), and Grain Pro. Buhler's green coffee cleaning and sorting solutions dominate not only the Eastern Africa coffee market but has a wider footprint across the continent where the company's coffee roast- ing and grinding solutions are supplied to meet the local coffee consumption levels in individual countries. "Buhler's green coffee cleaning and sorting so- lutions have a large footprint in the African mar- ket due to the direct link to the production and consumption dynamics, with the continent being largely a producer of coffee, but only a growing consumer," said Grabe. He cited the company's Sortex color sorters that he observes have become "synonymous with quality coffee processing, with more than 50% of all exported coffee from Ethio- pia processed through Buhler Sortex machines." The company has supplied more than 100 of these machines in the Africa market, a large share of the supply in the Eastern Africa. Looking into the future, the market for equip- ment and machines along Africa's value chain is likely to grow in key areas especially in value addi- tion processes such as those for roasting and pack- aging for direct export and restaurants. Brewing machines for example are likely to be in demand on the back of growing number of coffee shops and drinkers on rapid increase. "There is also investment potential in Africa especially in machinery for wet milling and mod- ern dry milling equipment," adds Odhiambo. According to Grabe, "There should be more investments in coffee processing machinery in the short to medium term, powered by a growing global demand for coffee and a growing consumer base for roasted coffee in the African market." In the long-term, the coffee export market is expect- ed to continue shaping the consumption of coffee processing equipment/machines in Africa. "Aside from the established markets in Europe, North America, and the Middle East, there has been increasing demand for coffee from the rapid- ly growing markets in Asia," said Grabe. "Coupled with local pressures to generate foreign currency [especially in Ethiopia], these factors have led to increased processing requirements with Ethiopia and Uganda exporting significantly more volumes currently compared to a decade ago." But in the short term, the need to capture more value locally "by roasting coffee for domestic and export markets is also shaping investments in coffee value chains." Africa's coffee value chains though marked by gradual growth, has exhibited steady expansion "powered by a growing middle class who are embracing a coffee culture." With the rising number of cafes and coffee shops, particularly in coffee producing countries such as Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya, demand for equipment and machines in Africa's coffee value chain is likely to continue growing.

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