STiR coffee and tea magazine

6 STiR coffee and tea | 2024 Issue 4 (August / September) Executive Editor Emily Mclntyre emily@coffeetea.media Tea Correspondent Dan Bolton tea@coffeetea.media Contributing Writers Eugene Gerden (Georgia) Diane Faulkner (USA) Shem Oirere (Africa) Diana Jendoubi (Southeast Asia) Amanda Paparelli (UK) Art Director Somjet Thitasomboon snt@octobermultimedia.com Administrative Assistant Sommai Jekaram asj@octobermultimedia.com Subscriptions Malisa Kongkatitum malisa@stir-tea-coffee.com Sales Director Emerson Leonard edl@octobermultimedia.com Director, October Inter Co., Ltd. Boonthin Tubsongkroh brt@octobermultimedia.com Founding Editor & Publisher Glenn Anthony John glenn@coffeetea.media c/o October Inter Co. Ltd. 159/19 Soi Ramkhamhaeng 110, Saphan Sung, Bangkok 10240 THAILAND. Tel: +66818299409. www.coffeetea.media Published by A Member of In This Issue H Subscribe to STiR Coffee and Tea Magazine 1 Year – US$75.00 2 Years – US$145.00 3 Years – US$210.00 For inquiries, contact: malisa@stir-tea-coffee.com Secure online payment: https://www.stir-tea-coffee.com/subscribe istorically, the August/September issue of STiR is focused on coffee and tea origin, given its timing against the harvest cycles in a number of countries. We embraced this concept with a wide range of articles from a group of talented writers and thinkers. Front and center in this issue is Diana Jendoubi's feature on foreign direct investment, and its impact when coffee sectors in historically closed countries open to FDI (The Effects of Global Liberalization on Coffee Producers", page 24). This timely followup to our short news piece in the last issue on Ethiopia opening its raw coffee sector to foreign investors, offers some fascinating analysis on the effect of liberalization in Vietnam, Brazil, Colombia, and other producing countries. Regenerative agriculture plays a large part in this issue, reflecting the increased focus on better—more biodiverse, carbon-neutral, sustainable—ways of growing and processing tea and coffee. Particularly interesting is the interview with Ketan Patel detailing how Jalinga Tea, the first carbon-neutral tea farm in India, has amplified its impact and profits through biodiversity, biofuel and entering the international carbon credit market (Good Growth, page 18). This thread carries through to Diane Faulkner's piece (Regenerative Organic Certifica- tion, page 30) examining the emerging Regenerative Organic Certification program, which builds on the audits from other certifications and focuses on biodiversity and other markers of agricultural sustainability. Dan Bolton continues his analysis of global tea oversupply (Driving Demand: The Answer to Too Much Tea, page 38) and brings our attention to the growth of the Trans-African Rail- way (page 45), and its benefits to the local tea and coffee markets. Quite a lot is happening in East Africa, including many changes to the green coffee sector in Kenya. Shem Oirere reports on debt forgiveness for farmers and increased cherry funding from the government (Kenyan Industry Reforms page 22). A focus on origin continues with Amanda Paparelli's overview of 20 years of Panamanian Geisha (page 42) and its impact on coffee buying and taste-making around the world. Price played a huge part in Geisha's domination in the high-end coffee market: price is also playing a part in Russia's consumer shift toward instant coffee, covered by Eugene Gerden (Rus- sia's Rising Demand for Instant Coffee, page 36). And John Snell brings his opinion, backed by some compelling data, forward to discuss the price of tea and what influences it in the international markets (How Much Should Tea Cost? page 33). Our sponsors Wagh Bakri (page 21) and IMA (page 8), provide insights on coffee roasting innovations and how to build a lasting tea business. The Coffee and Tea Reports (pages 10 and 14 respectively) cover some of the movements in the industry over the past couple months. This includes shipping disruptions in the Suez Canal, purchase behavior analysis in China, an update on reactions to EUDR regulations, and an advanced extraction method out of Thailand which converts coffee cherry waste to pectin. Our next issue will cover more on the manufacturing side of coffee and tea, while carrying forward some evergreen themes. Thank you for reading STiR—let us know what you think! -Emily McIntyre Executive Editor

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