STiR coffee and tea magazine

6 STiR coffee and tea | 2024 Issue 5 (October / November) Executive Editor Emily Mclntyre emily@coffeetea.media Tea Correspondent Dan Bolton (Canada) Contributing Writers Emilio Bonnet (Colombia) Diana Jendoubi (Southeast Asia) Diane Faulkner (USA) Carli Rosencranz (USA) Lesley Jacobs Solmonson (USA) 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 A 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 s the season in the Western Hemisphere turns from summer into fall and as many companies enter their planning season for the next year, we turn our eyes to a variety of issues affecting the global coffee and tea industries. In this issue, we touch on rel- evant topics ranging from equipment to packaging and economic to geopolitical. One of the most interesting pieces comes from Colombian biologist and coffee producer Emilio Bonnet (Can Carbon Credits Help Achieve Sustainable Value Chains, page 40). This cover story outlines the carbon credit market and asks probing questions about whether and how this hot exchange actually helps smallholder producers. Bonnet interviews Ketan Patel of Jalinga Estates, the first carbon-neutral tea company in India, and points to the sometimes surprising gap between intention and effect in social and environmental pushes. Perhaps less surprising, but no less fascinating, is a detailed exploration of Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) in coffee communities like Vietnam and Guatemala by STiR contributing writer and copyeditor Diana Jendoubi (Savings Groups Are Saving Coffee, page 22). We know that when women are helped, they help their communities in turn. VSLAs are one of the most powerful vehicles for societal improvement and equality found yet, and this hopeful piece points to real progress. Women play an integral part in coffee processing, as highlighted in Spotlight on Colombian Export Processing Equipment, page 28. This piece focuses on the post-harvest processing sector in Colombia, contrasting commercial and specialty facilities and practices and high- lighting technological advances. Continuing a focus on the mechanisms of business (and just in time for budget season) is Good Growth: Frameworks for Success, page 20, which focuses on why some businesses succeed and others fail during the scaling process, and introduces proven structures like EOS for coffee and tea businesses. We have continued coverage by STiR tea correspondent Dan Bolton of the ongoing Kenyan tea oversupply crisis (look back to the last two issues of STiR for a detailed overview of the global tea surplus), with a sidebar on the unintended consequences of recent legislation around price minimums (Kenya Takes Aggressive Steps to Reduce Tea Surplus, page 46). Government influencing the private sector is also a focus in Sri Lanka Realigns its Tea Industry, page 32, which covers the extremely aggressive revisioning of the Sri Lankan tea industry to meet global trends and has an absorbing sidebar on old-school "outcry auctions". Lesley Solmonson, who has a book forthcoming on the topic, presents the romantic evo- lution of tea liqueurs (The History and Renaissance of Tea Liqueurs, page 44) and we survey the current single-serve packaging landscape in The Evolution of Single-Serve Coffee, page 36. Finally, our Perspective department this month showcases a new startup which asks a single question: "How can we 10x the income of coffee farmers?" (Connecting Dots for a Brighter Coffee Future, by Carli Rosencranz on page 50). Emily McIntyre Executive Editor

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