STiR coffee and tea magazine

50 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 3, 2017 (June/July) E Story and photos by Dan Bolton Truck Load Lots Transparency is an issue for specialty coffee buyers ― less than 10% of the coffee produced in Ethiopia is certified, although much more could qualify if it was not comingled at washing stations and warehouses. thiopia is blessed with the world's greatest coffee. In April Bekele Bulado Bukana, Ph.D, Ethiopia's minister of trade, hosted a dinner to present a novel way to bring certified coffee to market. The system means that coffee traded in the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) would never leave the delivery truck. Tests of the truck load lots (TLL) system is underway follow- ing a pilot study that concluded with promising results. "The specialty coffee sector has been neglected, the cost is very high compared to other competitive Asian and South American coffee producing and marketing coun- tries and we are now working on it," Bukana told the dinner crowd of roasters, traders, and growers. "We hope to become competitive in the world market," said Burkana, who added that Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has given him "full power to improve the sector." The mandate is significant because Ethiopia under PM Desalegn has undertaken a massive development programs to improve infrastructure which currently ranks among the poorest in the world. The construction of roads is an example. The world average is 10 kilometers per 1,000 people. In Ethiopia the average is 0.43 kilometer per 1,000 people. Paved roads cover only 0.01 kilometer per square kilometer. The trans- port sector faces the challenges of low levels of rural accessibility and inadequate road maintenance but that is changing. There are 2,000 kilometers of roads under construc- tion throughout the country, a move expected to remarkably increase foreign trade, according to the Ethiopian Road Authority. In line with infrastructure development, more effort has to be exerted to bring change in coffee market. In Ethiopia, less productivity, lengthy value chain, inadequate research to enhance production and productivity and others are the major hindrances which seriously affect the coffee development marketing. Here is how the truck load lot program will work: • A TLL truck arrives at the coffee washing station which can either be certi- fied (certified organic, for example) or uncertified. The truck is inspected and loaded with green coffee (bulk or in sacks). • Samples taken from the truck are graded to determine coffee quality at a certi- fied lab. A certificate attesting to the contents is issued. The truck is then sealed, the lot is weighed and the weight formally declared before the truck departs for the warehouse. • Once a truck arrives a the washing station, a storage receipt (verifying weight) is issued and the loaded truck is transferred to a secure bonded warehouse for the trading period. • At the ECX, buyers must purchase the entire truck load lot. Information pro- vided in the trading note describes characteristics that include type, contract, grade). Certifications are noted, transparency maintained. Rugged trucks able to negotiate difficult rural roads can also help insure traceability of certified coffee. Ethiopia is experimenting with "truck load lots" of green coffee that are traded in the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange. Trucks are sealed at the washing station, weighed, stored in bonded warehouses and remain sealed until delivery to buyers.

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