STiR coffee and tea magazine

16 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 2, 2018 (April / May) Coffee Report: Dan Shryock ICO Celebrates Women The International Coffee Organization (ICO) marked International Women's Day (March 8) by celebrating the roles women play in the coffee value chain. Women are taking an increasingly active role in the international coffee industry, ICO said, citing statistics showing women represent 43% of the world's agricultural labor force and up to 35% of coffee farms are led by women. The challenges facing women are significant, ICO said. In addition to striving against limiting cultural and gender norms, they often combine their coffee industry duties with traditional roles as homemakers and mothers. Female coffee producers are given less access to land ownership, credit, markets, technology, water, education, and other needs. As a result, they produce lower yields and lower income. "Clearly there is a need for better public policies and provision of services to help overcome the barriers women face across the coffee farming community," said José Sette, ICO's executive director. Griswald Honored Importer David Griswald and the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation will be recipients of the Coffee Quality Institute's (CQI) 2018 Leadership Medal of Merit. The presentations will take place April 21 in Seattle during the institute's annual luncheon. CQI has awarded the Medal of Merit for 20 years, saluting people and organizations whose actions and accomplishments reflect CQI's mission to improve coffee quality and the lives of the people who produce it. Griswald is founder of Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers, a green coffee importer committed to establishing transparent supply chain relationships with growers for more than 20 years. "Under David's leadership and vision, Sustainable Harvest has been unique in providing technical assistance and certification to producers world- wide, as well as higher prices and knowledge of their product," CQI executive director David Roche said. The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC), founded in 1927, has helped improve the well-being of more than 500,000 Colombian families involved in coffee production. "Thanks in large part to the work of FNC, quality and sustainability are not recent trends for Colombian coffee growers," Roche said. "These have been a priority for more than 90 years, along with differentiating quality, adding value, and staying ahead of the curve on economic, social and environmental practices." More information: visit coffeeinstitute.org BRAZIL Nestlé Bean Experiments Nestlé SA wants to double its produc- tion of Dolce Gusto coffee pods at a Brazilian facility. However, to reach its goal the multinational company is investing in coffee bean research and development, according to a Bloom- berg Markets report. The Dolce Gusto line features 21 types of drinks but the Nestlé Brazil operation only produces 13, Bloomberg reported in early March. In order to make all 21 pod styles in Brazil, Nestlé must include a unique Ethiopian coffee in some of the formulas. But there's a problem: Brazilian law prohibits importing beans from Ethiopia or anywhere else. Importing roasted Ethiopian beans is also cost prohibitive so Nestlé found a different solution: Grow the beans in Brazil. The company has received permission from the Brazilian government to test three varieties of beans originally developed in a French research center to replicate the taste of Ethiopian arabica. These varieties have been planted in Brazil and the first harvest is expected this year according to a Nestle. If harvests over the next six years produce the quality beans required, Nestlé can petition the government to permit Brazilian farmers to grow them commercially. Eventually, the new flavors could be blended into Dolce Gusto coffee pods for shipment to Mexico and the European Union. COSTA RICA New Starbucks Visitor Center Starbucks now is in the tourism busi- ness. The retail coffee giant recently opened a Costa Rican visitor center, a working farm that gives guests the chance to follow the coffee process from the field to the cup. The 600-acre farm and visitor center at Hacienda Alsacia opened March 7 on the slopes of the Poas volcano. The farm has served as a research and development facility for the company since 2013. It now serves the public. The center, totaling 46,000 square feet, leads visitors through the arabica life cycle from seedling to harvest, cleaning, roasting, and brewing. "Much like the premium retail experiences we are designing around the world, the Visitor Center at Hacienda Alsacia is a fully immersive space and now, for the first time ever, Starbucks is connecting our customers to the entire coffee ecosystem from seedling to the craft of brewing," Starbucks executive chairman Howard Schultz said in a statement. David Griswold Starbucks' Visitor Center at Hacienda Alsacia, Costa Rica

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