I was honoured to moderate yesterday’s morning events at the UN headquarters, which, this year, featured a panel of leading experts in the coffee sector discussing the urgency of preserving and protecting the future of coffee through regenerative agriculture. The panelists also appealed to the international financial community (some of whom were in the audience) to invest in the transition to regenerative agriculture through public and private partnerships. Panelists included: Vanusia Nogueira, executive director, International Coffee Organization (ICO); Jeffrey Sachs, economy professor at Columbia University (NYC) and co-chair Regenerative Society Foundation; Oscar Schaps, president of the Latin America division of StoneX Financial Inc. and commodity trader; and Glaucio De Castro, president of Federação dos Cafeicultores do Cerrado Mineiro.

Andrea Illy, chairman of illycaffè and co-chair of Regenerative Society Foundation, kicked off the panel discussion reminding the audience of the impact the low and volatile coffee prices have had on farming communities. He explained that improvements the ‘caffeculture’ has achieved in recent decades through the process of de-commoditization – improvements that still have a long way to go before achieving economic, social and environmental sustainability – are at risk of being reversed due to climate change. Regenerative agriculture, Illy said, has proven to be more resilient and to produce both environmental and health benefits. “Today we have proof that this model works, it is essential to implement it.”

Glaucio De Castro, president of Federação dos Cafeicultores do Cerrado Mineiro (Brazil) is a pioneer of regenerative agriculture. He began transitioning to regenerative agriculture several ago, and although he admits it is challenging and changes and tweaks were – and still are – De Castro sees the benefits and believes regenerative agriculture is the “[way to go].”

While regenerative agriculture is the agreed upon model by the panelists, it is costly — it requires investments of approximately US $10 billion over the next ten years. Of course, producing countries do not have sufficient economic-financial capacity, so it is necessary to create private and public partnerships that can generate international supply chain funds (this challenge is nothing new as governmental, intergovernmental, non-governmental and private stakeholders have been involved or approached for many years).

“To have a future in coffee we need to think about the planet and the people involved,” said Vanusia Nogueira, executive director, ICO. “It’s part of our responsibility as leaders of this sector to look for alternatives to provide good life to the producers and their families and also to take care of our planet. It’s clear that the challenges are big enough to not be addressed individually but in a collective and pre-competitive effort. Together I believe we can find impactful solutions.”

Economist Jeffrey Sachs, who is an internationally recognized leader in the field of sustainable development, said that true economic development aims to transform our society by creating sustainable increases in wellbeing through investments in human capital, physical infrastructure, and business enterprise, all with attention to the preserve natural capital on which our economy and survival depend.

“My morning coffee will never be grown in Central Park but will continue to be grown in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Colombia, Vietnam, and elsewhere. A well-managed developing country with access to major markets and international finance can grow very quickly,” Sachs continued, noting, “after decades of severe human-induced environmental degradation, we need to transform our economies to the core principles of sustainable development and the regeneration of natural capital. The most basic principle of all is to act for the common good. This means that we must start from cooperation within our communities, our nations, and globally.”

Andrea Illy concluded the panel discussion explaining that two things are needed for adaptation to climate change: improved agronomic practices and the renewal of plantations with more resistant varieties. “Regenerative agriculture seems to provide an answer to the first need, and I hope that this will become a model for the whole ‘caffeculture’. As far as renewal is concerned, we need to speed up considerably. All this requires supply chain investments that cannot be delayed any longer.”

The 8^th Ernesto Illy International Award ‘Best of the Best’ and ‘Coffee Lovers Choice’ winners were announced at an evening gala at the New York Public Library. The 2023 ‘Best of the Best’ winner is São Mateus Agropecuária from Brazil and the 2023 ‘Coffee Lover’s Choice’ winner is Finca Danilandia from Guatemala.

• Vanessa L Facenda, editor, Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.
  Keep in touch via email: vanessa@bellpublishing.com Twitter: @TCTradeJournal or LinkedIn: Tea & Coffee Trade Journal

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Uganda is the largest coffee exporter in Africa and the eighth largest exporter of coffee by volume in the world, yet when it comes to coffee-producing countries in Africa, Uganda is not the first one to come to mind. But the ‘Pearl of Africa’ is working diligently to change that. 

Uganda is focusing on doubling its total agricultural exports from USD $6.629 billion to USD $12 billion by 2027. Odrek Rwabwogo, chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID), in a presentation to an international group of journalists on a government-sponsored media tour of Uganda earlier this year, said that coffee is a top target for growth. PACEID advises President Yoweri Museveni on ways to improve and increase Uganda’s export potential in a variety of sectors. 

Historically, Uganda coffee has been used for blending and not identified, but the country wants to change that by improving quality. Within coffee, Uganda’s current exports are around $627 million annually, with the goal in five years being $1.5 billion — a 28 percent increase. Rwabwogo said that further goals include growing annual coffee production from approximately seven million bags to 20 million bags by 2030.

Currently, Uganda’s major coffee export is robusta. In August, its exports rose by 48.4 percent to 0.74 million bags from 0.5 million bags in August 2022, per the International Coffee Organization. This represents the second largest monthly exports on record, just behind the 0.79 million bags exported in March 1973. Although robusta is the largest export, Ugandan officials believe there is opportunity in premium coffee (arabica), roasted coffee and soluble/instant coffee. 

Uganda’s Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries has stated that coffee is a “strategic commodity in the agro-industrialisation programme under the National Development Plan III (NDP III)’. It has been prioritised for the country’s march towards middle-income status and poverty eradication programme.” The Ministry reported that coffee provides the needed foreign exchange and is a source of income for 1.8 million households in the country that are involved in its cultivation. 

The Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), which was established in 1991, monitors and regulates the country’s coffee industry, and advises the Ugandan government on policy issues. In addition to having the responsibility of increasing quality coffee production and productivity, the UCDA is also charged with growing domestic coffee consumption. Given that coffee has been identified as the leading commodity for growth, the UCDA has devised an aggressive roadmap –it includes nine initiatives (see chart below) – to elevate Uganda’s reputation in coffee and transform its coffee sector to achieve the stated growth goals. UCDA managing director, Dr Iyamulemye Emmanuel, said that the government is undertaking a number of measures to ensure that farmers are producing coffee that meets international market standards and requirements. He noted that Uganda is looking to export to emerging markets as well as developed markets. 

Challenges to achieving growth 

The goal to raise Uganda’s coffee reputation on the global stage is ambitious and the impediments to growth in most agricultural sectors are vast: overcoming long-held stereotypes, perceived low quality because of low-standard inputs (seeds, pesticides, chemicals, banned substances still being used, etc), lack of investment, no economies of scale, minimal understanding and sharing of information relating to regulations, weak cooperatives, high transportation costs (handling fees, limited infrastructure when receiving), and most commodities go to the low end of the market and take cost-cutting measure. 

Within coffee, the biggest challenges – aside from the average age of a coffee farmer being 63 – are the lack of branding (coffee is rarely identified as being from Uganda versus origins that are highlighted such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Colombia, Brazil, etc), changing the mindset of the producers who view coffee as just a cash crop (most producers don’t even sample their own coffee), and the perception of the global coffee industry, which views Ugandan coffee overall as low quality — but the potential is there. 

Mountain Harvest, an exporter, producer and provider of farmer services based in Mbale, aims to ‘challenge the status quo of coffee production in Uganda for the sake of smallholder farmers’ as its company mission asserts. “We want to show the market that Uganda has great coffee and that we can consistently deliver it,” said managing director, Kenneth Barigye. 

Mountain Harvest produces, processes and exports organic, Fair Trade and Rainforest Alliance-certified coffee. It maintains eight processing facilities throughout Uganda, where it employs washed, natural and honey processing techniques. The Mt Elgon facilities are overseen by processing manager, Ibra Kiganda, who is also the 2023 African Fine Coffees Association barista champion. Kiganda is passionate about coffee processing and likes to experiment with anaerobic fermentation, carbonic maceration and other new techniques (using microlots grown at elevations between 1,600 and 2,200 meters above sea level). 

The majority of coffee producers in Uganda grow coffee on farms that average one acre at best, typically they are smaller. Mountain Harvest teaches producers, especially women – who do the bulk of the labour on smallholder farms in Uganda – better farming methods and techniques (such as stumping, pruning, irrigation, fertilising, using organic pesticides/weedicides, etc), and is working to change their mindsets when it comes to selling their coffee. The farmers are also taught the importance of intercropping with bananas, avocados and other trees that provide shade for the coffee as well as incremental revenue. 

Better livelihoods through better pricing 

Mountain Harvest provides micro-financing that educates producers on savings and loans, in addition to covering expenses in the off-season. The financial training builds their capacity to manage money while creating a transaction history the future lenders will require. “We are not an NGO — we do not give handouts,” asserted Barigye, noting the 2 percent interest loans the company offers to producers. “Our hope is that after three years, the farmers can go to a commercial bank that has more money.” 

The loans are ‘kick-starter financing’ for the farmers, but said Barigye, they also help build trust with the farmers so they will sell Mountain Harvest their cherries rather than process and accumulate coffee at their homes. 

Farmers receive more money for their coffee – about 20 percent more – if they sell Mountain Harvest the cherries rather than the parchment but are not always willing to do so. Company COO, Nico Herr, said that many farmers will think about when they will need money for the family (school clothes, books, etc) so they will hold onto the coffee and ‘play the market’ to see if someone else will offer them a higher price. “It is degrading the crop, but you have to consider that this is the traditional way of processing coffee in Uganda,” she explained, “we’re introducing a new way to do coffee.” 

Herr, a certified Q grader, shared that Mountain Harvest is also working to shed Uganda’s reputation for ‘fast fading’ coffees. Coffees that ‘tasted great’ on cupping tables in Mbale deteriorated during transportation oversees. They discovered that it was a warehousing issue. 

Mountain Harvest now has one of the few climate-controlled warehouses in the country and has grown over the past few years from filling three containers of coffee annually to 11. 

Recruiting youths is critical 

Instrumental to the growth of Uganda’s coffee industry is ensuring that younger generations remain interested in coffee farming and not all flee to urban areas for higher paying jobs. One factor in Uganda’s favour is that although the average age of a coffee farmer is 63, more than half the population is under the age of 18. 

“For us to have sustainable coffee production, we have to attract young people while their parents are still there to train them,” stressed Barigye. 

The government has extension programmes but it is overwhelmed so individual companies provide these services. Companies like Mountain Harvest, Endiro Coffee and Masha Coffee, with the support of the UCDA, are teaching Ugandans – both young and old – on all facets of the coffee industry: from proper farming techniques to elevate quality and improved processing and storage methods, to better record keeping, microfinancing, quality control, and how to cup, as well as training young men and women to be baristas. 

Coffee cupping at Mountain Harvest Coffee

Mountain Harvest selects the top 20 students from a local university each year to be trained in agronomy and microfinance. After six months of training and work, it offers permanent positions to the top achievers among those students. Another programme is its ‘Professional Pickers’, which hires local youth for assistance during the harvest and to do other tasks the remainder of the year. 

Ugandan officials and private sector companies realise, however, that the key to growing Uganda’s coffee industry, is through women. Women in Uganda, as in many coffee (and tea for that matter) producing countries, have not had a ‘seat at the table’. Women have long been heavily involved in the labour aspect of coffee production (picking and sorting for example) but have not had the opportunities for training and education or been involved with business transactions because of conflicting familial activities. 

Endiro Coffee and Masha Coffee are both female-owned and operated companies and work with women producers — training them in all segments of coffee production, hiring them, and of course, sourcing coffee from them. Mountain Harvest also taps women to be its team leaders (most farms are still owned by men) so they are also involved on the business side. 

“We have found that when the women handle the money, there is more for the children for clothing and school items, for food and savings,” said Millie Drijaru, head of coffee, Endiro Coffee. Both Barigye and Sylvia Achebet, executive director of Masha Coffee echo the sentiment. 

Endiro Coffee was founded in Kampala in 2012 by Gloria Katusiime as a café to provide employment opportunities to Ugandan youths. In 2014, Endiro switched from buying roasted coffee to sourcing green coffee directly from Ugandan farmers, paying them a premium for their high quality beans. It partnered with a roaster in Kampala for its blends. 

Endiro started with 50 farmers that formed the Endiro Growers Bukalasi Women’s Group, which has now grown to a network of more than 500 farmers across four growers groups throughout Uganda. Endiro offers training and support, and in return is receiving higher quality coffee and greater yields, which allows it to offer farmers better prices, thereby improving their livelihoods. Endiro Coffee, which received its B Corp certification in 2019, now operates 14 coffee shops in Uganda, one in Kenya and one in Aurora, Illinois. It plans to open its own roastery in Uganda this year. 

Kween-based Masha Coffee buys coffee cherries from a network of nearly 1,000 female-led farms –ranging in elevation from 1,800 to 2,400 meters above sea level – in the Kween, Kapchorwa and Bukwo districts. Masha sends field officers to train local farmers in best practices multiple times throughout the year. Trainers offer guidance on agronomy methods from planting seedlings to soil management to harvesting, etc, and said technical manager, Eunice Chekaptui, “how to be environmentally friendly,” – all to ensure a consistent supply, which benefits both Masha Coffee and the farmers. Masha Coffee also hires local youths to assist with production and processing in Kween. 

Endiro Coffee’s shop in Sipi Falls at Lacam Lodge

Masha Coffee has begun shipping roasted coffee to wholesale customers internationally and is exploring distribution opportunities in other countries, including the United States. The coffees Masha processes in Kween are carried in parchment to facilities in Mbale for hulling, and then to Kampala for roasting and packaging. Having to haul the coffee to so many different facilities and towns is costing Masha “time, money and security,” said Achebet, noting her dream would be “to have everything done here.” She said that having everything done in one place would reduce risks. First up would be purchasing a huller, with roasting being the final phase of the plan. 

Joining forces to meet demand 

Along with 16 other Uganda companies, Masha Coffee is a member of the Coffee Investment Consortium of Uganda (CICU), a Ugandan trade group that shares resources and connections to meet international demand. 

By collaborating to deliver higher volumes of higher quality Uganda coffee on the global market, the CICU’s mission is to attract investments specifically to cover expenses and the cost of exporting. Nelson Tugume, CEO of Inspire Africa and chairman of the CICU, said there is no export financing, no available or product-oriented credit. “Coffee is different from other commodities like bananas, from a manufacturing and housing [perspective], therefore you need a particular [type] of financing.” 

PACEID is consulting with financial groups and institutions, including lenders, equity funds, foundations and the Uganda Bankers’ Association to develop an export credit fund that will provide affordable financing for producers of coffee and other products. And while many are hopeful such a fund will be established and available soon, the CICU believes time is of the essence. “[International] buyers are saying they want to buy the coffee directly, [but are asking] ‘do you have what it takes?’,” said Tugume. He shared that Uganda needs to create a better environment for investors to bring in the financing. “In terms of production, the farmers can manage it, if you give them a better price. They can manage it at the production level, [but the difficulty] is in the market.” 

The UCDA, along with Mountain Harvest Coffee, Endiro Coffee, Masha Coffee and other CICU members firmly believe that as more companies start producing higher quality, Uganda’s profile will be elevated. “The market is going to know Uganda as an origin,” said Barigye, “and it’s going to appreciate Uganda as an origin because we have great coffees.” 

•  Vanessa L Facenda joined T&CTJ in 2012 as editor. She was previously editor of Retail Merchandiser and has written for a variety of magazines including Consumer Reports, Brandweek, Adweek, Hollywood Reporter, and Specialty Food Magazine, among many others. She may be reached at: vanessa@bellpublishing.com. 

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Although some may ‘flirt’ with other beverages, coffee is undoubtedly the preferred beverage in the United States (sitting above water), as National Coffee Association (NCA) president and CEO William ‘Bill’ Murray affirms, “coffee continues its reign as America’s favourite beverage, and we expect that to continue for many Coffee Days to come.”

Evidencing that statement, the NCA reports that Americans drink an estimated 440 million cups of coffee per day. Furthermore, Drive Research reports that 87% of Americans consider themselves somewhat or ‘full-on’ coffee-obsessed.

As we celebrate the upcoming ‘coffee days’, there is ample research supporting America’s obsession with coffee (if I recall correctly, the term – and activity – ‘coffee break’ was actually coined in New Orleans many decades ago). Drive Research (based on a nationwide survey of 1500+ people) finds that 74% (or 3 in 4) of Americans drink coffee every day, with 48% of coffee drinkers ‘limiting’ their coffee intake to 3 to 5 cups daily. The market research firm also reports that 32% of people purchase coffee from a coffee shop 1 to 3 days a week.

The NCA’s Fall 2023 NCDT (National Coffee Drinking Trends) report finds that coffee continues to bounce back from the Covid-19 pandemic, which did not affect overall coffee consumption but did impact out-of-home and workplace coffee. Cups per capita and cups per coffee drinker have held relatively steady since 2020 (1.7 and 2.8 respectively). Commissioned by the NCA since 1950 and now updated twice yearly, the NCDT report is the longest-running study of American consumers’ coffee drinking patterns.

At-home coffee consumption reached a high of 85% of past-day coffee drinkers in January 2021 data and has remained above pre-pandemic levels (82% in the current NCDT report). In-office coffee has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels — 36% of Americans report having an in-office coffee station, up from a pandemic low of 26% in January 2021.

The NCDT report further revealed that despite the many coffee preparation methods available, drip coffee makers are the most popular brewing method: 40% of past day coffee drinkers. The automatic drip method is followed by single cup brewers (27%), cold brewing (16%), and espresso machines (11%).

It is quite interesting to learn that cold brewing now ranks as the third most popular preparation method because cold brew was nearly unknown when the NCA began tracking it. The latest NCDT shows that cold brew’s popularity has skyrocketed up by 45% since January 2023 and 300% since 2016 (I wonder if the advent of pumpkin cream and pumpkin spice cold brews has anything to do with that… )

Other key findings from the Fall 2023 NCDT reveal that:

• Lattes are the most popular espresso-based beverage (consumed by 18% of Americans in the past-week) followed by espresso (16%) and cappuccinos (15%).
• 30% of Americans had flavoured coffee in the past week. Vanilla is the most popular, with caramel and hazelnut tied for second, followed by mocha.
• 81% of American coffee drinkers have coffee with breakfast, compared with 38% in the morning, 15% with lunch, 19% in the afternoon, 7% with dinner, and 10% in the evening.

When it comes to coffee roast preferences among Americans, Drive Research finds that 49% favour medium roast coffee, “appreciating its balanced flavour and aroma.” Meanwhile, 28% lean toward the bold and robust profile of dark roast, while 12% opt for the milder and more nuanced flavours of light roast. Curiously, 11% of coffee drinkers have no specific roast preference.

Further Drive Research insights note that:

• 40% of people drink two cups of coffee a day, while 9% of people drink 6 to 8 cups a day
• at 85%, retirees are most likely to drink coffee every day
• 41% of people prefer to drink their coffee black [Despite all of the coffee enhancement flavours available, 1 in 4 people prefer to drink their coffee black. Of all respondents surveyed, new moms and dads were most likely to consume black coffee (64%).]
• 49% of coffee consumers use normal sugar, whereas 34% of people prefer Stevia or similar zero-calorie sweeteners [Other coffee sweetener preferences include honey (18%), agave (9%) and maple syrup (7%).]
• 38% of Americans prefer coffee unsweetened
• 68% of people do not drink decaf coffee at all
• 18% of people strictly drink decaf coffee
• 56% of people agree that drinking coffee benefits their health.

So, whether celebrating National Coffee Day, International Coffee Day, or both, while indulging, I am reiterating my nearly annual suggestion this time of year for coffee lovers to engage in the lovely Italian gesture known as caffè sospeso. A caffè sospeso, which means ‘suspended coffee’ or ‘pending coffee’ in Italian, is a cup of coffee paid for in advance as an anonymous act of charity. The tradition evidently began in the working-class cafés of Naples, where someone who had experienced good luck would order a sospeso, paying the price of two coffees but receiving and consuming only one. A poor person inquiring later whether there was a sospeso available would then be served a coffee for free.

A wonderful charitable coffee concept every day, but especially during these celebratory ‘coffee days’.

• Vanessa L Facenda, editor, Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.
  Keep in touch via email: vanessa@bellpublishing.com Twitter: @TCTradeJournal or LinkedIn: Tea & Coffee Trade Journal

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Perhaps more than decaf coffee, instant coffee has the most stigma associated with it as consumers in many global markets perceive the quality to be low. And yet, instant coffee accounts for 25 percent of the coffee consumed in the world, with consumption growing at about 2 percent annually. In Brazil, instant coffee accounts for 5 percent of the total coffee consumed in the country, with consumption growing at an average of 3.5 percent per year since 2016.

The International Coffee Organization (ICO) stated in its March 2023 report that total exports of soluble coffee increased by 5.8 percent in February 2023 to 0.92 million bags from 0.87 million bags in February 2022. In the first five months of coffee year 2022/23, a total of 4.59 million bags of soluble coffee were exported, representing a decrease of 11.2 percent from the 5.09 million bags exported in the prior-year period. Soluble coffee’s share in the total exports of all forms of coffee was 10.2 percent (measured on a moving 12-month average) in February 2023, up from 10.1 percent in February 2022.

Aside from being the largest coffee producer, Brazil is also the largest exporter of soluble coffee, shipping 0.3 million bags in February 2023, per the ICO. Brazil’s instant coffee sector has incorporated new technologies and expanded its industrial capacity to help maintain its leading global position. Brazil exports soluble coffee to 100 countries, exceeding four million bags every year.

Nonetheless, the opinion of instant coffee in many major coffee-consuming markets remains low. The Brazilian Soluble Coffee Industry Association, or ABICS, is working to alter the perception of instant coffee. In November 2022, during Brazil International Coffee Week (SIC – Semana Internacional do Café), ABICS, in cooperation with the Institute of Food Technology (ITAL), announced the launch of a new methodology for quality assessment that proposes a sensory lexicon and quality grades for instant coffees.

The development of this new methodology for soluble, which uses contemporary sensory science, began in 2019 with the participation of experts from all instant coffee companies operating in Brazil as well as domestic and international consultants, using the main instant brands in the Brazilian market and abroad. The methodology, the first of its kind, assesses quality by its attributes and intensity — not by scores. This concept enables consumers to select coffees according to their preferences, including the methods of consumption. That is, consumers may choose which instant coffees are best suited for black coffee, with milk/dairy alternatives, cappuccinos, beverages or gastronomy (cooking, baking, etc.).

The need for instant coffee quality assessment

Any coffee may be turned into instant coffee, yet the soluble process itself, noted ABICS researchers, may add another layer of quality as it modifies to a certain extent the raw material flavour — that is, sometimes a strong over-extracted coffee flavour may be imparted, while other times, the flavour of the raw material may be preserved. Thus, the range of qualities for instant coffee is quite wide, and ABICS believes that the value and price of these products should vary accordingly.

However, as ABICS states in its recently released white paper, Quality Assessment of Instant Coffee: A Sensory Science Development, while roasted whole bean and ground coffee count with globally recognised grading systems, such as the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) Cupping Protocol, instant coffee products have lacked a system to assess their quality and display it to consumers transparently. Per the report, “for that reason, consumers struggle to understand why they should pay price premiums for certain types of instant coffee. The instant coffee category has not effectively communicated to consumers about the quality diversity of instant coffees, how quality ties to the flavour they should expect and why it is fair to pay premiums for high quality.”

Coffee quality has long been assessed by expert, well-trained tasters – coffee cuppers – who grade coffee based on their appreciation of quality. However, assessment can vary greatly because there is no consensus about the level desirability or undesirability of an attribute. For example, a ‘citrus’ flavour may be positive to some, but could be negative to others, which directly impacts the coffee they purchase.

The reasoning behind the new methodology, according to ABICS, is that if consensus is achieved around the desirability or undesirability of a given attribute, it is possible to bypass the need for affective judgement by a taster and grade the quality of instant coffee based on intensity of several desirable or undesirable attributes. Therefore, grading would now be the objective of assessment, as the quality score is no longer the product of an effective assessment, rather, it is the result of the presence and intensity of several desirable or undesirable attributes in the coffee. ABICS researchers said this would allow coffee tasters to act as descriptive tasters, rating the intensity of several flavour attributes, and the score or the grade of the coffee given because of the ‘desirability weights’ of such attributes.

Furthermore, the researchers explained that applying the ‘descriptive based’ quality grading to instant has multiple advantages:

• it shows there is consensus among the instant coffee industry about what attributes are more desirable than others;
• it shows modern sensory science tools may be applied to the instant coffee category to stimulate transparent product differentiation, and
• it endows the instant coffee category with a language to speak to consumers about flavour and quality in a way they will understand.

Eliana Relvas, of ABICS, who was one of the lead developers of the methodology, said that the levels are not about quality, rather, how you apply it. “This is all for consumers — we want to communicate the descriptors to consumers to help remove the prejudice of instant coffee,” she said at the unveiling of the new methodology, adding, the attributes apply to everyone — some may like chocolatey, some nutty, some fruity, etc. It’s not about the quality, it is about the descriptors.”

The first step towards creating a descriptive-based system for instant coffee was to identify key flavour attributes in instant coffee. The second step was to identify the links between each of the key flavour attributes and perceived quality to create a ‘desirability’ weight of each attribute. The third step is to propose a testing and grading method for instant coffees, based on the intensity of key flavour attributes.

There are three category descriptors: Excelence, Premium and Classic. “ABICS decided to rename the categories so as not to imply that one category is better than the other,” said Fábio Sato, president of ABICS. (At the launch of the methodology, the category descriptor names were excellent, differentiated and conventional.)

Dr Aline Garcia of the Institute of Food Technology (ITAL), who was the scientific researcher for the new methodology, reiterated that while the methodology has some relationship to qualities, “it is really about the descriptors.”

Current and next steps

The new methodology is currently for the Brazilian market only but ABICS said it will be offered to other countries as the descriptive aspects of the system could be adapted by global organisations. There is room for growth with the methodology because the descriptors/attributes are terms that consumers understand,” said Relvas.

Six months after the launch of the new instant coffee quality assessment methodology, Sato said it is not yet fully rolled out in Brazil. ABICS is about to start training specialists in the varied Brazilian coffee industries (those who did not participate in the creation of the protocol). “We believe that it is very important that all specialists of Brazilian industries are aligned and trained on the methodology and adopt it in their respective companies.”

Sato said that ABICS together with its associates, who are present in the market with their respective brands, are now working on a project to communicate to consumers the main attributes and applications according to the methodology, by placing a quality seal on the packages.

If successful in Brazil, this new system for assessing instant coffee does have the potential to be a game changer for international soluble markets. Although ABICS has not yet defined which will be the first international market to be approached, Sato shared that the association is “in contact with some associations and entities to discuss opportunities to introduce the protocol.”

• Vanessa L Facenda joined T&CTJ in 2012 as editor. She was previously editor of Retail Merchandiser and has written for a variety of magazines including Consumer Reports, Brandweek, Adweek, Hollywood Reporter, and Specialty Food Magazine, among many others. She may be reached at: vanessa@bellpublishing.com.

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