 |
| “Coffee cupping”
is an Icafe-sponsored event during which regional
coffee producers compete for the purpose of
finding new coffees and eventually bringing
them to market. |
| Photo by Miia Niskanen |
 |
| For Costa Rica's coffee farmers,
the past years have been troubling due to the
system of international pricing of coffee and
increased competition from countries being financially
supported by the World Bank. |
| Courtesy ICT |
World coffee prices are at their lowest in history.
There have been price drops in the past, but never
for such a sustained period of time. This worldwide
commodity has earned half of what it did three years
ago. Today’s market price often does not even
cover the farmer’s costs.
There are simply too many coffee producers in the
world today. Visit any coffee specialty shop and see
exotic brands from several continents. It’s like
a geography lesson.
Juan Bautista Moya, executive director of Icafe, the
administrative and governing body for Costa Rican
coffees, touches the social role of Costa Rican coffee.
“It was government policy from the very beginning
not to give coffee to monopolies,” said Moya.
“That is why we have now 73,000 coffee farmers
and producers, and coffee touches lives of over 350,000
Costa Ricans – almost ten percent of the population
– directly or indirectly. Coffee has a fundamental
impact on the economy, and this structure of ownership
also adds to the democracy and peace of Costa Rica.”
To add to the crisis, coffee’s overall share
of Costa Rican exports has steadily decreased over
recent decades, and many Costa Ricans involved in
this sector almost feels as if they are entering into
a state of emergency.
For Minister of Agriculture Rodolfo Coto Pacheco,
the greatest challenge facing those engaged in coffee
growing is the system of international pricing of
traditional agricultural products, coffee and bananas.
The fact that the World Bank has helped finance countries
such as Vietnam to become coffee producers has upset
many traditional coffee producers. According to Minister
Pacheco, “Having Vietnam as a producer has been
detrimental to many Latin American economies, because
for many of us coffee plays such a dynamic role in
the economy.”
On the other hand, what else could any international
organization do in this globalized world, where one
country’s problems easily expand across the borders,
and responsibilities have to be shared-- for better
or worse? Rather than place every coffee producer
on equal footing, it is important to realize that
coffee also provides many different business opportunities.
One can become a lower-quality Robusta producer and
aim at quantity production, or one can chose to grow
only Arabica – the queen of quality coffees.
“In Costa Rica Robusta production is prohibited
by law,” says Moya. “Technology here is
very high, and our labor laws are very strict: we
do not use children under 18 years old, we provide
childcare during the day, social care and security.
Our coffee is grown ethically and is of high quality,
we are very proud of it.”
Costa Rica wisely took advantage of an opportunity
about four years ago, when it began an active campaign
to produce specialty coffees. Specialty coffees provide
a dynamic market and prices can be very profitable
compared to that of selling green coffee beans. Moya
gives an example: “The commodity price is now
about 48 cents per pound. The production cost is 85
cents. However, in the specialty coffee areas one
can get a price of one dollar, up to a dollar twenty-five.”
To send a clear message that Costa Rica exports only
the highest of quality coffee, Icafe intentionally
burnt 200 tons of low-grade coffee. By this demonstration,
Costa Rica was trying to strengthen the role of the
Quality Coffee Improvement Program (QCIP) that was
signed by six countries.
One of QCIP’s top goals is to reduce the worldwide
coffee glut. To do so it will be critical to convince
buyers to move towards specialty coffees, and educate
coffee drinkers on the benefits of consuming top-quality
coffees. Moya says, “This is exactly why we burnt
five percent of our lowest quality coffee. In the
world, at least 15% is low quality. If we could get
rid of that, the situation would already be a lot
better.”
In 1992 an agreement between several Costa Rican institutions
set out to reduce the contamination caused by coffee
milling by 80 percent by 1998. Currently all of Costa
Rica's milling plants have implemented a series of
eco-friendly procedures that range from water treatment
(where the water is cleaned before it is deposited
in rivers) to the use of solid waste (like coffee
pulp and skin) for organic fertilizers or fuel in
furnaces.
Minister Coto continues, “Costa Rica can become
a gourmet coffee producer to obtain better prices.
No doubt this is a slow process, but it would be beneficial
to certain areas. Of course a lot of people will still
be out of jobs, because the cultivation areas will
be smaller.”
The Specialty Coffee Association organizes regional
tastings in order to find the best coffee in each
of the seven regions of Costa Rica. Those regions
that contain coffee growing plantations above 2800
feet tend to fare the best in these taste tests, as
elevation is an important factor in coffee quality.
Around the same time that the Specialty Coffee Association
was established, in 1993, another important event
in coffee history occurred. Mary Williams from Starbucks
met Grace Mena, and together they came to the conclusion
that Costa Rica has everything that quality coffee
needs: technology, altitude, social stability, standards
and regulations. Deli Café was created, and
today Starbucks is the largest buyer of Costa Rican
coffee –a merit anyone would be proud to have!
The next task for Mena is to promote higher standards
for coffee, like those of many other agricultural
products. This would encourage everyone to play a
fair game, and a sense of transparency would simplify
the procedures.
Mena invites everyone to try Costa Rican coffee, because
while drinking coffee that originates in Costa Rica,
consumers not only have the best in quality and taste,
but they also help to maintain the social stability
of this small Central American country. Furthermore,
with the future free trade agreement between the US
and Central America, Costa Rican coffee will naturally
become more widely known and consumed. According to
Moya, “this is a window of opportunity for Costa
Rican coffee.”
Since mid-November, global coffee prices have started
to rise, due to delays in the Vietnam crop and a nagging
drought in Brazil- countries that were considered
by many to be the toughest competitors. Therefore,
buyers are filling their warehouses with green beans,
and Costa Rica will also begin to receive more inquiries.
However, to truly compete Costa Rica must move towards
higher added value. The short-term consequences may
be severe, but in the long run the price paid is significantly
higher. After all, Costa Rica has so many advantages
over those of other coffee producers- a special relationship
with Starbucks being just one of them. |
