Our industry has seen a huge amount of change in the past few years: change across the board, from the top end independent scene to the larger corporate players.

In such a fast changing landscape, it’s important to embrace and harness the skills of the best people.

Competitions like the UKBC are a fantastic way of celebrating this, rewarding the UK country heat winner by propelling them onto the world stage, and also providing a shop window for the industry’s best talent. Such is the standard of this competition, it can often seem overwhelming and ‘not for me’ for many baristas out there who do a fantastic job day in-day out, but are keen to improve their skills to the best of their abilities.

Our Origin Trip competition was created to recognise this, and appeal to those baristas who might otherwise have had little chance of scoring as well as some seasoned competitors, and been put off entering.
This of course does not mean that they lack the enthusiasm or basic skills, but perhaps only the encouragement?

With something for the ‘new blood’ to aim for, we wanted to add another dimension to the competition with our Newcomer Category, and the best reward we could think of is a trip to origin, to further inform and excite the winner to a career (not a stop-gap job) in the coffee industry and the many challenges and complexities held within.
What better person to be able to help the coffee drinking consumer understand more about their daily brew, and better recognise quality coffee than the barista serving them every morning.

Attracting and importantly retaining new people into our industry is essential to improve standards. With the current debate on skills and learning in the workplace, and also with an ear to selected industry criticism that the competition was insular to it’s detriment, failing to deliver for and excite the industry, our aim is that our Newcomer category takes a step towards more positive engagement.

We intend to use learnings from this year’s activity through focused dialogue with competitors – see some responses already garnered in our Barista Q&A’s – to help further the aims of the competition in raising industry standards and getting greater numbers of knowledgeable baristas choosing coffee as a career, serving perfect drinks to their customers.
The more these customers appreciate and understand, the more will vote with their taste buds and choose speciality coffee.

Which we think is better for all of us.

Workshops with coffee producers in Tuiboch:  Creating “Liberaćion”

If you’ve followed our series of posts about developing our ethical Union Direct Trade for coffee sourcing you’ll know that Pascale spent 6 months of last year in Central America working with the small scale farmers who produce the coffees we buy. Pascale has a Masters in Development Economics from Wageningen University (The Netherlands). She has returned to Guatemala at the start of the season to continue her work with us at Union on improving standards. With much talk about “Direct Trade” we consider this mechanism has to be more than just coffee provenance and likewise any claims made about profitability have to be verified. Here Pascale explains that most producers don’t have a clue what their production costs are and how we’re tackling this problem.  (Steven)

Location: Tuiboch, Todos Santos Guatemala

Activity: Workshop about costs of production & labour standards

Participants: 22 producers.

Date: 6 February 2012

Monday the 6^th of February I visited Tuiboch, Todos Santos. I gave two workshops, those who have followed my earlier blog know that I have spent some time with these producers in March/April 2011 conducting a study on their costs of production. This study helped the cooperative to define a fair price per quintal in pergamino (parchment coffee) which is set at 1250 Quetzales, for this year. One of the most important conclusions of this study was that none of the producers keeps a proper administration of their costs. This is very typical for small scale farmers. So my return to Guatemala was an excellent opportunity to present the results of the study and discuss my findings with the producers. I showed them how they can keep track of production costs and showed them a small booklet I have created for them in a format that will facilitate them to keep track of their costs of production! This way they can account for all their costs and ensure they sell their coffee at a price that allows them to reinvest in their farms.

My second workshop was related to a small-holder booklet developed by the Ethical Trading initiative (ETI), a British organization which aims to raise workplace labour standards among suppliers to into the British market. The standards ETI follows are based on those of the International Labour Organization (ILO). A Spanish version of the booklet has been created but Union Hand-Roasted Coffee have taken a more pro-active approach and discuss these working conditions with coffee producers. Therefore, we are going to the different communities in Guatemala and presenting the Labour Standards workshop and discussing them with the producers. Treating subjects as equal payments, fair payments and clean and secure working conditions are very important. To illustrate, during the workshop none of the producers were aware of the minimum wage in Guatemala. This is important if they hire pickers to help with the harvest on their farms.

After the workshop we cupped 9 coffees together along with the producers. The interaction was beneficial because producers could experience by tasting and learning for themselves for example, if coffee needed a couple more hours of drying in the sun. Also showing them the broken beans in the coffee helps them to understand the importance of calibrating their depulper machine with the correct sensitivity. We are going to repeat this exercise with the other communities that produce the coffee we have named “Guatemala Liberacion”, so I will keep you up to date.

It was a very successful day with the help of Cooperativa Esquipulas R.L. and the participation of the producers. See the photos for yourself!

http://vimeo.com/36647114

The first UKBC 2012 heat took place in London last weekend. Congratulations to Sang Ho Park, who was triumphed with Best Espresso, Best Cappuccino and Best Signature Drink. His Tapped and Packed colleague, Matthew Robley-Siemonsma, was second, with third place going to Rummy Keshet, a barista trainer for Darlington’s.

Matthew, Sang Ho, and Rummy

If you’re competing in the upcoming heats – there’s still just about time to enter, particularly if you’re in Northern Ireland – we’ve put together some tips and advice from our expert team of judges and competitors.

COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID

• Not pulling shots/purging the grinder during 15 min stage prep before the competition
• Pouring very short espressos which may disqualify you (required volume is 25ml +/- 5ml)
• Not writing out your script for your 15 minute presentation
• Over-complicated table dressing – over-styled settings will not win extra points and could distract from the performance

DON’T FORGET TO…

• ‘Role play’ to practice effectively: bring two or three people together to act as the judges would, and use all your cups and table settings
• Pack your table setting in boxes ready to pull out and set up quickly
• Adjust your roast profile to required brew temperature
• Make sure that the judges have water poured in their glasses before you start
• During 15 min presentation work with your own grinder if at all possible
• Look into the judges’ eyes, smile, and talk about what you love in coffee
• When introducing the signature drink to the judges, make sure you explain how to drink it

Here at Union we’re very excited to be one of the sponsors of the 2012 UK Barista Championships. Marc Pierre Dietrich from UK Coffee Events spoke to Alan Miller from Union recently about what’s in store this year.

MPD:  UK Coffee Events would like to thank yourself and Union Hand Roasted for getting involved with UK Coffee Events this year.

Additionally we would like to thank you for introducing a brand new prize category for the UK Barista Championships – Best Newcomer (Working Barista) – and for offering a trip to origin for the best newcomer in the UKBC.

What gave you the idea?

AM: Thanks Marc. We are pleased to be associated with UK Coffee Events as Roasted Coffee Supplier, and have been part of the UKBC for several years now, hosting the SouthEast Heat in London last year.

We are hoping to bring a new dynamic to the UKBC with this Origin trip prize. In our day job we support, advise and train many in the coffee industry: baristas, restaurant and bar managers, cafe owners. With the current upward trend in new businesses to the industry, we believe it’s important to support new talent, encourage skills development, as well as bringing our expertise in our ‘Direct Trade’ sourcing model to a wider audience.

Coffee education is pivotal in a barista’s understanding of coffee, from how to recognise quality in coffee to best practice brewing. A true 360 degree knowledge of how to extract the best out of the coffee is really important to arm the barista with knowledge and confidence to showcase the contributions of both producer and roaster.

MPD: This is a very generous offer. With taste being so important, will the baristas be cupping at origin?

AM: Places on trips like this are highly sought after, and are once in a lifetime opportunity for most people. The best newcomer to the UKBC, who is a working barista – who has scored the highest points after the regional heats – could find themselves heading off to a producing country such as Rwanda, Brazil, Guatemala, Costa Rica or El Salvador.

This will not be a 5 star holiday in comfort, but will be 5 star in experience!

During the trip the barista may need to adjust to altitude or put up with extreme weather, and he or she should be prepared to help with a coffee harvest (if one is taking place when they visit), or maybe get their hands dirty sorting or grading coffee. They may participate in a cupping but more importantly he or she will get to meet with farmers who we source from whilst seeing at first hand a working coffee farm and experiencing its environment.

The trip will be led by either Steven Macatonia or Jeremy Torz – both of whom travel regularly to origin to build relationships with existing producers for Union as well as uncovering new coffee gems, as their Direct Trade sourcing model delivers.

MPD: What reaction do you envisage from the barista community?

AM: It is our intention, I hope, that we engage and excite a whole new generation of coffee enthusiasts who are inspired enough to choose coffee as a career as Jeremy and Steven were when they first discovered their love of coffee.

MPD: Why do you work for Union Hand Roasted coffee?

AM: The energy in the coffee industry in the UK currently is exciting. The opportunity to tell our story and meet very talented people, be they baristas, producers (farmers) or suppliers, is a great part of the job that I do. And with such fabulous coffees in our portfolio to enjoy, the challenge in foodservice is maintaining the quality through to serve across a diverse group of customers.

People shouldn’t have to settle for a dud cup of coffee in the UK these days. Being part of the team that aims to bring great tasting coffee to all who want it, direct from origin in an honest and transparent manner is satisfying and fun!

MPD: What trends are you noticing in the UK at the moment?

AM: Tea menus are a common sight. Many cafes are now thinking about offering multiple coffees on their menus. We are excited that operators are beginning to realise that coffee drinkers want choice as well, so there is the start of offering a menu coffees with diverse taste profiles, or perhaps brew methods, will in turn showcase a good barista’s knowledge in understanding the large variety of wonderful coffees now available.

MPD: If you were entering the UKBC what coffee would you use this year and why?

AM: (without hesitation) I would use the Genesis Microlot, West Valley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ8Iz1nwXdQ from Costa Rica.

The taste is wonderful, allowing the opportunity to create a superb signature drink marrying up with the flavours of red berries, toasted hazelnut and dried apricot.

This coffee is grown by Oscar Mendez who is almost theological about coffee. His approach is very inspirational, as he grows for quality not quantity and his focus and commitment to great coffee grown in harmony with the land on his farm is just brilliant.

In this short post I thought I’d rest on the psychiatrist couch & talk about emotions I experience on every trip and why I try to control the overwhelming desire to do a runner. In a second post I’ll discuss specifically what I’ve discovered from this trip to visit producers in Peru and why I do care passionately about the job.

There is a wonderful romance that is attributed to coffee, from the delight of the exotic countries and distant lands, through to the creativity of coffee roasting. But for me the reality can be harsh.  In my pursuit of coffee and developing our Union Direct Trade relationship it means that both Jeremy and I do a lot of long haul travel (mostly separately). This is a fantastic perk of the job, in fact getting deep in the rural areas of Central & South America, East Africa & Indonesia – it has to be the best job in the world. Yet before every trip I experience an anxiety attack.  It’s hard to put my finger on what sets me off, it’s not just fear of flying (I write this whilst sitting in Lima airport waiting for my long journey home) but that is one element.

This trip was particularly demanding, involving getting out to evaluate potential new producers down in the south of the country as well as re-visiting to catch up on existing relationships in the North. What was so gruelling this time? Maybe I’m just getting old, but crashing about in the back of a truck or bus perched on a narrow ledge climbing to 13,000ft + and looking out of the side window seeing the sheer drop really freaked me out this time. When the journey goes on for 8 hours, its cold, foggy, torrential rain causing rocks to fall off the mountain onto the road makes it  punishing, particularly  having to change a flat tyre and then still avoiding the boulders in the road. It doesn’t help that every vehicle coming in the opposite direction means we have to back up, to find a ledge wide enough to pass each other.

I’m not a fan of American 5 star hotels, but accommodation can be primitive in some rural places. Jeremy & I refer to the quality of sleeping facilities as the “Yirgacheffe Scale” – this was one of our early trips more than 10 years ago that we did together. The hostel was so scuzzy that I laid out my towel on top of the filthy mattress and slept fully clothed, with boots on, and hat pulled over my face to try keep the mosquitoes off. At least there was cold water and we had a torch for light.

By now I should be prepared for anything but stupidly this trip I forgot the torch, and I wasn’t so lucky to get water either.  Yes, the farm visits and huge mountain vistas are joy to experience. But by the time I returned back to Lima for the second leg of my trip I lost my bottle and couldn’t face a reprise of the experience again, I was close to bolting. I did a quick scrutiny and I could get a flight to Paris and be home the following day. I was desperate. What a wimp, but I could feel the tears but what do you do? I clamp my jaw and grind my teeth and stick to the plan.

I guess the point is, this trip wasn’t that different to any other. There’s always some problem or tricky issue and you have to just get over yourself.  Now I’m back at Lima airport again waiting to go home, and of course I loved the complete trip, as I always do. Our relationship with coffee producers is a privilege for me; from the warmth of their hospitality, their deep desire to please and demonstrate to me the extra work that is required for the quality of coffee we demand; it re-programmes me again why we do this.

Series about Union Direct Trade

In previous post about Union Direct Trade we’ve talked about how we’re gathering information from smallscale coffee farmers in Huehuetenango in Guatemala. This work has been undertaken by Pascale, a masters graduate in Development Economics from Wageningen University as a research project to define how Union can have a positive impact on the lives of coffee farmers.

Pascale has been in Huehuetenango for five months and now reflects on her experiences as she completes her first period of work there and prepares to move on to Costa Rica.

Emigration was one of the coping mechanisms to deal with the coffee crisis in the late 90s. It has become the major reality of rural economies Central America.

Of the 87 households I’ve interviewed here in Huehuetenango. I discovered that 72% have or had migrant family members. The majority immigrated to the United States
(89%) and 11% to Mexico. In 40% of the cases it was the farmer (head of family) who went to the United States. The reasons for migration are: earn money to pay off debts, buy land to cultivate coffee, buying a car, or construct a house.

Although migration and the money earned from this have positive effects, such as lower poverty rates there are many social costs; broken families, a reduction in labour supply, the risk of death, injury or imprisonment from illegal border crossing, and a reduction in knowledge and skill transfer since producers are not there to teach their children how to cultivate coffee. (Steven has previously talked about the impact on the women who are left behind – Abandoned in Guatemala)

Listening to the women farmers at Todos Santos

Fair and reasonable coffee prices and long-term commitment is therefore very important for coffee producers. As the groups I interviewed indicated, knowing that they have a committed buyer such as Union Hand-Roasted Coffee gives them just and spirit to keep on working to produce high quality coffee. The previous unstable markets impeded producers from investing in their coffee fields because prices hardly covered the cost of production, it also does not make any sense investing in high quality coffee if there was no premium for quality coffee. Quality coffee requires extra labour and money investments. Only ripe cherries must be picked and traditionally pickers get paid by piece (per
quintal (46Kg) of coffee harvested). A disadvantage of paying by quintal is that workers will pick as much as possible, to earn more. To incentivise pickers to only select the ripe coffee cherries, farmers pay day labourers a higher price per day.

Although these producers in Huehuetenango are on the right track, it is important that low interest credits to fund paying for the harvest becomes available to producers.  This will reduce their cost of production increasing the profits.

Guatemala is a beautiful country, colourful, rich in culture and tradition and inhabited by a population which is generous, hospitable and hard-working. Yet, Guatemala faces many difficulties. The country is very unsafe and Huehuetenango bordering Mexico is a collection of drug traffickers. Bad road conditions, landslides and (violent) demonstrations on the roads make it difficult or sometimes impossible to travel from one place to another. Especially during the harvest this is a serious problem for those preparing their coffee for export. Hence, I have the highest respect for those working under these conditions. The farmers of La Libertad and Todos Santos have faced many barriers, but they never gave up. “For every problem there is a solution” is their motto. I believe that the fair and transparent relationship that Union Hand-Roasted Coffee has with the organizations that form these co-operatives will contribute to the development of towns in La Libertad, Chanjon and Tuiboch (Todos Santos).

boarding the bus to agronomy classes

Transparency and traceability are two important aspect of a company’s business model. Only by being transparent in the whole coffee chain, can both buyer and producer be sure that the benefits really reach the producers.

Almost Integrated into Guatemala Culture !

My next stop is going to be Costa Rica; there I anticipate the situation with farmers will be completely different. Besides the fact that the country is much more stable and is classified as a middle–development country, Costa Rica has embraced a “micro-mill revolution” which Union has talked about before and I will describe more in my next post.

In my last post about visiting farmers in Rwanda during the current season, I discussed how high market prices can bring difficulties to the farmers. In this post we’ll look at how prices can affect quality.

Quality is not an Accident

The second negative effect of high coffee market prices shows its hand in the overall quality of coffee reaching consumers.  In years of low market price, farmers  producing high quality specialty coffee know they have to maximise that quality to attract best prices. They achieve this by careful and selective picking which is more labour intensive, and careful post-harvest processing of the cherries.  This year, not only in Rwanda but as we have seen in many countries, farmers understandably take the view that they will be receiving more than last year without the extra effort – so why bother!  Again we have taken a great deal of time – including Steven visiting them earlier this year – to encourage them to work carefully and reinforcing to farmers that our agreement to buy, at a premium to market value, is linked to producing high scoring speciality grades.

If all of this market turbulence was not enough to cope with, the weather also added its own challenge.  Usually, the cherries ripen and are harvested over a period of around twelve weeks.  This year however, due to lots of rain and warm sunshine, the full crop came in over just six weeks and the Coffee Washing Stations, where the cherries are processed, were inundated by huge volumes of coffee cherries which need to be pulped really quickly. The beans must be separated from the pulp in a timely manner. If this is not done, fermentation in the bean can occur, or insects are attracted and damage the cherries, both of which can cause unpleasant taste effects in the finished coffee.  As we are in regular contact with producers that UNION buy from, we were aware of the problem and knew that there would be issues in the harvest quality so careful selection was needed more than ever.

Each individual lot has to be sampled

It’s this last matter that really drove me to spend a chunk of July in the cupping Lab in Kigali, working with Leatitia, a cupper I had helped to train some five years ago and who helped select our lots last year.  Together we cupped and scored hundreds of individual production lots from three Cooperatives and to get the coffee Union requires this year, we discounted just over 50% of the lots as not being up to our standard, and that was after Leatitia had pre-screened the lots to offer me a choice of those she considered the best.

To make the selections, a sample of green coffee is taken from each lot passing through the stations on any given day and labelled with the district and control reference number and is sent to the cupping lab in Kigali.

First the lots are sample roasted

300g of the coffee is prepared and roasted the day before we cup the lot; first we assess the roasted fragrance of the dry grounds and then pour the water, steep before evaluating the wet aroma, and then tasting the coffee brewed simply in a glass. We evaluate for a range of characteristics to produce a final score and description for that coffee that enables me to make a selection and construct the overall quantity, quality and flavour profile when the lots are put together.

In each cooperative there are districts that each have their own terroir and hence character.  My job was to select the best lots and bring them together (blend them) to achieve an overall standard for the cooperative that reflects the style of the district.  Maraba for example produces a rich full bodied and smooth coffee with an
elegant orange/citrus acidity to balance the cup; we offer this as our Single Estate coffee, Rwanda Maraba Bourbon.  COCAGI cooperative in Gashonga yields a coffee that is sweet, fuller bodied and has more red fruit flavour notes which we’ve also selected as a core component for our Revelation espresso.  Karaba Co-operative was new to us this year and being out in the cupping lab to taste tens of lots from the district was fascinating and wholly informative.  I’m looking forward to UNION being able to offer this coffee, which is distinct from the others having a lighter body with clean fresh apricot and white fruit, almost floral notes and a silky milk chocolate mouthfeel.

Occasionally during the cupping process, a lot comes up on the table that has a really outstanding flavour, with clarity and balance coupled with unique flavour notes and which also receives a high score.  In these cases, I have requested that these small lots are segregated all the way through and are delivered to us as our micro-lot selections.  We will release information on these as and when we get closer to them arriving in London and have checked and approved the arrival samples ensuring nothing untoward has happened during shipping.

Samples cooling before cupped

It’s only by getting out to the farms that we can know what has occurred during the harvest each year and I have no doubt that there may, sadly be a lot of very variable quality Rwanda coffee reaching the international market.  But it’s through our Union Direct Trade relationships and putting the miles
and work in, also personally a very enjoyable process that UNION Hand-Roasted Coffee will again be able to represent the very best of Rwanda’s speciality coffee
harvest for 2011-2012.

Working out the final scores

This weekend I returned back from 3 weeks in Africa, which included visiting coffee producers in Rwanda. Over the years, Steven and I have come to understand how essential these face-to-face meetings are. They give us an accurate picture of the complexities small-scale farmers are faced with, and ensure we continue to select and secure the best quality coffee for Union.

Two issues that are always important are; the local impact on small scale farmers of the volatile coffee market and secondly, how we select the specific lots of coffee that we want to buy from the new season harvest.

Coffee Markets and Small Scale Farmers

Over the last nine years we’ve been worked initially with one Co-operative, Abahuzamugami  ba Kawa, (Maraba), who  we proudly launched onto the speciality coffee market  in 2003. In more recent years our relationships expanded to a second group, COCAGI (Gashonga) and this year, now we are also excited to introduce Karaba Co-operative.

Offices at Abahuzamugabi ba Kawa Maraba

The nature of our relationship with these coffee producers involved many aspects aside from just being a commercial partner (buyer). Our participation has helped transform aspirations into a sustainable reality and we have increasingly and fascinatingly immersed ourselves in issues of community development, health and welfare, capacity building (business and management skills) and Co-operative development, as well as helping to train the first professional speciality coffee cuppers, all in the pursuit of bringing our Rwandan coffee up to the very best international standards of production and cup quality.

This year, due to the volatile coffee market and a number of weather and seasonal problems that coffee farmers faced, I decided to spend a period out here in Kigali at Rwashoscco, the Co-operative owned export organisation. I went to “cup the harvest” to select exactly which parcels and lots we’d be buying, and also to have our regular review meeting with the General Managers of Abahuzamugambi and COCAGI Cooperatives to find out how they have fared in this difficult season. Steven met with the Co-operatives before the season, in February-11, to plan the strategy, and now we meet to review how the season played out, and to plan for the next year.

Preparation of fully washed parchment Maraba

Many people will no doubt wonder why this year (climate aside) could be seen as challenging, surely the high market prices must be a goldmine for the farmers, and the coffee must be great, right?  Well, from what I’ve seen and experienced here and our work in Guatemala plus my recent visit to Costa Rica in May, high markets can bring as many problems as benefits to many coffee communities around the globe.

Many of the communities that we source from are not single farm businesses but Co-operatives: They function by buying coffee cherries from their members who are small-scale farmer families (Maraba have around 1300 families) as the ripe coffee cherries are picked, usually over a harvest period of around twelve weeks.  At the beginning of the harvest, the Co-operative must have enough funds to pay all the farmers for their picking.  At the end of the season, when the coffee is finally sold, the Co-operative receives their money from the buyers and a second ‘top up’ payment is made to the farmers; the community decide how to portion out any remaining profits.  They may vote to retain some capital for next year, possibly to invest in washing station equipment or for community projects such as a school or hardship fund for older members.

The key difference about how co-operatives operate and compete for the benefit of their community members against potentially better funded private businesses is in this first and second payment system. Private companies buy cherries by making a one-off payment to farmers, but in co-operatives where farmers initially accept a lower price, the co-operative can reduce the level of loans required from local banks to fund the coffee cherry harvest, and therefore reduce their interest costs which can be a significant part of annual expenditure.  The ‘difference’ is made up to the farmers at the end of the season. In well managed co-operatives, with good buyer relations such as we enjoy, they can provide the farmer with a higher income as the profits are shared in the community as opposed to being retained for the owners of private companies.

The challenge I mention is that this year, the market price of coffee has nearly doubled in the period since last harvest and the amount of cash the cooperatives need to fund cherry purchase has therefore similarly increased.  Such rapid increases in cost really puts these communities under stress as the amount of retained profit may not be enough to cover the increase and thus higher loans and interest payments are experienced.  Additionally, although cooperatives operate for the benefit of their members, they still experience competition locally as other coffee cherry buyers working as agents for the private exporters compete to buy this coffee.  There is no obligation for co-operative members to give their co-operative first refusal on their crop. But if the Co-operative is not offering the highest price, other benefits are available to members throughout the year.

With such young cooperatives where the full understanding of their concept is under-developed, the farmer, understandably wants money now, rather than a promise of (more) money later. This issue often will take a long time to become fully recognised and supported by farmers but it is important as spreading out of payments helps families who haven’t been educated about budgeting to manage their cash over a full year cycle.

Hand sorting washed parchment Maraba

Over recent years, Union Hand Roasted Coffee assisted communities like Maraba and Gashonga by paying a percentage of our purchases in advance of the season; a mechanism known as pre-financing.  This year again we provided pre-financing but due to the high prices that we agreed for the finished exportable coffee, we also faced similar cash constraints and could not assist pre-financing to the same degree as we would have liked.  To continue providing the best upkeep, we support the co-operatives in working with additional NGO’s and pre-finance trade organisations that provide credit to developing communities at a preferential interest rate.  As market conditions stabilise we hope to return to the level of pre-financing the co-operatives desire and help them to develop their community.

In my next post I’ll discuss how quality control influences small scale farmers.

Jeremy

Series about Union Direct Trade

In the previous post Pascale talked about getting stuck into the interviews with farmers in Huehuetenango to obtain data for our Monitoring & Evaluation study. We have worked with these farmers only for two seasons, so are still in the early stages of our relationship. Pascale was learning more about coffee production in this remote region of Northern Guatemala. Here, she talks about what the farmers have been working for during the previous twelve months; receiving an income for their coffee.

¡Hola!

Coffee payments in Tuiboch

Traditionally, farmers are paid in full at the end of the season, in May, at the final “liquidation meeting” of the coffee harvest. The timing of this payment causes problems because producers have large costs to cover during the year, particularly through season when fertilizer is needed, and during the harvest to pay for labour. Union pays part of the contract earlier to help with cashflow.

Cashflow problems mean that some farmers do not sell all their coffee to their co-operative. Instead, farmers sell a small amount to coyotes (middleman). Even though coyotes pay on average less than the co-operative, they pay directly in cash at the time of harvesting. Some farmers need this money to pay to the day labourers who harvest the coffee. This is why pre-finance is very important for small-scale farmers. Having some money in advance allows farmers to enter all their crop into the co-operative which pays a higher price than coyotes and more importantly will offer a sustainable price not only today but also in the future.

This “liquidization meeting” started with a visit from ANACAFE (Guatemala Coffee Board) who will help the cooperative to obtain a loan for their next harvest. Low interest loans with good conditions are crucial. Currently some farmers, those who are not members of the cooperative, have no other options but to pay up to 36% annually in interest. These are all cost which reduces the final amount of income available for investments in coffee production, education for children and health care.

This year, representatives of the Co-operative were happy to announce they had a small victory; it was the first year that they succeeded in paying their farmers so early, in May. In previous years final payment was later than June. Waiting so long requires a lot of patience and commitment of farmers and can put them in a position in which they cannot pay off their debts and continue to pay interest. The commitment that farmers show to their organizations is strong; they really want to make this project work.

It is incredible to see how transparently the Co-operative works. Before farmers received their payment a presentation was given, clearly explaining how much coffee was received what the expenses were. The presentation was illustrated with pictures; many producers never (will) have the opportunity to see the beneficio seco (dry mill) in Huehuetenango and with these pictures they can learn about what happens with their coffee after they deliver it to their co-operative. Each farmer signs a form that states the amount of coffee that he delivered and the price he received. By doing this the co-operative can be completely transparent to Union Hand Roasted, and prove that they paid a fair price to their producers. From an outsider perspective this may seem obvious since co-operatives are owned by small scale farmers and consequently they should all have access to this information. Unfortunately, the level of transparency as we see here rarely happens within other cooperatives.  

Signing the act of the meeting

A copy of the coffee cupping evaluation form was also handed over to the farmers. Farmers can see for themselves how there coffee was cupped and which exceptional qualities their coffee has. If coffee showed signs of fermentation and was rejected, this is also listed on the cupping form. Hence, the form also serves as direct feedback, since fermentation can be avoided by handling the coffee carefully when processing the cherry into parchment.

A small talk was given about the history and reasons for the project for both new and existing members. Many small scale farmers have a rather short-term vision, rather than planning for their future, they sell to those who pay soonest if not the most. This is understandable.

The importance of a guaranteed minimum floor-price and having a long-term buyer-relationship may not always reach the minds of the producers. Their main concern is the price that they will receive for their crop that season.  Therefore, reminding them and explaining the goal and aim of the project is an important task of the co-operative.

It is not only time and labour intensive to cultivate coffee, but also commercializing coffee requires knowledge, time, negotiation and organization skills. After the coffee is harvested there is a lot of work to do. First samples of each “lote de cafe” need to be cupped to grade coffee on the basis of quality and lots are selected by Union Hand Roasted. Any coffee not suited for export, because it shows any defect, like fermentation, is sold at the local market.

The coffee needs to be transported to Huehuetenango City where the “beneficio seco” processes the parchment coffee into “café en oro”, coffee ready for export. Afterwards it needs to be transported to the harbour from where it is shipped.

Small scale farmers exporting coffee face many challenges and costs, not only in farming coffee but also in commercializing. Processing, transport and administration cost are uncured during the year. Yet they are devoted to producing and exporting top quality coffee. In the past there were many obstacles thrown into the path, and there are still obstacles to overcome. Yet, they are working hard on further improving the quality of their coffee. 

Saludos,           Pascale
A word from Steven…Again Pascale has talked frankly about the true hardships that farmers face on the yearly coffee cycle. Some good work has been achieved in creating loyalty to their cooperative. This gives the farmers direct access to the export market and opportunity for greater earning potential. It is clear how important the access to pre-finance is and this will be one of the main projects Union will be working on for next season.                    Steven

Series about Direct Trade

My previous blog post introduced Pascale; she is studying the working and living conditions of some of the small holder coffee farmers that Union Hand-Roasted Coffee source from in Central America.  Here is Pascale’s next update of her work in Huehuetenanago.  This is a new relationship for Union;  now in our second year of sourcing from these producers, we want to identify the complexities the farmers face to enable us to determine what actions we can take to support them in the future.  (SM)

¡Hola!

 Everybody in the cooperative (and La Libertad) has been extremely helpful and friendly to me. I feel very welcome here. However, it is a distinct area they have their own rules which are important to respect. Therefore I prefer to stay close to the people of the cooperative since they know what to do and what not to do. However, this has several implications for the research:

It may influence amount of structured formal interviews that I can do; maybe not as many as planned. This is because everybody in the cooperative is extremely busy. The last harvest is coming in, contracts need to be made, the last coffee needs to be collected, people need to be paid. After this period there will be more time they assure me (semana santa, the period of rest, is coming).

 I know I must have a control group, although this is difficult for two reasons: First the speed in which I can work the questionnaire is slow. Therefore, I will first try to interview as many cooperative members as possible. Second, I prefer to stay within the area of cooperative members because it is safer and less risk when in remote rural areas.

Putting aside any negativity about these limitations, the cooperative is doing loads and loads of positive stuff. There is so much to write about. Iliana, the Manager of the Cooperative, is amazing; very smart, enthusiastic and full of energy to change and develop things.

I have started to perform formal interviews. I have spoken to several people and gathered a large amount of knowledge. I have collected coffee in Palmira and spoke briefly with the people there, I had a quick visit to ANACAFE (the Guatemala Coffee Board), I have cupped coffee in La Libertad and Huehuetenango, I have visited the export company where the coffee is prepared to be exported. Talked to some people of the cooperative and now know a lot the history of the cooperative. This has meant leaving the house at 7am and coming back at 9pm exhausted in the evening, so there has been until now little time to write down everything. But I am catching up with this now in the coming weeks.

The farmers are introduced to me “as the girl who is going to calculate what is a fair coffee price”. Although for me this is a very interesting and challenging assignment it is an extremely difficult and complicated job. Information on other areas of interest, such as I will therefore collect in a more qualitative way.  I really believe that it will help the cooperative if I can help calculate a fair coffee price for them. It is not easy to do but will be very worthwhile.

Saludos,

Pascale

 Pascales’ main work is to focus on the social conditions of farmers but the producers want to take full advantage of her background in development economics to create a business model.  I think it helps to be transparent and reveal the complexities that happen in the field. Producing coffee is hard work, not romance. And farmers’ livelihoods depend upon getting a good income.  These cooperatives in Northern Guatemala are in remote areas and life is about survival. Until Union started to work with them they had uncertainty from one season to the next. Through continuing our relationship, our vision is to bring stability and economic prosperity.

Next posts from Pascale will continue to talk about the importance of helping small scale farmers do business.

Steven