GCR Mar 2014

March/April 2014

INTELLIGENT EXHAUST The information in off-gas

DEFICIT DEBATE

Production figures come up short

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ESPRESSO Advances that have shaped our drinks

COFFEE SOS Farming advice on the airwaves

INDONESIA’S GROWING MIDDLE CLASS THE HEAD OF STARBUCKS’ INDONESIAN OPERATIONS TALKS ABOUT SPREADING THE COFFEE GIANT’S WINGS IN ONE OF ASIA’S MOST PROMISING MARKETS

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CONTENTS March/April 2014

COVER STORY STARBUCKS IN INDONESIA

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A growing middle class and high standards are helping the coffee giant make its mark on the world’s largest archipelago.

IN THIS ISSUE FEATURES 12 CAPITALISING ON A GROWING MIDDLE CLASS The head of Starbucks Indonesian operations on spreading the US coffee giant’s wings.

16 A DROP OF CREMA IN TIME

On the major historical developments of espresso machine technology, and what’s to come.

20 A COFFEE DEFICIT FOR 2014?

Poor weather is taking its toll, as prices predict tightening supplies.

25 P ROTECTING BEANS AND BEASTS

The Orang Utan Coffee Project is aligning the best interests of conservationists and coffee farmers.

29 SEALING IN PROFITS

Opem’s Favio Binacchi on why single-serve systems are the future of the at-home coffee industry.

CASE STUDY 32 A FLEXIBLE SOLUTION

Cascade Coffee on how a new conveyor system is smoothing out its busy operations.

PROFILE 36 SPECIALTY IN ITALY

The SCAE targets espresso’s home ground as its next area for growth.

41 RUNNING HOT AND COLD IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA

Boncafe sheds light on the trends that are driving regional growth.

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT 45 INTELLIGENT EXHAUST

Researchers are discovering that off-gases from roasting are filled with information.

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“WHAT YOU EXPERIENCE IN BALIKPAPAN SHOULD BE THE SAME, IF NOT BETTER THAN LONDON.” Anthony Cottan Director of Starbucks franchisee PT Sari Coffee Indonesia

ORIGIN

48 B ROADCASTING DEVELOPMENT

Radio is proving an essential tool in East Africa.

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INDUSTRY COMMENT 52 INSTANT COFFEE IN MODERN TIMES

Buencafe on how soluble is shaping up against single-serve.

REGULARS 04 EDITOR’S NOTE 06 NEWS DRIP BY DRIP 55 DIARY DASHBOARD 56 MARKETPLACE 58 LAST WORD

25 M A R C H/A P R I L 2 014 | G C R

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EDITOR’S NOTE Global Coffee Report

PUBLISHER John Murphy john.murphy@primecreative.com.au EDITOR Christine Grimard christine.grimard@primecreative.com.au ASSISTANT EDITOR Nick Sheridan nick.sheridan@primecreative.com.au

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JOURNALIST Sarah Baker sarah.baker@primecreative.com.au ART DIRECTOR Michelle Weston

MIDDLE CLASS DRIVE

IT WOULD SEEM the land of opportunity is struggling these days to live up to its name.

United States President Barack Obama recently expressed his concerns of inequality in the US, as real wages stagnate while the share of income going to the top 1 per cent of earners increases sharply.

Recognising the importance of distributing wealth among a growing middle class isn’t just the ideology of economic liberals. In the coffee industry, a growing middle class is a prime indicator of opportunity for growth.

More money in people’s pockets means more money to spend at the coffee shop, in a kind of trickle-up economy that contributes to the industry’s bottom line.

The result of the US’s struggles has meant that many companies have been looking at opportunities in emerging coffee nations, where a growing middle class is the prime characteristic of economic growth. In this edition’s cover story, Anthony Cottan, the Director of Starbucks’ franchisee PT Sari Coffee Indonesia, tells GCR how the company is capatalising on this demographic (see page 12) by providing an inviting environment for relatively affluent Indonesians to spend their time, along with a quality cup of coffee to spend their money.

Indeed, across South-East Asia, a thirst for coffee is growing among those with more dollars to spend. General Manager of Boncafe Pavinee Khetphanasant tells GCR how regional consumers are looking to pay more for quality products. The result is café owners who are also happy to spend more money on better equipment and better coffee (see page 41).

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The drive for better quality coffee is, of course, not isolated to emerging coffee markets. The Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE), an organisation with the primary goal of improving coffee across the board, is in the midst of a strategic plan to target its efforts on specific countries. Its most recent focus is the home of espresso – Italy – where SCAE Executive Director David Veal sees ample opportunity for quality improvements (see page 36).

Nor is the drive for better quality coffee limited to the specialty movement.

Buencafé’s Carlos Osorio comments in this edition how single serve trends are helping drive quality improvements in the soluble market as well (see page 52).

Whether it’s in an improved product or a new market, the opportunities for growth are undeniably there for the adventurous who know what to look for.

DESIGN Blake Storey, Alice Ewen, Sarah Doyle BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Steve Roberts steve.roberts@primecreative.com.au GENERAL MANAGER COFFEE MEDIA & EVENTS Brad Buchanan brad.buchanan@primecreative.com.au PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR Michelle Weston michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au ADMINISTRATION MANAGER Chloe O’Brien chloe.obrien@primecreative.com.au PHOTOGRAPHY Carolyn Bates, Patrick Varney, Maja Wallengren CONTRIBUTORS Deborah O’Malley, Eugene Gerden Maja Wallengren HEAD OFFICE Prime Creative Pty Ltd 11-15 Buckhurst Street South Melbourne VIC 3205 Australia p: +61 3 9690 8766 f: +61 3 9682 0044 enquiries@primecreative.com.au www.gcrmag.com SUBSCRIPTIONS +61 3 9690 8766 subscriptions@primecreative.com.au

Global Coffee Report Magazine is available by subscription from the publisher. The rights of refusal are reserved by the publisher

Christine Grimard Editor

ARTICLES

All articles submitted for publication become the property of the publisher. The Editor reserves the right to adjust any article to conform with the magazine format.

COPYRIGHT

Global Coffee Report is owned and published by Prime Creative Media. All material in Global Coffee Report Magazine is copyright and no part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical including information and retrieval systems) without written permission of the publisher. The Editor welcomes contributions but reserves the right to accept or reject any material. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information Prime Creative Media will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequences arising from reliance on information published. The opinions expressed in Global Coffee Report are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by the publisher unless otherwise stated.

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NEWS In Brief

NEWS DRIPBYDRIP Colombia’s leading producer of soluble coffee, Buencafe, is anticipating a shift in the instant coffee market towards more premium and healthy products. The company’s Head of Research and Development, Carlos Osorio, says that there is a growing preference for premium coffee in all segments of the market, with soluble manufacturers being forced to compete more and more with the rapidly growing single-serve segment.

Osorio also points toward the growing popularity of so-called ‘functional foods’ as a key area of opportunity for producers in his industry. See page 52.

Coffee forecasting agencies have been cutting their production forecasts in Brazil, following poor weather.

The result of these cuts saw a rally of Arabica in early 2014, taking prices out of the depressed state registered in the last half of 2013 where they traded near five-year lows.

Driving factors behind the upward move in prices were the disappointing figures out of key producing countries Brazil and Vietnam.

Traders and analysts are now saying that the world balance may be headed for a deficit in the next cycle.

See page 20.

United States-based Cascade Coffee recently added 12 bins to its batching system.

The leading contract roaster has an impressive capacity of more than 25 million kilograms of coffee a year.

It offers 16 packaging lines and six

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different coffee roasters.

In adding the new bins, the company recently switched from a pneumatic conveyer system to a Cablevey tubular system. The new system provided flexibility that could be adapted to challenging space constraints.

The company also found that switching to the tubular system led to a decrease in bean breakage. It previously experienced a 10 per cent bean breakage rate, and says that under the new system it sees less than 2 per cent.

See page 32.

ASIA

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Coffee farmers in Rwanda have found an effective form of professional and social development through the medium of radio. Radio program Coffee Lifeline is run weekly on community radio in Rwanda, with a potential reach of more than 2 million people.

While the program devotes plenty of time and attention to farming matters, it also covers health, financial literacy and environmental matters, as well as a children’s story at the end of each show.

Rather than featuring outside experts, they find stories of farmers in the region to talk about their own experiences in how these have improved their farms and livelihoods.

See page 48.

AMERICAS

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AFRICA

Indonesia has been enjoying strong economic expansion, with an average annual growth rate of 6 per cent over the past decade.

In 2013, Starbucks announced its plans for rapid expansion in Indonesia. The global coffee giant is now poised to open more than 700 stores in South-East Asia over the next three years, 100 of which will

ON THE MOVE

Starbucks is looking to open more than 700 new stores in South-East Asia over the next three years, 100 of which will be in Indonesia. See page 12.

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NEWS In Brief

be built in the thriving nation.

This focus on Indonesia is paying off in more ways than one. In 2012, The Nielsen Company and Campaign Asia Pacific ranked Starbucks as the number 10 brand in Indonesia, the only food and beverage brand out of 1000 companies on its list.

The head of Starbucks Indonesian operations Anthony Cottan tells GCR how the US-based coffee giant is successfully catering to Indonesia’s thriving middle class. See page 12.

The number one trend in Asian coffee now is the growth of cold drinks, according to the General Manager of Boncafe in Thailand, Pavinee Khetphanasant.

This trend is occurring in tandem with a growing professionalism in the small to medium-sized coffee businesses in the region, largely driven by the growth of specialty coffee.

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Boncafe will be sharing its knowledge of coffee and the Asian markets at the World of Coffee and Tea Expo to be held in Bangkok from 21 – 25 May. See page 41.

EUROPE

UP IN SMOKE

Researchers are using proton transfer time-offlight mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) to analyse the off-gas in the roasting processes.

See page 45.

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After 19 years of certifying Indian farmers’ produce for sale on the international market, Fairtrade is now marketing Indian products directly to Indian consumers.

Launched in Bangalore, the organisation says that it will focus on “promoting Indian-produced Fairtrade products directly to the growing Indian market to further benefit Fairtrade farmers and workers”.

The organisation says that Fairtrade India is part of its effort to move beyond the south-north trade model, and Fairtrade marketing organisations have now been established successfully in countries including South Africa and Kenya.

“This is an exciting opportunity for India to demonstrate that it can actually lead on ethical consumption and show its support for our small farmers. Buying Fairtrade is an immediate way for us to directly support the poorest farmers, and the environment,” says the CEO of Fairtrade India Abhishek Jani.

See page 58.

Leading capsule-filling machine manufacturer Opem is opening a new 13,000-square-metre centre in the first half of 2014. The new facility will bring together its production line, that is currently set out over four 1300-square-metre facilities, into a single building in Italy.

Single-serve coffee constitutes about 8 per cent of the world’s coffee market in terms of volume, but an astounding 25 per cent in terms of value. In developed coffee markets, such as the United States and Europe, those market shares are even higher.

“We’re seeing a huge demand, and more particular demands like for milk, tea, and generally 360 degree systems that can offer different services,” says the company’s President, Fabio Binacchi. “Coffee capsules are the future of our industry.” See page 29.

The Specialty Coffee Association of Europe’s (SCAE) flagship event, World of Coffee, is heading to Italy for the first time in nine years.

The event will be held in the northern city of Rimini in June, and will incorporate the World Barista Championship finals.

The Executive Director of the SCAE, David Veal, says that he hopes the event will help to popularise the specialty coffee movement in the birthplace of espresso culture.

“The Italian market is coming to an interesting point,” says Veal. “While it’s still dominated by traditional values, thanks to the fantastic work of our members in Italy, people are slowly starting to realise that there are other ways of making coffee other than the traditional Italian.” See page 36.

Roaster manufacturer Buhler has been working with the University of Zurich, Switzerland, to measure the volatile organic compounds in the off-gas of roasting.

The researchers are using proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) to analyse the off-gas in the hope that it will give them valuable information about how to improve roasting processes.

But with a price tag of more than US$400,000 for a PTR-MS tool, the technology isn’t yet commercially viable. See page 45.

Stability in espresso machine technology seems to be the next phase in the history of the machine, according to Coffee Historian Jonathan Morris.

Advancements, like the release of Italian manufacturer Nuova Simonelli’s T3 technology on the Aurelia, are the latest in providing baristas ultimate control.

Espresso machines have seen major developments since the first machine was released onto the market in 1884. From steam-pressured machines, to the advent of digital technology, a brief overview of the history of espresso machines provides some insight into what’s to come.

See page 16.

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NEWS In Brief

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IN MEMORY OF KHUN WICHA PROMYONG

Khun Wicha Promyong of Doi Chaang Coffee Company tragically passed away on 23 January of this year.

Promyong assisted the Akha hill tribe of Doi Chang to create the coffee company that helped their community become self-sufficient and provide a better life for future generations.

One of the founders of Doi Chaang Coffee, Khun Wicha Promyong, died unexpectedly on 23 January, succumbing to a heart attack while in Doi Chang Village in Northern Thailand.

Promyong was instrumental in assisting the Akha hill tribe of Doi Chang to create the coffee company that helped their community become self-sufficient and provide a better life for future generations.

The Doi Chaang Coffee Company came about as an indirect result of an initiative of the King of Thailand to encourage coffee production among the hill tribes of Northern Thailand as an alternative to opium farming.

The prominent Akha farmer Piko Saedoo embraced the program and, with the help of Promyong, established the Doi Chaang Coffee Company in partnership with Canadian entrepreneur John Darch, with the farmers retaining 50 per cent ownership of the company.

Promyong came to the company after many years as a successful businessman in his own right who had become dedicated to helping improve the lives of the hill tribes of Northern Thailand.

Under the guidance of Promyong,

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Doi Chaang has become an international brand recognised for its premium organic coffee and its unique business model, which it called “Beyond Fair Trade”.

“Khun Wicha epitomised vision and compassion,” says Co-Founder Darch.

“For him, nothing was impossible if you were prepared to work hard and think outside the box. He saw the goodness in people and advocated passionately for a just reward for the farmers and the equality of everyone regardless of age, race, gender or ability.”

Promyong lived with the Akha people for many years, embracing their way of life and regularly joining them as they travelled on foot throughout the notorious Golden Triangle region at the intersection of the Thai, Laos and Myanmar borders without regard for borders or personal comfort.

The success of Doi Chaang Coffee is evident in the improved living conditions for the people of Doi Chang Village, which

now has schools, hospitals, transport infrastructure, and a coffee academy.

Although he was the founder of Doi Chaang Coffee Company, Promyong’s passion and commitment to the company was driven by his fundamental belief that the company’s growth and prosperity was dependent on the well-being of all those involved and the rewards should be shared accordingly.

“It was Khun Wicha’s commitment to reinvest profits into the growth of the Akha farmers co-operative and their community that inspired us to create the unique Beyond Fair Trade partnership we established with Doi Chang Village,” says Darch.

“We remember Khun Wicha as a man of integrity, warmth and incredible generosity.

We feel privileged to have worked alongside him and we are resolute in our determination to honour his dream and to build on his legacy at Doi Chaang Village.”

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COVER STORY Starbucks Indonesia

CAP IMAGES Jessica Candradi

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ITALISING ON A GROWING MIDDLE CLASS

THE HEAD OF STARBUCKS’ INDONESIAN OPERATIONS ANTHONY COTTAN TELLS GCR WHY THE COUNTRY IS BRIMMING WITH POTENTIAL

S

aturday morning at 7am, the gates fly up and the doors open for business at Starbucks in Pakuwon Trade Centre.

Situated in the upscale west neighbourhood of Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city, the coffee shop is open for less than five minutes before foot traffic begins. The store features warm colours and hanging lamps, and is filled with the sound of soothing Balinese music playing over the speakers.

The energetic employees are all in their early 20s, speak English well, and know exactly what they’re doing behind the counter. They shout Italian drink orders to each other as if they were Seattle baristas, while well-dressed locals file past the register. Suited up professionals settle in for business meetings while college students fire up their laptops. Outside the window, a Mercedes E Class drops off some teenagers for a coffee date.

LEARNING FROM THE PAST While the rest of the world has been scrambling to get back to zero since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, Indonesia has been enjoying an unrivalled economic expansion, with an average annual growth rate of 6 per cent over the past decade. What we see today is a surprising turnaround for a

BY LEIGHTON COSSEBOOM

country that was on the verge of tearing itself to pieces in the wake of the Asian financial crisis in 1998.

With the fall of the Suharto regime (in power for more than three decades) and the near collapse of Indonesia’s economy, came angry riots in the streets of Jakarta. Between December 1996 and January 1998, the Indonesian Rupiah plummeted from 2,400 to the US dollar to 16,000. The price index for food rose as much in January 1998 as it had for the six prior months combined.

In an astonishing comeback, today Indonesia is South-East Asia’s largest economy. According to the 2013 Index of Economic Freedom, the country has undertaken a wide range of reforms to address its structural weaknesses and become more competitive in the global market, particularly in attracting foreign investment. Recent reforms have created a livelier private sector through modernisation of the financial sector, all while taking steps to attract investment from countries like the US, Korea and Japan.

A study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) titled ‘The Emerging Middle Class in Developing Countries’ states that today Indonesia’s household consumption of the overall domestic GDP sits at 63 per cent, well above the global average, and in stark contrast to China’s unbalanced 37 per cent. The OECD predicts that countries like Indonesia, India, and Vietnam will more noticeably become the world’s new points of economic gravity in decades to come.

FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED Starbucks may not have been the first upmarket coffee chain to notice Indonesia’s prolific rebound, but it was certainly the first to act on it. Last year, Starbucks announced its plans for rapid expansion in Indonesia. The global coffee giant is now poised to open more than 700 stores in South-East Asia over the next three years, 100 of which are set to be built on the world’s largest archipelago.

During his visit in April, Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz publicly affirmed the importance of the country’s market to Starbucks’s global standing. “With a population of more than 240 million people, an emerging middle class that is driving strong domestic consumption and a robust and resilient economy, Indonesia presents a unique untapped potential for Starbucks in the Asia Pacific region,” said Schultz.

Enter 49-year-old Englishman Anthony Cottan, Director of PT Sari Coffee Indonesia, the country’s Starbucks franchisee. “We are still on track to open about 30 to 35 new stores in Indonesia every year,” Cottan tells GCR . “As we have many formats that include drive-thru, universities, malls and

M A R C H/A P R I L 2014 | GCR

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COVER STORY Starbucks Indonesia

“We are proud that we can be in 12 cities across Indonesia and maintain the same standards that would apply to any Starbucks across the globe,” says Cottan. “So what you experience in Balikpapan should be the same, if not better, than London.”

In January 2013, Cottan announced the grand opening of two new stores in South Sumatra’s capital city of Palembang, making it the newest pinpoint on the map for the global coffee giant. “We see Palembang as an important and growing region in Sumatra,” he says.

In August 2013, Cottan told Tempo magazine that the Starbucks market has grown by double digits, “around 10 to 20 per cent” in three years. Indonesia is the only country in Asia where market growth has been consistently in double digits. If viewed overall, the company’s sales growth reached more than 30 per cent as a result of new outlets. Cottan says that while the growth of the Indonesian market is large, the daily transaction volume is not that big, roughly 30 per cent lower than Singapore’s, which has a higher income per capita. However, he remains confident that he can boost the daily transaction average, depending largely on how he formulates a strategy for pulling in new consumers. Although the undisputed brain behind Starbucks Indonesia, Cottan often downplays his own contribution to its domestic success, giving credit to Singapore’s influence in setting trends for Jakarta. “What Singapore has, Jakarta has to have – that’s the mentality of the market,” Cottan argued in an interview with The Jakarta Post last April.

YOUNGER CUSTOMERS WITH INCREASED SPENDING POWER

office, this is an achievable number.”

Cottan’s background is firmly planted in the food and beverage industry. When he first arrived in Indonesia in 1989 he started as the General Manager of the Mercantile Club, “a city dining venue managed by CCA International from Hong Kong,” says the British expatriate. After leaving the position in 1996, Cottan was taken all over Asia by ClubCorp, an elite network of golf and country clubs, for which he also held managerial positions until 2001 when he jumped at the opportunity to return to Indonesia on behalf of PT Sari Coffee Indonesia. Today, Cottan lives in South Jakarta with his Indonesian wife and children.

Although the first Starbucks store popped up on Indonesia’s grid just 12 years ago in Jakarta’s popular shopping centre Plaza Indonesia, locals have taken such a liking to the brand that 152 stores now exist in major cities throughout the archipelago, a number that will nearly double in five years’ time.

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As the small group of teenagers climb out of the Mercedes and walk into the coffee shop, they are greeted with warm smiles from the young staff, and make their way to the cushy seats in the corner next to a young man in a suit and tie punching away with the stylus pen on a Samsung Galaxy Note 3. It would seem apparent that without intent, Starbucks has become the de facto cornerstone of style for a new generation of coffee drinkers in Indonesia. “I come [to] Starbucks because I like to hang out with friends there,” says one of the 19-year-old girls named Rizka.

But Starbucks is not the type of company that achieves anything by mistake. It should come as no surprise that ‘Generation Y’ in Indonesia is naturally gravitating toward the Starbucks name.

With rapid proliferation of the brand across the nation, coupled with strategic implementations on university campuses and every single outlet boasting a young, intelligent and attractive staff, Cottan has successfully capitalised on Indonesia’s latest niche market: young trendsetters with newfound money to spend.

Although Cottan acknowledges the performance of his young employees, he also recognises that the nature of the workforce today is quite different that it was back in the 1990s, when young people were proud to work for big companies. He says that technology has sped up the expectations of Indonesia’s youth, and therefore it can prove to be difficult to retain them for long periods of time in order to cultivate future company leaders.

If anyone is up to the challenge in Indonesia, however, it’s Starbucks. Cottan says corporate leaders must first be able to foster the forward thinking values of the new generation while also teaching them principles that support the organisational structure necessary for large companies like Starbucks to thrive. “I make sure I always visit stores on Thursday and Friday to see the reality of what we do and compare to our standards and vision,” Cottan explains. Referring to his young staffers he says: “That’s the most satisfying part, when we see the passion that our young partners have.”

RESPONSIBILITY IN A COUNTRY THAT NEEDS IT According to the World Bank, the 1998 Indonesian financial crisis led to little to no investment in water infrastructure, and the government has struggled to maintain upkeep of existing facilities.

As a result, diarrhoea and typhoid fever have been key factors to the under-five mortality rate in Indonesia. Last July, Starbucks Indonesia and the Planet Water Foundation, an international non-profit focused on bringing clean water to disadvantaged communities, launched a program called Water for Change in Bantargebang, Bekasi, one of Jakarta’s eastern boroughs that struggles with sourcing clean water. Starbucks Indonesia now donates 1,000 Rupiah (US$0.08) to the Planet Water Foundation for every bottle of water purchased by its customers. For 2014, the money raised by Starbucks bottled water sales will be allocated to constructing new clean water tanks in Sumatra.

Between November 2013 and January 2014, Starbucks worked with the Indonesian Street Children Organization to deploy its annual Drop of Hope campaign, an initiative that among other efforts collects school uniforms for children in families living below the country’s poverty line.

Through this program, Starbucks helps procure thousands of uniforms for Indonesia’s students in low-income households. “It is an important part of our company’s culture and values,” says Cottan, referring to his company’s CSR department as a whole.

A TRUSTED BRAND At 9pm on Saturday night, the doors close and the gates slowly begin to come down. It has been one of the busiest days of the month for Starbucks at Pakuwon Trade Centre. Regardless of the day, there never seems to be much down time in Indonesian Starbucks cafés. As the island nation has shown itself to be the most promising emerging market of South-East Asia, Starbucks was able to plant its flag early, establishing a strong market share in the retail coffee sector as well.

In 2012, The Nielsen Company and Campaign Asia Pacific ranked Starbucks as the number 10 brand in Indonesia, the only food and beverage brand out of 1000 companies on its list. Cottan says he loves what he does in Indonesia, and explains: “We recognise that it is our store baristas, partners, shareholders, and most importantly, our customers that make us the top of mind brand when it comes to premium coffee experience.” GCR

Starbucks Indonesia and the Planet Water Foundation launched a program called Water for Change in Bantargebang.

FEATURE History of Espresso

A DROP OF

CREMA I N TI M E HISTORY OF ESPRESSO

EXPERTS GIVE THEIR TAKE ON THE PIVOTAL MOMENTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ESPRESSO TECHNOLOGY, AND A GLIMPSE AT WHAT’S TO COME.

1884

1901

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1947

1906 Angelo Moriondo creates first prototype espresso machine, using the pressure of an internal boiler to push water through a coffee cake.

1920 WMF and other companies outside Italy begin producing steam-based pressure brewing machines.

Luigi Bezzera patents the process of hanging filter holders into the grouphead and sells key patent to Pavoni.

Pier Teresio Arduino builds first Victoria Arduino machine.

La Pavoni Ideale exhibited at Esposizione Universale di Milano as the first machine to swiftly brew coffee under pressure at moment of ordering.

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1910

Pavoni releases first D.P. 47, first prototype of a machine with the boiler mounted on its side, running parallel to counter top.

E

ven among Italy’s most traditional espresso bars, one would struggle to find an experience dating back to the origins of the drink.

Indeed, modern technology – complete with LED lights, flashing buttons, and powder-coated steaming wands – has come a long way from the ornamental steam machines that produced what is considered the first espresso.

Trying to produce an exhaustive list of espresso technology innovations would be a challenging exercise within the confines of a single article. However, there are a series of innovations that can be considered landmarks in the development of espresso machines.

Jonathan Morris has studied the evolution of espresso technology from a historian’s perspective as Professor of Modern European History at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.

For him, determining the pivotal moments in the history of espresso technology has been about identifying what developments have led to changes in the way drinkers relate to their coffee, and baristas relate to their machine.

He points to the introduction of vertical steam machines as the early days of espresso. While the coffee didn’t have any crema, and could hardly be considered an espresso today, he says this was the first time the operator of a coffee machine – the barista – was heavily involved in the coffee making process, and was able to produce a coffee in under a minute, rather than waiting for four minutes.

Cafés could then serve customers fresh coffee instantly at the bar.

“Everything about those machines was about the barista making a lot of adjustments to see what would work out,” says Morris. “To some extent, some of those principles still apply today.”

Maurizio Giuli, Marketing Manager for Nuova Simonelli, says that the first espresso machine can be traced back to 1884, when Angelo Moriondo of Turin created the first prototype of an espresso machine.

“As many people know, the word espresso in Italian language means ‘quick, in time’, so the new technology allowed baristas to make coffee in the same time as the customer requested,” says Giuli.

Although this technology was updated throughout the very early 20th Century, with machines such as the Victoria Arduino introduced in 1910, the basic principle of using steam to push hot water into the coffee grounds remained the same.

This was until 1948, when Achille Gaggia introduced a spring connected to a piston to physically

1948

1950

1961

“IN THE BIG PICTURE, THIS MODERN TECHNOLOGY HAS ALLOWED US TO TAKE OUT OF THE EQUATION A LOT OF FACTORS AND VARIABLES THAT THE BARISTA HAS BEEN TRYING TO OVERCOME.” Jonathan Morris

Professor, University of Hertfordshire

push the hot water through to coffee cake.

“Gaggia changed everything,” says Morris.

“The pressure through the coffee during delivery went from 3 bar to 12 bar, pressure levels we’re still using today.”

The result of the increased pressure created the crema now characteristic of modern espresso.

Nuova Simonelli’s Giuli points out that this was the first time the pressure could be operated independently of brewing temperature.

1990S

2012

Espresso machine manufacturers introduce digital technology to machines.

Orlando Simonelli releases Selene coffee machine, the world’s first machine with continuous delivery via a hydraulic pump.

1954 Nuova Simonelli introduces Aurelia II T3, with unprecedented levels of temperature stability.

Faema’s Carlo Ernesto Valente introduces E-61, first machine with electrical (rotary) pump allowing barista to operate machine with on/off switch.

Achille Gaggia manufactures of the first machine (Classica) using pressure via a piston to force water through a filter, creating crema unique to espresso.

1954 WMF introduces its first semi-automatic espresso machine, one of the first manufactured outside of Italy.

WMF introduces the first automatic machine that can produce latte macchiatto at the touch of a button. Modern automatic machines work towards reproducing the quality and consistency of semi-automatics, independent of the skills of the barista.

M A R C H/A P R I L 2014 | GCR

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FEATURE History of Espresso

Maurizio Giuli.

“As a result, the coffee in the cup was much different,” he says. “With the cream on top, a strong body and much more sweet than the previous system.”

From this initial innovation, Morris says that from 1948 to 1961, espresso technology experienced its most tremendous period of innovation. “This is when we moved from a manually operated piston through water pressure hydraulics to semi-automatic electrically powered pump machines brewing at a constant 9 bars of pressure,” says Morris. It was at this point when the switch from upright to horizontally mounted boilers became standard.

One of these major innovations was the introduction of the pump by Orlando Simonelli in the early 1950s. With Italy now largely connected to the electricity grid, the electric pump allowed baristas to create espresso at the touch of a button, without having to manually operate the lever.

Modern machines continue to be based on the same basic engineering that came about through this period of major innovation. Digital technology also brought about the advent of automatic espresso machines. Much of this innovation took place in Germany later in the 20th Century, when espresso technology started gaining ground.

Until the mid-1980s, espresso and specialty coffees were largely irrelevant in Germany.

Germany’s WMF was a leader, as one of the only companies to dabble in espresso machine technology outside of Italy, adding its first semi-automatic espresso machine to its range in 1954.

Most major innovation in automatic machines took place in the 1990s. In 1997, the WMF Bistro was able to prepare a cappuccino without having to change cups. In 1999, WMF was the first manufacturer to make it possible to prepare a latte macchiato automatically, with the touch of one button.

Just as digital technology has allowed the control of automatic machines to deliver quality coffee, cup after cup, on manual espresso machines digital controls have given the modern barista unprecedented levels of control.

“Consistency has largely been driving innovation. Once we get to digital technology, we can measure much more precisely what we’re delivering,” says Morris.

The increase in temperature stability has been a major advancement on this front. In 2012 Nuova Simonelli introduced T3 technology, as the official supplier of the World Barista Championships.

This new technology allowed baristas to get better quality in the cup, and a more consistent result, no matter the coffee.

“In the big picture, this modern technology has allowed us to take out of the equation a lot of factors and variables that the barista has been trying to overcome,” says Morris. “This means we can have consistent shots independent of the barista.”

Morris says that far from making the barista irrelevant, these advancements have shifted the role of the barista from driver of the machine, to a designer of the perfect shot.

“Now, the job of the barista is to set up the machine, rather than having to adjust it as they go.

We’ve given the barista more control by setting up all the variables so that they can be controlled independently.”

Morris points to the example of the pressure paddle on the La Marzocco machine as a tool given to baristas to set up the parameters to create their own profile.

As for where the direction of espresso machine technology is going, Morris says the nature of the market will largely define these advancements. For instance, where top end cafés are using multiple blends, the ability to program different profiles into the machines will be essential. In outlets requiring fast service across a single blend, the ability for the machine to ensure consistency and mitigate operator faults will be essential.

In almost every Western market outside of Italy, Morris points out that milk is an essential element when preparing coffee.

“Most consumers actually judge baristas on their milk,” he says.

Therefore, turbo steam wands and other technology focused on milk will be a top priority.

He also expects to see an increase in the sophistication of water systems. In markets such as the United Kingdom, that are dealing with hard water, he says machines might start incorporating internal filtration systems. G C R

Jonathan Morris.

at See us po A Ex A C S e h t tle at t a e S n i 23.

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COFFEENOMICS Supply Balance

WILL IT BE A

DEFICIT POOR WEATHER IS TAKING ITS TOLL ON BRAZILIAN CROPS, WHILE POSITIVE ECONOMIC SENTIMENT IS GOOD NEWS FOR THE CONSUMPTION. THE RESULT COULD BE THE PERFECT STORM FOR ANOTHER DROP IN STOCK.

I

t’s been a hard fall from the top for Arabica prices over the past two years.

Long gone are the glory days of US$3.19 a pound in the New York ICE market, which marked a 14-year-high record in May of 2011. While the fall was slow, with Arabica continuing to trade at over $2 per pound for a full year, the party was over when the positive crop reports started flowing in.

First was news of the some of the best flowerings ever seen in Brazil for the 2012-13 harvest. Two more large crops from the world’s largest grower have since driven the market to near five-year lows. The bear camp has ruled on a negative price sentiment, saying that these back-to-back, bountiful Brazilian crops must have resulted in ample stocks.

GCR first reported in August 2013 that the current and future crops in Brazil were set to fall short of expectations, following multiple weather issues. It’s looking now like those warnings are coming to life.

“We have found evidence in the field that encourages us to settle on a 51-million-bag crop estimate for the 2014-15 season, with around 35 million bags of Arabica and 16 million bags of conillon [Robusta],” Swiss-based Volcafe, the

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trading arm of UK-commodity trading group Volcafe/ED&F Man, said in a special research note released in early January that sparked the initial rally in prices.

This is a cut of a whopping 9 million bags from initial forecasts. Volcafe also cut its figure for the 2013-14 crop in Brazil by at least 3 million bags, putting final output of the current harvest at 57.2 million bags.

Volcafe isn’t alone in cutting its figures. Three out of four major forecasts issued in January for Brazil made similar corrections. These groups seem to be agreeing that the world is headed for a coffee deficit in 2014-15. “With a 51 million-bag Brazil crop figure, our 2014-15 statistical balance becomes a deficit of around 5 million-bags, coming after two years of statistical surplus in 2012-13 and 2013-14,” said Volcafe.

By mid-February, Arabica coffee had strengthened almost 30 per cent since the beginning of the year, by over 31 cents per pound. The price drop reflects market concerns over the looming deficit in the next 2014-15 world crop, for which harvesting starts in Brazil in April. Reports of the driest weather Brazil has seen in over 20 years are only adding to the jitters. It looks now like it might be impossible for the 2014-15 harvest to escape damage from what already is considered a severe drought.

Independent Commodity Analyst James Roemer, who writes for the online investment forum Seeking Alpha, says that among all the commodity markets that are watching the development of the Brazilian drought, coffee could be the hardest hit.

“This drought has bullish implications on the commodity market. But the greatest potential may still be in coffee, in which the driest five-week winter period in 20 to 30 years could pose a serious threat to coffee trees and the present cherries,” Roemer tells GCR . “Now you have a double whammy, where it’s too dry in the south. Production could fall as low as 50 million bags from the earlier 58 – 60 million bag estimates. I look for coffee prices to trend towards US$1.50 per pound later in February given this dry overall February outlook.”

Roemer’s comments, made in early February, quickly came to light when the 18th saw the biggest rally in a single day in close to a decade. Active March Arabica futures surged a stunning 9.1 per cent to settle at $1.53 cents per pound.

COFFEE SUPPLY BALANCE (IN 1000S OF BAGS) 150000

Production Consumption 140000

Deficit

Surplus

130000

120000

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

*Consumption is based on the calendar year starting in the last half of the crop cycle, i.e. production in the 2013-14 crop year is measured against the consumption expected in 2014 based on current ICO growth rates of 2.4 per cent a year.

Brazil’s agronomical weather forecasters Somar, as well as Brazil’s official crop supply agency Conab, support Roemer’s and Volcafe’s predictions. Both reports were released in mid-January with decreased predictions for final production in the 2013-14 harvest based on weather problems.

Conab said that the next 2014-15 harvest will come in below the last harvest, even though it is an “up-cycle”. This is where trees have fully recovered and are ready to produce a bumper crop. This won’t happen this year, said Conab, because of the stress caused by two large consecutive crops.

It says production in the 2014-15 crop is expected to reach between 46.5 and 50.2 million bags.

Somar, meanwhile, lowered its 2013-14 figure to 51 million bags from its previous forecast of 54 million. It said excess rain in December across the key coffee growing belt of Southern Minas could cause damage of between 30 – 40 per cent of the new Arabica crop currently in development.

Between Volcafe, Somar and Conab, the average prediction for the current crop is 52.5 million bags, and between 49 – 51 million bags for the new 2014-15 harvest. Swiss traders ECOM are alone in insisting that the new 2014-15 harvest in Brazil still has the potential to yield 60 million bags.

“The worries are for real,” says Carlos Brando, Director and Partner in Brazil’s P&A International, and a long-term consultant on market conditions for the International Coffee Organization (ICO). Brando, speaking to local press in Sao Paulo last month, said he has heard the same story across producing areas in Brazil and that ultimately, “it has been the hottest summer in Brazil in my life.”

Somar backs up Brando’s sentiments. Its last weather report said the current conditions are the driest in more than 70 years in Sao Paulo. In Brazil’s largest coffee producing

belt of Southern Minas, Somar said rainfall was down between 40 – 50 per cent in January.

“At a minimum, we have a balanced market, but we could very easily move into a deficit with the Brazil situation,” says Jack Scoville, Senior Commodity Analyst and a Vice President of Chicago-based brokers The Price Group.

Adding pressure on prices is the slow pace of 2013-14 exports from Vietnam. The most bearish predictions say that it could produce a record 30 million bags in the 2013-14 harvest.

Exports figures through January, however, show that four months into the new crop cycle, Vietnamese exports are at 6.87 million bags, 32 per cent below the last crop cycle.

“Between uncertainty over the situation in Brazil and the lack of offers from Vietnam – I am starting to wonder about the Vietnam figures myself – I see the market moving in a range between US$1.25 and $1.45 per pound for now, with potential spikes of up to $1.50,” Scoville told GCR before the 18 February rally. These factors may now see prices heading towards the $2 mark.

Export figures aren’t necessarily a sign of a short crop. Producers could be holding on to their coffee to wait for better prices. Vietnamese coffee growers harvest most of their crop in November and December. By the end of January, in any average crop year, farmers should have picked 80 – 90 per cent of their crop. This leads to the question as to whether farmers and private exporters with limited financing are capable of holding on to that much coffee.

If the 2013-14 crop is to reach 30 million bags, with 80 – 90 per cent picked, Brazilian coffee workers tend to coffee fields.

M A R C H/A P R I L 2014 | GCR

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COFFEENOMICS Supply Balance balance

“THE MAIN PROBLEM IS THAT THE PRICES HAVE BEEN BELOW THE COST OF PRODUCTION FOR A VERY LONG TIME. THE AVERAGE PRODUCER IN BRAZIL IS IN VERY BAD SHAPE AND WE ARE TALKING ABOUT GROWERS WHO REPRESENT OVER 70 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL BRAZILIAN HARVEST.” Luiz Hafers

Brazilian Coffee Grower and Analyst Luiz Hafers.

Head of Coffee, Brazilian Rural Society

local stockpiling would at this point be at about 20 million bags. So where would they be keeping all of that coffee?

“The figures don’t add up,” says local Vietnamese trader Thao Nguyen in Dak Lak’s coffee capital of Buon Ma Thuot. “Sure Vietnam’s growers are holding on to their coffee, but nowhere near the volumes needed in order to reach a crop of 30 million, or even 27 or 28 million, bags.”

In addition to crop woes, overall sentiment in the market has improved because of a more rosy outlook for the global economy. This, some analysts say, could provide a boost to commodity markets as it adds upwards pressure on prices.

“The global economy is expected to improve.

Europe will leave the recession behind, and the US will report a more defined advance,” says Alfredo Coutino, Chief Latin America Economist for Moody’s Economy.com, a subsidiary of Moody’s Corporation. “A better global environment and a wave of domestic structural reforms will create conditions for healthier and higher growth for the Latin American region as a whole, with the region starting a new cycle of expansion in 2014.”

These are the kinds of global economic

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G C R | M A R C H/ A P R I L 2 014

indicators that are particularly supportive to coffee prices. Improved financial outlook should boost demand across consumer markets. This is where the consumption equation for coffee becomes all the more interesting.

In the ICO’s first forecast for the 2013-14 crop cycle, it pegs world production at 145.8 million bags, slightly up on the 145.1 million bags produced in the 2012-13 cycle. Although this figure indicates an initial surplus, the ICO also stresses the importance of the continuing “buoyant demand” for coffee.

“With certified stocks on the London futures market approaching record lows, and consumption continuing to grow at around 2.4 per cent per year, demand for coffee remains buoyant,” said Roberio Silva, the ICO’s Executive Director, in a recent ICO market report.

Based on this growth rate, which Silva says is expected to persist for the time being, world demand is set to rise to 145.4 million bags in 2013, from the 142 million bags consumed in 2012. This would put global demand for coffee in 2014 as high as 148.9 million bags, hence creating a deficit of 3.1 million bags, as production in the 2013-14 crop cycle feeds world demand in calendar year 2014.

In the end, all roads to market and price predictions lead back to Brazil. There, Volcafe and local producer officials say that it’s not only drought and other weather complications that are at stake, but also the poor state of farms in general.

“Even with the latest rise in prices, the main problem is that the prices have been below the cost of production for a very long time. The average producer in Brazil is in very bad shape and we are talking about growers who represent over 70 per cent of the total Brazilian harvest,” says Luiz Hafers, Head of the Coffee Department at the prestigious Brazilian Rural Society, or SRB. Volcafe said many farmers have opted to carry out excessive pruning of trees, taking advantage of the low prices. In addition, concerns remain as to how efficiently Brazil’s coffee growers will be able to fertilise given current low prices. “In regards to current fertilisation, due to the low price of coffee, Brazilian producers need to pay the equivalent of the money received from eight bags of coffee to fertilise one hectare. We will carefully watch farm treatment over the next months,” it said.

Not only Volcafe, but the entire world of coffee will be watching Brazil, even more than normal, in these coming months. GCR

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FEATURE Orang Utan Coffee

IMAGES Copyright PanEco

PROTECTING SUMATRA’S

BEANS & BEASTS AN INDONESIAN INITIATIVE IS LINKING UP CONSERVATIONISTS AND COFFEE FARMERS TO HELP PROTECT INDONESIA’S ENDANGERED ORANG UTANS.

W

hat do the orang utan and Sumatran Arabica have in common, other than being two of the most recognised and loved symbols of the Indonesian island?

Due to the rapid expansion of palm oil production in Indonesia and demands for timber, the Sumatran rainforests that both call home is fast disappearing. And the already critically endangered orang utan and quality Sumatran Arabica are disappearing with it.

But now, a group of conservationists are teaming up with coffee farmers on the island to do what they can to save both.

The Orang Utan Coffee Project sets down guidelines for coffee producers to adhere to – such as organic and sustainable farming practices – and in turn is marketing its high quality product to the world, with a brand that will benefit both the farmers and the conservation efforts on the island.

Starting as a post-tsunami reconstruction programme in 2005, the Orang Utan Coffee Project is a partnership between the PanEco Foundation and smallholder coffee farmers who are willing to manage their plantations in a sustainable way. This ensures protection of the rainforest ecosystem, which creates the necessary conditions high quality coffee production. An important part of the partnership are coffee professionals, including roasters, who are concerned with the responsible sourcing of their coffee.

In this manner the Orang Utan Coffee Project demonstrates how to balance sustainable economic activity, resource efficiency, climate protection, and social responsibility. The aim is to create a brand representing highest quality Arabica coffee from which local people and animals can profit.

Regina Frey is one of the co-founders of PanEco with more than 40 years experience working with Sumatran orang utans. She says that while the conservation message is an integral part of the project, its success depends on the quality of the coffee.

“We do not want to be just another project coffee that comes and goes because the quality of the

M A R C H/A P R I L 2014 | GCR

25

FEATURE Orang Utan Coffee

The Orang Utan Coffee Project is a partnership between the PanEco Foundation and smallholder coffee farmers.

coffee is not satisfactory,” Frey says. “We strive at offering the market an Arabica of highest quality.”

And with more than 50 tonnes of green beans sold in Europe last year, as well as a Gold Medal from the German Roasters’ Guild, it seems they are off to a good start.

Frey says that they hope to double their sales this year, with plans afoot to expand into the UK and US, and interest from Japan and Australia.

However, while the coffee may be well received abroad, they still face an uphill battle in their conservation efforts on the ground in Sumatra.

While rainforest once covered the whole of Sumatra, it now just accounts for 20 per cent of the sparsely populated island. These areas of rainforest have been listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2004; however the threat from deforestation has not abated. There are currently 6 million hectares of palm oil plantation in Indonesia, with that industry aiming to expand to cover a total of 20 million hectares. PanEco estimates that if the present rate of destruction persists, 98 per cent of Indonesia’s tropical rainforests will be destroyed or degraded by 2032.

This is not just a disaster for the orang utan – numerous other species such as the Sumatran tiger, the Sumatran elephant and the Sumatran rhino are also on the brink of extinction due to this destruction.

Conservationists had a significant win in this battle in January of this year when Indonesian courts fined a palm oil producer a total of US$30 million for the illegal clearing of an area of the environmentally important Tripa peat swamp forest in Sumatra. The decision could set a favourable precedent for a series of similar actions that are going through the Indonesian courts at the moment.

“The decision also serves as a deterrent,” Frey says. “It creates a precedent and the hope that Indonesian courts will prosecute violations of conservation and environmental regulations more severely in future.”

In the meantime, Frey says that so long as the product is out there, so too is the message.

“We invite traders and consumers to come and see for themselves,” she says. “Come and see the destruction of the unique ecosystem of Sumatra’s tropical forests, come and see our struggle to save the Sumatran orangutan. Come and see our Orang Utan Coffee producers and their organic coffee gardens in the Gayo Highlands of Central Aceh.

“We hope to influence the coffee market through raising environmental awareness among the consumers. Through the consumers we hope to influence the coffee market, which in return, could influence production practices. But it’s a David and Goliath affair.” G C R

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G C R | M A R C H/ A P R I L 2 014

Sumatran forests, the home of local orang utans, are disappearing fast.

“THE DECISION ALSO SERVES AS A DETERRENT. IT CREATES A PRECEDENT AND THE HOPE THAT INDONESIAN COURTS WILL PROSECUTE VIOLATIONS OF CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS MORE SEVERELY IN FUTURE.” Regina Frey

Co-Founder of PanEco

PROFILE Opem

SEALING IN

PROFITS OPEM PRESIDENT FABIO BINACCHI TELLS GCR WHY CAPSULES AND SINGLE-SERVE SYSTEMS ARE THE FUTURE OF THE AT-HOME COFFEE INDUSTRY.

F

or the past 20 years Fabio Binacchi, President of leading capsule-filling machine manufacturers Opem, has been hearing the same sceptical talk of the “trendiness” of singleserve systems, and whether they are here to stay.

Two decades onwards, he has to laugh. While that talk continues, the voices are growing fewer and softer, as coffee capsules and pods continue to substantially increase their market share.

Estimates put the single-serve at 8 per cent of the total market in terms of volume, but an astounding 25 per cent in terms of value. In developed coffee markets, like the United States and Europe, those market shares are even higher. Clearly, this is no flash in the pan.

For Binacchi, this comes as no surprise. Having worked in the food packaging industry since 1966, Binacchi is an expert on strategies and innovations in keeping food fresh. Opem specialises in coffee packaging, representing around 80 per cent of the company’s modern business.

“Coffee is such a challenging product to keep fresh, because while you need to ensure the carbon dioxide is released as it ages, you also need to limit its exposure to oxygen,” he says. “You can open a 200-gram bag of coffee and after a few days you lose that freshness. After a few weeks, it doesn’t taste anything like it should. It’s hardly coffee.”

M A R C H/A P R I L 2014 | GCR

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PROFILE Opem

Having made a career out of dealing with these challenges, when he was first introduced to coffee pods in 1990, and soon afterwards capsules, he quickly saw the potential for singleserve on the market.

To open a single portion of coffee and use it instantly, from a packaging perspective, was the ideal solution to ensuring freshness. Catching on to the trend early, Binacchi says Opem was very much a pioneer in the realm of single-serve.

“I really believed in it, it was just such a fantastic solution to ensuring optimum freshness,” he says. “Someone can use three different kinds of coffee at home, whether it be traditional espresso, or something lighter.

They can choose every day a different coffee A, B, or C and not have to open a whole new package.”

This ability to have a variety of coffee, without any waste, is one big drawcard Binacchi points to in the production of coffee capsules. This is in addition to the obvious benefits from convenience. However, the customer’s appreciation of quality coffee in the cup, he says, is the paramount motivator that will keep customers on single-serve.

“The popularity of the technology will always come down to what is sitting in the cup,” he says. “It’s certainly not the price point. Coffee capsules are far more expensive than grabbing a spoonful of coffee out of a package to make coffee in a moka pot.”

Fabio Binacchi is President of leading capsulefilling machine manufacturers Opem.

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“WE’RE SEEING EVERYONE LOOK AT WHAT THE LARGER ROASTERS ARE DOING, BECAUSE IT’S NATURALLY EASIEST TO FOLLOW THE GIANTS.” Fabio Binacchi

President of Opem

Binacchi says that the ability of the coffee capsule to conserve the freshness of coffee until right before it’s made is a great win for roasters. With all of their work in sourcing quality beans and perfecting their roast, capsule, and pod packaging ensures that the coffee will almost always be consumed exactly as it should. Too easily, he says, those roasting efforts can be lost when a consumer opens a package and leaves it for a few weeks before making their next batch of coffee.

It’s in preserving this ideal level of freshness that Opem has focused many of its innovation efforts.

As the popularity of coffee capsule manufacturing continues, Opem has released a range of equipment for everyone – from large-scale manufacturers, to those who want to enter the market with minimal investment. Their top machines can fill capsules at an astounding rate of 1400 capsules per minute. For smaller-scale operators who are interested in entering the market with less investment, more affordable machines can fill capsules at 70 per minute.

In addition to different scales of operations, roasters have different options in terms of how they choose to enter the single-serve market. They can choose pods or capsules, and in the capsule realm can choose to offer their own proprietal system, link up with an existing system on the market, or create a Nespresso compatible.

“We’re seeing everyone look at what the larger roasters are doing, because it’s naturally easiest to follow the giants,” says Binacchi.

In terms of innovations, he says this follow-the-leader mentality is largely directing the efforts

Opem will be opening a new 13,000-square metre centre in the first half of 2014.

of these “giants” in keeping out compatible capsules. With many of Nespresso’s patents expiring, and the company choosing to end its legal battles, Nespresso has been fighting compatibles on the technological front, introducing innovations that will try and outwit its competitors.

Going back to the taste factor that Binacchi says is the key to single-serve success, he notes it won’t be on the legal or technological front that Nespresso will win the battle – but rather the quality of its coffee.

“Nespresso’s biggest difference has always been its quality. What they’re putting in the capsule is fantastic coffee,” says Binacchi.

While the compatible battle may continue, Binacchi does see some potential to resolve a more complex, and unilateral, challenge virtually every single-serve manufacturer is facing. Environmental concerns on the huge waste that coffee capsules create continue,

SCALE AND SPEED Opem’s machines can fill capsules at rates as fast as 1400 capsules per minute, or 70 capsules per minute for smaller scale operations.

with efforts to make a fully biodegradable capsule still in progress.

“Moving to a biodegradable capsule is absolutely necessary.

If there is one innovation we should all work towards it’s to protect the environment for future generations,” says Binacchi.

He says progress on this front, however, will be limited to making capsules biodegradable without sacrificing the quality taste that has made them so popular. Current plastics have the benefit of a neutral taste, and innovations have to ensure the packaging’s effect on the taste of coffee is kept neutral.

Opem is doing its part in terms of research and innovation.

The company will be opening a new 13,000-square-metre centre in the first half of 2014. The new facility will bring together its production line, currently set out over four 1300-squaremetre facilities, into a single building. The result will be a more productive assembly line, and will also incorporate a research and innovation facility. Binacchi says this research that will help define the future of coffee capsule manufacturing.

“We’re seeing a huge demand, and more particular demands like for milk, tea, and generally 360 degree systems that can offer different services,” says Binacchi. “Coffee capsules are the future of our industry.” GCR

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CASE STUDY Cascade Coffee

Cascade Coffee’s Jerry Klobertanz (left) and Pat Lyon recently assisted in installing an extra 12 bins to the company’s roasting operations.

A

FLEXIBLE SOLUTION 32

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IMAGES Jed Share

CASCADE COFFEE DISCUSSES HOW A NEW CONVEYOR SYSTEM IS HELPING IMPROVE OPERATIONS SO IT CAN MAINTAIN ITS FOCUS ON CLIENT SERVICE.

M

anaging a roasting operation with multiple coffees on order can be difficult at the best of times.

For Cascade Coffee, a leading contract roaster in the United States with around 25 clients across the country and abroad, juggling the needs of multiple coffee brands – each with its own array of coffee – poses an even greater challenge.

“Whether a customer wants to supply their own beans, wants help developing their roast profile, or wants us to source the green coffee, whatever the customer needs, we deliver,” says Pat Lyon, Cascade Coffee Vice President of Coffee Operations The result of juggling all these different needs is upwards of 12 third-party audits a year, on everything from food safety, to Organic, Kosher and Fair Trade Certification requirements.

“We have more than 25 customers that all require different specifications. For us to deliver on all those specifications is a challenging job,” says Lyon.

Fortunately, with almost two decades of experience in contract roasting, Cascade is up to the job. The history of Cascade Coffee dates back to 1995, when Company Founder Phil Johnson sold retail brand Millstone Coffee to Proctor & Gamble. Because the

“WE HAVE 25 CUSTOMERS THAT ALL REQUIRE DIFFERENT SPECIFICATIONS.… IT’S A CHALLENGING JOB.” Pat Lyon

Cascade Coffee Vice President of Coffee Operations

The conveyor system had to be built into the rafters with a separate support structure.

new proprietors weren’t interested in the Everett-based roasting plant in the state of Washington, Johnson established Cascade as a contract roasting operation. Today, the company has an impressive capacity of more than 25 million kilograms of coffee, with clients all over the US, and the world, as far as Japan and Canada. Cascade offers 16 different packaging lines and six coffee roasters.

Jerry Klobertanz, Maintenance Manager for Cascade Coffee, notes that the company has an expertise in specialty coffee, with an impressive quality assurance department: “We go over and above to deliver a quality product at a fair price.”

Working with this quality of production, and at these high levels, any loss of production or degradation of taste is naturally a major consideration in choosing equipment, according to Klobertanz.

For its conveyance, Cascade Coffee has traditionally used a pneumatic system, one that uses air flow to move its goods.

One major problem Klobertanz says the company came across with this system was a high percentage of bean breakage among its whole bean production, upwards of 10 per cent.

In 2013 the company was looking to add 12 new bins to its current 24-bin batching system. In adding a new silo system adjacent to the current silo system, Lyon says that they needed a conveyance system that could handle green coffee.

A downfall of the pneumatic system that Klobertanz points to is the need for a receiver hopper with cyclonic affect to slow down the beans as they arrive at their destination.

“That’s a huge hardship on coffee,” he says. “It makes such a big difference in bean breakage.”

In looking for an alternative to the pneumatic system, the team turned to Cablevey Conveyors. Some of the Cascade Coffee staff had worked with Cablevey on another project, and turned to the company for the new set-up.

FRAGILE BEANS Cascade Coffee was previously experiencing 10 per cent bean breakage using a pneumatic conveyor system.

M A R C H/A P R I L 2014 | GCR

33

CASE STUDY Cascade Coffee

“WE’VE SEEN AN INCREASE IN OUR THROUGHPUT AND OUR LOADING CAPABILITIES. WE CAN CONTINUOUSLY FILL OUR SILOS.”

Judy had to hold a 3am training session for the night shift.

Despite all these challenges, Judy says the flexibility of the Cablevey system, and the support of Cascade Coffee, made the fit out run quite smoothly.

“It was a very enjoyable project,” says Judy. “It was a huge challenge, and you don’t always see these hurdles up front. But we just made it happen. We were willing to work hard, and willing to be flexible.”

Cascade’s Klobertanz says the results they’ve seen were well worth the time and investment.

The Cablevey conveyors have greatly improved Cascade Coffee’s operations efficiency.

“We’ve seen an increase in our throughput and our loading capabilities,” say Klobertanz.

“We can continuously fill our silos with no downtime to roasting.”

Most impressive is the drop in bean breakage rates to an astounding less than 2 per cent. “It’s a huge improvement,” says Lyon. “It’s a much more gentle system.” GCR

Jerry Klobertanz,

Maintenance Manager Cascade Coffee

As a tubular conveyor system, Cablevey equipment can safely transport beans at tight angles, and with a highly flexible layout arrangement. The nature of the tubular conveyance system doesn’t require any cyclone to slow down the beans, as the product can simply be dropped into the hopper.

These were all characteristics that came in handy when Michael Judy, an Installation Engineer, was fitting out Cascade Coffee.

“It was pretty straightforward at the beginning. The fit out didn’t seem to have many hurdles,” says Judy, who looked after the entire fit-out for the system. “Then, when it came down to where we had to place the Cablevey, it got a bit trickier.”

Because of space limitations, the system had to be laced through the rafters at the top of the manufacturing floor. Even more challenging was that they couldn’t place any weight on the rafters, and so Judy and his team had to build a separate steel structure to support the system.

Fortunately, Cablevey offered the flexibility to deal with the space constraints of the building. Because other systems can’t bend tight enough, and need minimum clearance rates, they simply would not have fit into Cascade Coffee’s current operations.

Another major challenge, Judy explains, was that they couldn’t shut down any of the equipment in the factory, and so had to work around a fully functioning production line throughout the installation. In one instance,

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Pat Lyon is Vice President of Coffee Operations (left). Jerry Klobertanz is Cascade Coffee’s Maintenance Manager.

Cascade Coffee undergoes upwards of 12 audits a year to ensure it meets the standards of its clients.

PROFILE World of Coffee

SPECIALTY IN

ITALY

DAVID VEAL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE SPECIALTY COFFEE ASSOCIATION OF EUROPE, TELLS GCR WHY THE ASSOCIATION HAS SET ITS SIGHTS ON THE HOME OF ESPRESSO.

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“THE ITALIAN MARKET IS COMING TO AN INTERESTING POINT. WHILE IT’S STILL DOMINATED BY TRADITIONAL VALUES… PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO REALISE THAT THERE ARE OTHER WAYS OF MAKING COFFEE OTHER THAN THE TRADITIONAL ITALIAN [WAY].”

In 2013 SCA E hosted th e World La Champion tte Art ship. Esther Maasdam won fifth pl from The N ace. ethe

rlands

David Veal

Executive Director of the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE)

T

he irony of a Brit telling an Italian he can teach him or her something about espresso hasn’t escaped David Veal.

As Executive Director of the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE), however, Veal is perhaps better placed than most to do just that.

When the World of Coffee heads to Rimini this June, and will host the World Barista Championships (WBC) in Italy for the first time in nine years, Veal is hoping that the event will make its mark on Italian coffee culture.

“The Italian market is coming to an interesting point,” says Veal. “While it’s still dominated by traditional values, thanks to the fantastic work of our members in Italy, people are starting to realise that there are other ways of making coffee than the traditional Italian [way].”

Whether it’s moving away from a high use of Robusta, introducing lighter roasts, or elaborating on ways to brew coffee other than espresso, Veal sees ample potential in

of SCAE, David Veal, Executive Director second says the organisation is in the . plan egic strat -year three a of year

the Italian market to incorporate specialty trends. He’s now hoping that hosting the WBC in Italy will help spread the values of specialty coffee.

“The inception of the WBC was about educating people, spreading knowledge and enthusiasm about coffee,” says Veal. “It’s done that and also taken on a life of its own. For people who are passionate about coffee, this is their platform to share that passion.”

Veal has witnessed the ability of the WBC to achieve this aim first-hand during his time running a wholesale specialty coffee business in the United Kingdom. “My customers would use the WBC as a way for their staff to improve their skills,” says Veal. “These baristas would go, and whether or not they did well, they would always come back really enthusiastic about coffee. They would go as competitors, and come back as champions of coffee.”

Focusing efforts on Italy is part of a three-year strategic plan for SCAE. As a pan-European organisation, the board has chosen a few select countries to focus their current efforts in terms of membership drive and education. Now in the second year of its strategic plan, the group’s efforts in Italy are going well. Come this June, when it hosts World of Coffee in Rimini, Veal says Italy will have the highest membership numbers of any of its member countries.

Choosing to focus its efforts on key regions was a necessary move for SCAE in dealing with so many countries. While many people may speak of a “European” coffee market, such a diverse population naturally makes it anything but homogeneous.

“It does really add to the richness of it,” says Veal.

At the home ground of espresso in Italy, Veal sees ample potential to improve a coffee culture that – although well entrenched – is far from its potential in offering quality specialty.

“We’re seeing a lot of resistance; however, there is a number of predominantly young coffee professionals who are looking to improve the quality of espresso coffee,” says Veal.

One challenge that will be difficult to overcome will be the cap on the price of an espresso. With the general market understanding in Italy that an espresso should not cost

M A R C H/A P R I L 2014 | GCR

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PROFILE World of Coffee

SCAE is focusing its efforts on education to encourage those looking to make a career out of coffee.

COFFEE SCHOOL The Specialty Coffee Association of Europe introduced a coffee diploma system in 2011, and has already issued 16,500 certificates.

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more than 1 euro, Veal explains that operators simply aren’t motivated to invest more in their coffee if they can’t charge any more for it.

It would seem that the greatest challenges for SCAE might lie in countries with the strongest coffee cultures. In 2012, SCAE held the World of Coffee event in Vienna, Austria, a city known as the birthplace of the modern coffee house. SCAE worked closely with the local coffee house association, and Veal says much of that work was trying to educate those coffee houses on improving the quality of their coffee.

“These coffee houses are beautiful, but the coffee is not very good,” says Veal. “But these places are full of tourists all day, so why would they change?”

It’s these market realities that present unique challenges SCAE, and why the organisation is putting education on the top of its list of priorities. In 2011, it introduced a coffee diploma program, and has since issued an impressive 16,500 certificates. This is good news for Coffee Kids, an origin-country-focused charity, as 1 euro from every one of those certificates issued is being donated to the group.

SCAE will introduce a third level this year, so participants can study Foundation, Intermediate, or Professional level.

“Our aim is to offer an accreditation system that employers will recognise,” says Veal. “We’re seeing lots of people who are starting to look at coffee as offering the potential for a long-term career.”

With the barista already an established profession in Italy, Veal now has his work cut out for him in introducing specialty teachings into the mix.

“We’re hoping to leave at least a small mark,” he says. GCR

“OUR AIM IS TO OFFER AN ACCREDITATION SYSTEM THAT EMPLOYERS WILL RECOGNISE. WE’RE SEEING LOTS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE STARTING TO LOOK AT COFFEE AS OFFERING THE POTENTIAL FOR A LONG-TERM CAREER.” David Veal

Executive Director of the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe

David Veal is the Executive Director of the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe.

As new cafes, casual diners and artisan food and beverage establishments open around the island, the local food & beverage scene is set to witness a new wave of vibrancy! As Singapore gears up to become the regional F & B hub, join us and be part of the ourishing cafe culture!

Targeting cafĂŠ owners and F & B establishments, Cafe Asia 2014 features equipment, machinery, accessories and other relevant supplies and products for the effective and ideal functioning of coffee and tea businesses.

Focusing on the upstream sector of the coffee and tea industries, International Coffee & Tea (ICT) Industry Expo 2014 showcases everything from the provision of raw coffee beans and tea leaves, to processing and packing for wholesale purchases and trading of coffee and tea products.

Together with the inaugural Sweets & Bakes Asia 2014 that will be held concurrently, join us at the most focused one-stop hub for the region's cafe sector!

Organizer

Host

Offcial Publications

Supporting Organizations (2013)

Held In

Concurrent Event

THE #1 HORECA-SHOW IN GERMANY.

Hamburg, Germany.

14 – 19 March 2014

internorga.com

PROFILE Boncafe

RUNNING AND COLD HOT. . .

WHILE THE BOOM IN COFFEE CONSUMPTION IN ASIA IS WELL KNOWN, BONCAFE SHEDS LIGHT ON THE DISTINCTLY REGIONAL TRENDS THAT ARE DRIVING THE GROWTH.

A

s the appetite for coffee continues to grow in Asia, the experience of those who know the region and its tastes is becoming ever more valuable.

Established by the Swiss commodities trader Werner Ernst Huber in Singapore in 1962, Boncafe is one such company.

Now with a presence in markets right across

the region, Boncafe is witnessing and experiencing that growth first hand.

Pavinee Khetphanasant is the General Manager of Boncafe in Thailand. She says that while the popularity of fresh, specialty coffee is growing in Asia, it is doing so with a distinct nod towards the warmer climate in the region.

Khetphanasant says that the number one trend in Asian coffee now is the growth of cold drinks.

“Worldwide, 40 per cent of the revenue of a coffee shop is cold drinks, whereas in South-East Asia we believe that number is over 60 per cent,” Khetphanasant says.

While this trend can be attributed to global giants such as McDonalds and Starbucks, Khetphanasant says that players throughout the industry can now capitalise on the opportunity.

M A R C H/A P R I L 2014 | GCR

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PROFILE Boncafe

Images courtesy World of Coffee

Around 60 per cent of revenue from coffee shops in Thailand is from cold drinks.

Thai baristas compete at the Roasters’ Choice Awards.

Coffee shops owners in the region have started purchasing more expensive machines.

This is the first year that World of Coffee & Tea will have its own branding and be held alongside THAIFEX - World of Food Asia.

“The consumer wants the products and smaller operators are able today to offer high quality beverages that are as good as the multinationals, at lower prices,” she says.

This trend is occurring in tandem with a growing professionalism in the small to medium‑sized coffee businesses in the region, largely driven by the growth of specialty coffee.

“Coffee shop owners are becoming more educated and developing drink choices that their customers are demanding,” Khetphanasant says. “Also with that education, we are seeing them purchase more expensive machines and products that produce a superior coffee. Without a doubt, more professionalism is occurring even in smaller operations.”

For the time being, Khetphanasant says, the coffee shop will remain the domain of quality fresh coffee in Asia, with only a very small

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fraction of the market consuming ground coffee in the home. This segment is showing some growth, she says, although it is coming off such a small base as to be relatively insignificant at this point.

While on the consumption side the story of quality coffee in Asia is an overwhelmingly positive one, Khetphanasant says that the coffee producing nations in the region are not making the most of the opportunity this represents.

“In Asia, with maybe the exception of Southern India, the coffee industry especially on the farming level, suffers from governmental neglect,” she says. “As world markets open up, Asian coffees, which have failed to build a brand and have not worked on efficiency and economies of scale, will face stiff competition from other coffee growing parts of the world. Most notably this competition will come from Africa, South and Central America, where coffee is, and has been, a predominant cash crop and received state and industry attention.”

Boncafe will be sharing its knowledge of coffee and the Asian markets at the trade fair taking place in Bangkok in May. Usually held as a segment of THAIFEX – World of Food Asia, this is the first year that the coffee and tea industries have had a standalone show in Thailand, an acknowledgement of the growing value of the sector in the region.

World of Coffee & Tea will be held at the Impact Convention Centre in Bangkok from 21 – 25 May 2014. Boncafe will be presenting several workshops that are open to all attendees of the expo as part of its extensive program of knowledge building and professional development.

For details visit www.world-of-coffeeandtea.com and www.worldoffoodasia.com GCR

MELBOURNE

14 MAY 2014 – ZINC FEDERATION SQUARE The GCR Leaders Symposium will return to Melbourne, taking place on 14 May 2014, one day ahead of the Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE).

With MICE hosting three international competitions, industry leaders from around the world are set to descend upon this coffee loving city. The GCR Leaders Symposium will take advantage of this gathering by offering an unprecedented professional development and networking opportunity.

With a fresh line-up of speakers and a new format, this edition of the GCR Leaders Symposium is framed around encouraging discourse on the pressing issues facing the industry.

The day will feature four panel discussions, with experts in various fields presenting different perspectives on current and trending industry topics.

TICKET INCLUDES: Four in-depth sessions Breakfast, Lunch and Afternoon Tea Break Networking Drinks 12-month Subscription to GCR

FOR TICKETS CONTACT STEVE ROBERTS STEVE.ROBERTS@PRIMECREATIVE.COM.AU

LINE-UP

GCRLEADERS SYMPOSIUM

BREAKFAST AND REGISTRATION PANEL DISCUSSION 1 Coffee Prices: The Bulls and the Bears discuss the latest factors affecting coffee prices, and where we can expect those prices to go.

PANEL DISCUSSION 2 Direct Trade Debate: Green bean traders represent the various models of Direct Trade, and discuss the benefits of each model.

LUNCH PANEL DISCUSSION 3 The Business of Specialty Coffee: Leaders in the field discuss what defines specialty coffee, and what potential it has as a business model.

PANEL DISCUSSION 4 Capsule talk: Experts in single-serve systems discuss the benefits and drawbacks of different models to enter the business: compatible or proprietal systems.

RESEARCH Roasting Off-gas

Intelligent

EXHAUST

RESEARCHERS ARE DISCOVERING THAT THE OFF-GASES CREATED IN THE ROASTING PROCESS ARE FILLED WITH INFORMATION THAT COULD HELP REFINE THE ROASTING PROCESS TO UNPRECEDENTED LEVELS.

H

istorically, the art of roasting has been just that – an artistic ability dependant upon the expertise and experience of the roaster.

Modern technological advancements have added some science to the art. On-line measuring tools allow roasters to better follow the time/ temperature curve, and replicate those curves to the exact degree.

Despite all these technological advancements, however, the tools used to follow the roasting process haven’t gone much beyond what the senses can measure – colour, temperature, and time remain the main factors used in monitoring and reproducing roast profiles.

Ongoing work at the Zurich University of Applied Science (ZHAW) , in conjunction with Buhler, is looking to revolutionise the process by opening up a whole new set of parameters. A group of researchers has been examining the potential of measuring the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the off-gas of a drum roaster. They have successfully measured these compounds through the use of proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-MS). Mass spectrometry is an analytical technique that ionises chemical compounds to generate charged molecules. By measuring the mass-to-charge ratios, information about those molecules – in this case about the VOCs – can be obtained and filtered to determine any flavour-relevant information. This work is proving that the roasting process can be observed and measured beyond what the senses can measure, using advanced technology to observe the transformation of the bean at the molecular level.

M A R C H/A P R I L 2014 | GCR

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RESEARCH Roasting off-gas

Chahan Yeretzian, Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

Prof. Dr. Chahan Yeretzian is Head of Analytical and Physical Chemistry at ZHAW. He worked with Buhler’s Head of Coffee Dr. Stefan Schenker on a study proving the ability to use PTR-MS to measure off-gases as an on-line monitoring tool in a study published in 2011. With ongoing work in the field of roasting consistency, Yeretzian says the study continues to be highly applicable in its potential to cater for modern demands of roasting operations.

“Consistency is a major factor in the quality of roasting operations. And it’s particularly important in capsule manufacturing,” Yeretzian tells GCR . “Capsule companies that offer a range of products, some more fruity, some with darker roast, need to ensure they have the highest consistency in roasting operations to deliver what is being marketed.”

Yeretzian says that in the roasting process, the majority of knowledge still lies with the roast masters who have experience in “sensing” the roast. From a research perspective, he says there is limited scientific work to support improving this space.

“We’re trying to improve consistency, but we have nothing to compare our work against,” he says. “Three critical attributes of quality coffee are consistency, freshness, and flavour profile. But defining the flavour profile is not that easy to do, especially from a scientific perspective.”

As a closed system, capsules offer the potential for a consumer to experience a coffee exactly as the roaster intends. Today’s quality coffee is free of defects, and the systems ensure the coffee is extracted to exact parameters. A vital part of the production process is the ability of the roaster to deliver a consistent roast profile. And while many off-line tools exist – tools that can test the roast profile once the coffee has been roasted – the use of on-line tools is much more helpful in the ability to better control the roasting process. The measurements of those tools can be fed back into the roaster, to adjust the parameters as a dynamic system.

Enter the potential of using PTR-MS to measure the VOCs in the off-gas. From a technical perspective, PTR-MS can almost instantly deliver an impressive amount of information on the roasting process in real-time. “We believe that the volatile compounds have a big advantage in that they hold a huge amount of information, and not just on visual attributes like colour and so on,” says Yeretzian. “There are hundreds of compounds holding a huge amount of information that can be used to create a flavour profile. By looking at the off-gas, you’re taking a highly sophisticated perspective. It’s a technique that’s very sensitive, and also very fast.”

One obstacle the team had to overcome is that the off-gas actually contains too much information.

Although the volatile compounds make up less than 1 per cent of the gas, the high resolution of the PTR-MS generates an overload of information.

Buhler’s Schenker explains that identifying principle components relative to flavour was an

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“WE’RE TRYING TO IMPROVE CONSISTENCY… CRITICAL ATTRIBUTES OF QUALITY COFFEE ARE CONSISTENCY, FRESHNESS AND FLAVOUR PROFILE. DEFINING THE FLAVOUR PROFILE IS NOT THAT EASYSEPARATE TO DO,VERSIONS ESPECIALLY FROM A SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE.” Chahan Yeretzian

Head of Analytical and Physical Chemistry, Zurich University of Applied Sciences

2014use of PTR-MS important first step in making WORLD LATTE ART information. In the 2011 study, they performed WO C H A M P I O N S H IP IN 42 roasting experiments at either low, medium, CH or high inlet temperatures to three varying roast degrees. A principal component analysis then helped identify 23 VOC, whose mass spectral profiles provided real-time information on the roast degree of the coffee. This allowed the team to establish a predictive model that can be implemented into a process control tool to ensure high consistency in final roast degree.

“Currently with on-line measurements, our tools are essentially temperature and colour,” says Schenker. “These are all just indirect indications of the chemistry that is going on inside the bean. With mass spectrometry we can identify the aroma compounds and get a Predominantly for is use on specific championship c very accurate idea of what going on in the roasting process.” Identifying the key aroma compounds, however, is easier said than done when it comes to coffee. With more than 1000 VOCs, Schenker says they relied on previous SEPARATE VERSIONS work in identifying which compounds most affect the taste of coffee.

Down the road, this process could be

used for more than just observing the aroma development of coffee. Most recently, Buhler’s Schenker has been working with Yeretzian on figuring out exactly how the anti-oxidant characteristics of coffee appear in the roasting process, and how roast profiles could be adjusted to maximise these qualities. This is just one of many studies Buhler has been working on in the space of non-traditional roast profiles.

The commercial application of measuring off-gas in PTR-MS, however, is still a little ways away. While the potential is clearly present, Yeretzian points to the cost of a PTRMS tool – upwards of $400,000 – as the main commercial barrier to the practical application of this research.

One promising factor is that because the current PTR-MS tool produces too much information, a more basic and less sensitive VERSION instrument, with a lower resolution,COMBINATION could also be used. With the direction of technology producing these tools more cheaply, roasters could one day benefit from all the information that’s currently being filtered out as a puff Stefan Schenker of smoke. G C R Buhler Head of Coffee Segment

“THESE ARE ALL JUST INDIRECT INDICATIONS OF THE CHEMISTRY THAT IS GOING ON INSIDE THE BEAN. WITH MASS SPECTROMETRY WE CAN IDENTIFY THE AROMA COMPOUNDS AND GET A VERY ACCURATE IDEA OF WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE ROASTING PROCESS.”

Stefan Schenker, Buhler Head of Coffee Segment

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ORIGIN Coffee Lifeline

B ROADCASTI NG

DE V E LOP M E NT

The radios provided to the farming communities can be powered by solar energy or a crank.

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RADIO IS PROVING AN ESSENTIAL TOOL IN IMPROVING THE LIVES OF COFFEE FARMERS IN EAST AFRICA.

W

hile working as a coffee trader more than a decade ago, Peter Kettler heard a story that disturbed him.

Farmers in Ethiopia were being cheated by buyers on the ground, who were tricking the farmers into selling for much lower than they should have been because they had no access to information about the international prices being paid for their crops.

“In a world where we are so connected and information moves so freely, it was just ridiculous that they could get away with that,” Kettler says now.

It was around that time that Kettler became aware of an organisation in South Africa called Lifeline Energy, which was distributing solar and crank powered radios to communities as a way of improving communications and empowering people on the ground.

These two pieces of information spurred Kettler into action, and in 2004 he set about raising the money to buy some of these radios

for coffee farmers in Rwanda.

His first foray into the field saw him taking 100 of these radios to Rwanda, which he then distributed to farming communities. Once there, Kettler helped to organise listening groups of 20 – 30 farmers in each area. While one farmer was appointed as the guardian of the radio, the whole group would come together regularly to listen to it, ensuring the resource was utilised as effectively as possible.

However, after completing that project, Kettler was not confident that the job was done.

“I felt that we had provided them with the hardware that they needed to get better information, but the information that they needed still was not being delivered, so that was what we needed to work on,” he says.

Kettler connected with a community radio organisation in Rwanda and put together a group of journalists to develop a regular program that would provide farmers with the information they need.

From the very beginning, Kettler says he knew that this would not work if the program was made up of content determined by himself and others outside of the farming communities. So the journalists went out to the communities they were trying to reach and found out directly from the farmers what information they needed. Thus Coffee Lifeline was born.

While the program does devote plenty of time and attention to farming matters, it also extends well beyond that, with features on health, financial literacy and environmental matters, as well as a children’s story at the end of each show.

“Radio is really something that the whole family comes together to listen to in these areas, so we want to include something in there for everybody, which is really a key to its success,” Kettler says.

Another fundamental approach taken by the program is that, rather than featuring outside experts on the issues being covered, they find stories of farmers in the region who have adopted successful practices and can talk about their own experiences and how these have improved

Coffee Lifeline is broadcast weekly to a potential audience of 1.5 million people.

The program consists of information that farmers tell the producers they need.

M A R C H/A P R I L 2014 | GCR

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ORIGIN Coffee Lifeline

Peter Kettler now produces the programming to complement the radios that are being delivered to farming communities in East Africa.

their farms and livelihoods. This gives the audience real-life, relatable examples of the practices being promoted, ensuring they are suitable for the environment they are being promoted in and making them much more likely to be adopted.

One of the important benefits of radio as a medium for information dissemination is that it is more accessible than written communications and more widely accessible than community forums, which are often dominated by landowners and senior members of the community.

“The problem with a lot of these forums is that much of the information is never spread beyond the people who attend them, whereas a lot of this information really needs to reach the people doing most of the work, which is often the women,” Kettler says.

After almost 10 years working in the field, Kettler has developed a deep appreciation of the needs of the farmers in East Africa, and he feels that while there are plenty of organisations on the ground trying to help, there is a lot of duplication of effort that undermines the effectiveness of their work.

Another piece of the puzzle that Kettler feels is still missing is greater cooperation between business and non-government organisations.

“They have the same aims, but it’s just like they speak different languages. The mindset for businesses needs to shift away from this idea that they are donating to these communities – what they are doing is investing in their industry,” he says. “If you want to improve the quality of the coffee being produced, you have to improve the quality of life of those producing it.

The two go hand in hand.”

After all, Kettler says, the future of the industry rests on addressing this challenge.

“The population of coffee farmers is ageing and unless we can show their children that this is an industry that they want to be in, then we are in trouble, because we will just have to rely

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“UNLESS WE CAN SHOW (THE FARMERS’) CHILDREN THAT THIS IS AN INDUSTRY THAT THEY WANT TO BE IN, THEN WE ARE IN TROUBLE.” Peter Kettler

Founder, Coffee Lifeline

on those who have no choice but to continue farming,” he says. For more information visit www.radiolifeline.org G C R

Image taken at Ozone Coffee Roasters

Register at www.londoncoffeefestival.com/reg for your COMPLIMENTARY industry place* Use code: SW6LCF *When booking for Thursday and Friday industry sessions only

////////////INDUSTRY COMMENT

INSTANT COFFEE IN MODERN TIMES BUENCAFÉ’S CARLOS OSORIO DISCUSSES HOW SOLUBLE COFFEE IS SHAPING UP AGAINST THE RISE OF SINGLE SERVE.

S

ome trends in the coffee market have been moving so fast that when thinking of how things were five years ago, and how they will be five years from now, it requires a great deal of extrapolation. The instant coffee market does not change as fast, but a few trends have become obvious in recent times.

There has been some movement lately in the very high quality range of instant coffees, particularly those with microground roasted coffee particles inside. I would suggest this has been a reaction to the fast growth of capsuletype single-serve roasted and ground coffee machines, which have partly redefined the concept of instant coffee.

Some years ago, you could count on a neat differentiation in taste, quality and convenience between a cup of coffee coming from roasted and ground beans and a cup coming from instant coffee. Many people could argue that a single-serve coffee machine delivers an instant cup and allows for the convenience of having different flavours and fresh profiles for each user without requiring a barista. Nowadays, the terms soluble and instant coffee are no longer

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synonymous due to the invasion of single-serve into the instant arena.

Soluble coffee products have reacted fast and strong by recruiting the best attributes of roasted and ground coffee lovers. Today’s instant coffee offers fresh enticing flavour through the incorporation of actual particles of very high quality roasted and ground beans into the soluble coffee crystals. In fact, we say that our Roasted Instant Coffee (freeze dried plus microground particles) has the best of both worlds: the flavour of fresh roasted and ground coffee and the convenience of soluble-instant coffee. Now that roasted and ground coffee has become more convenient, and soluble coffee has improved its quality, that difference is not as clear as it used to be.

There are, however, some related trends where we find a certain degree of contradiction.

For example, in terms of sustainability, consumers often say they prefer products that are more socially and environmentally friendly.

However, this claim is not coherent with the growth in the use of capsules, which have a very high energy and carbon footprint compared to soluble coffee.

Still, when we try to project to five or even

10 years from now, we see no clear winner in this contest, as both markets are healthy and growing (though not at the same rate). We think there will be enough coffee lovers for both instant ways of perking up your morning, with all of them evolving towards higher quality products.

PROCESSES AND PACKAGING LEADING TRADE FAIR The second trend we observe is towards healthier products.

Every day, people are more conscious about the importance of eating healthy foods, and are taking the time to read the small text that informs about ingredients and nutrition facts. Coffee has been known for having thousands of components and being one of the most popular beverages around the world. Therefore studies about the effects of coffee on our health are being conducted almost constantly. Some advances in technology have allowed scientists to identify what components have which functional properties, and clinical trials run by recognised institutions have found evidence of several positive effects of these coffee components in our health.

However, in spite of being a well-defined global trend, there has been a lot of controversy about functional foods in recent years because of the lack of standardisation in the different countries’ regulations and definitions. Functional foods are lost somewhere between standard foods (with nutrition properties) and medicines (with defined properties for health conditions), and in recent years the Food and Agriculture Organization, together with the World Health Organization, have tried to define international standards regarding the substantiation of claims for functional foods.

In Eastern cultures, functional foods have been part of daily life for centuries, while in Western cultures they are more of a modern fashion. There are huge differences between the product labelling regulations of each country, and new coffee product developments is often meant for the world market, and not only for a particular country or region. Although consumers are willing to buy functional coffee products, and manufacturers are ready to undergo the complex process of development and clinical trials to substantiate claims, it is still not clear how this trend will evolve in the coming years. GCR

DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY

08 –14 MAY 2014 BEVERAGES.INTERPACK.COM

REFRESHING

IDEAS FOR THE BEVERAGE BUSINESS

CARLOS OSORIO Carlos Osorio was born in Manizales, the heart of the Colombian coffee region (very near Buencafé).

He studied Electronics Engineering in at the University of Javeriana in Bogotá. After a couple of years of being responsible for the electronic maintenance of medical equipment at a hospital, he joined the Colombian Coffee Federation at Buencafé, where he has worked there for the past 27 years. He worked on the automation of the production line for around 15 years before joining the R&D department as a Process Development Engineer. He has been head of the R&D Centre for the past year, putting into practice some of the expertise he acquired studying Advanced Project Management at Stanford University.

Messe Düsseldorf GmbH Postfach 10 10 06 _ 40001 Düsseldorf _ Germany Tel. + 49(0)2 11/ 45 60-01 _ Fax + 49(0)2 11/ 45 60-6 68

www.messe-duesseldorf.de

10/12 June 2014 Rimini, Italy

www.worldofcoffee-rimini.com ORGANISED BY

SPECIAL EVENT

DIARY Dashboard COFFEE AROUND THE GLOBE

WORLD COFFEE EVENTS LONDON COFFEE FESTIVAL

LONDON UNITED KINGDOM ,

3 – 6 APRIL 2014

COFFEE EXPO SEOUL

SEOUL, KOREA

SPECIALITY COFFEE & TEA

SINGAPORE

10 – 13 APRIL 2014 8 – 11 APRIL 2014 Coffee Expo Seoul brings together the entire coffee and beverage industry together under one roof – in the hub of South Korea’s booming coffee business, Seoul. Organised

by Korea’s leading events venue and planner, Coex, Coffee Expo Seoul has something to offer everyone interested or working in the coffee and beverage industry. Estimated to attract 50,000 buyers and visitors, and 500 booths in 2014, Coffee Expo Seoul is the place for coffee lovers to gather and taste, experience, explore, and talk about coffee. www.coffeexpo.info

The inaugural Speciality Coffee & Tea (SCT) will be launched at Food & Hotel Asia 2014 from 8 – 11 April 2014 at the Singapore Expo. SCT2014 is a dedicated platform that features international exhibits ranging from coffee beans and tea leaves to equipment, barista tools and accessories to meet Asia’s growing appreciation and demand for speciality coffee and tea. World-class competitions, workshops and activities will be staged. www.foodnhotelasia.com

WORLD OF COFFEE & TEA 2014

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES

GCR LEADERS SYMPOSIUM MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

The SCAA Symposium is committed to addressing the most current realities of the specialty coffee world. Longtime Symposium delegates make the most out of their experience by completely committing to the process, allowing them to be surprised by the unexpected, and having their thinking challenged. Expect to meet new people and hear new things. www.scaasymposium.org

The GCR Leaders Symposium will return to Melbourne on 14 May 2014, one day ahead of the Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE). This edition will be framed around encouraging discourse on the pressing issues facing the industry. The day will feature four panel discussions, with experts in various fields presenting different perspectives. www.gcrmag.com

The London Coffee Festival is the United Kingdom’s largest coffee and artisan food event. It provides the ideal platform to engage directly with more than 20,000 professional baristas, coffee shop owners, top industry decision-makers, discerning coffee lovers and avid foodies. www.londoncoffeefestival.com

SCAA EVENT SYMPOSIUM

KEEP A LOOK OUT

23 – 24 APRIL 2014

14 MAY 2014

BANGKOK, THAILAND

21 – 25 MAY 2014 World of Coffee & Tea, a professional coffee and tea trade fair, is poised to be Asia’s leading sourcing, trading and knowledge platform for the coffee and tea industry.

The event will make its official launch from 21 – 25 May 2014. at the IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand, held in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of THAIFEX – World of Food Asia 2014. www.world-of-coffeeandtea.com

Coffee Fest 7 – 9 March New York, United States www.coffeefest.com

The Amsterdam Coffee Festival 2 – 3 May Amsterdam, The Netherlands www.amsterdamcoffeefestival.com

The Coffee Experience 4 – 6 September Sydney, Australia www.thecoffeeexperience.com.au

Expo Coffee & tea 31 – 3 April Shanghai, China www.hotelex.cn

Melbourne International Coffee Expo 15 – 18 May Melbourne, Australia www.internationalcoffeeexpo.com

COTECA 24 – 26 September Hamburg, Germany www.coteca-hamburg.com

M A R C H/A P R I L 2014 | GCR

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PRODUCTS Marketplace

LA SPAZIALE S8 – S9 La Spaziale has released the S8 – S9 series of coffee machines. The new releases pick up from the popular S5 model, which has been on the market for seven years. The models offer a redesigned body along with similar functions and technical features. A valuable characteristic of this machine is the electronic boiler temperature regulation. Set directly on the control panel, the machine displays the delivery temperature at any time. The machines features a precise and sensitive adjustment of the operating temperature, allowing an optimal and constant result in the cup with any coffee blend used. The S8 – S9 series can be equipped with some optional functions that increase their efficiency, catering to different requirement for professional operators. For instance, in environments where operators use different coffee blends, the S8 – S9 allows the independent control of each group head.

For more information visit www.laspaziale.com

COFFEE – A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO THE BEAN, THE BEVERAGE, AND THE INDUSTRY This definitive guide to coffee explores the many rich dimensions of the bean and the beverage around the world.

Leading experts from business and academia consider coffee’s history, global spread, cultivation, preparation, marketing, and the environmental and social issues surrounding it today. They describe the art and science of roasting, cupping and making good coffee. Tracing coffee’s journey from field to cup, this handbook will be an essential resource for professionals, coffee lovers and students alike to one of the world’s favourite beverages. Publishers are offering GCR readers a 30 per cent discount valid throughout purchases made in 2014. To access it quote GCR2014 at www.rowman.com.

BUON MA THUOT COFFEE Buon Ma Thuot is Vietnam’s premier coffee producing region. It is situated in Dak Lak, a central province where more than 64 per cent of the population grows coffee as a primary activity. The region produces more than 400,000 tonnes of coffee a year, contributing to 40 per cent of the country’s production. Benefitting from ideal growing conditions, Buon Ma Thuot produces the country’s most distinct coffee, and benefits from formal geographical identification. Buon Ma Thuot gained a reputation for its superior taste characteristics between the 1920s and 1930s. The region features Basalt soil, and is 500 metres above sea level.

Ask your importer today about the quality coffee available from Buon Ma Thuot.

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LORING S15 FALCON 15 KG ROASTER Loring Smart Roast has announced the addition of the new S15 Falcon 15-kilogram coffee roaster that will extend the range of its convection air roasters.

Incorporating Loring’s proprietary and trademarked Flavor-Lock Roast Process Technology, the Falcon roaster was designed to bring Loring’s control and energy efficiency technology to artisan roasters who are most efficient with a lower capacity roaster.

The Falcon features the same patented single smokeless roaster design, touchscreen computer controls, programmable roast profiles, and highspeed cooling system as Loring’s award winning 35-kilogram and 70-kilogram roasters. The new Falcon continues Loring’s commitment to the environment with an estimated 80 per cent reduction in energy usage compared to traditional roasters using conventional afterburners of the same capacity.

For more information see www.loring.com

WEGA MININOVA The new Mininova is the “lightweight” of the Wega range, and now has a place of honour among the most successful Wega machine ranges.

Completely revised and re-designed, the Mininova is an object of design, with its beauty, functionality and an improved performance. After many years, it was time to change and modernise the Mininova, and upgrade its design to a modern and fashionable look. Adaptable to the domestic, office, and low consumption markets, the Mininova has all the essential qualities, in addition to elegance and versatility, notwithstanding its small dimensions. For more information visit www.wega.it

VIDEOJET DATAFLEX PLUS THERMAL TRANSFER OVERPRINTER With the DataFlex Plus, label information is entered using an intuitive, high‑resolution graphical interface and colour touchscreen with easy-to-learn, icon-based controls and a WYSIWYG image display to reduce downloading and entry errors. Because the label information is pre-programed, the operator can easily change the printer data by downloading it from the computer onto a memory stick and plugging it into the DataFlex Plus control interface. For more information visit www.videojet.com

M A R C H/A P R I L 2014 | GCR

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LAST WORD Fairtrade India

FAIRTRADE BY

INDIA, FOR INDIA AFTER 19 YEARS OF CERTIFYING Indian farmers’ produce for sale on the international market, Fairtrade is now marketing Indian products directly to Indian consumers.

Launched in Bangalore, the organisation says that it will focus on “promoting Indian-produced Fairtrade products directly to the growing Indian market to further benefit Fairtrade farmers and workers.”

Fairtrade India is part of Fairtrade International’s effort to move beyond the south-north trade model, and Fairtrade marketing organisations have now been established successfully in countries including South Africa and Kenya.

“This is an exciting opportunity for India to demonstrate that it can actually lead on ethical consumption and show its support for our small farmers. Buying Fairtrade is an immediate way for us to directly support the poorest farmers and the environment,” says the CEO of Fairtrade India Abhishek Jani.

Jani was appointed Fairtrade India’s first Chief Executive in March 2013, and its board members now include producers and Fairtrade experts alike.

There are currently around 121,400 workers and farmers working with Fairtrade in India, with 72 Fairtrade certified producer organisations, exporting Fairtrade certified products around the world.

In 2012, Indian farmers and workers received more than US$3 million above what they would otherwise have received in the market due to the Fairtrade Premium.

“Fairtrade has made a tangible difference in the lives of Indian farmers. We’ve been able to invest in our communities, and have There are currently more than 120,000 workers and farmers working with Fairtrade India.

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greater power in our trading relationships thanks to the Fairtrade movement. With the launch of Fairtrade India, we now have a chance to increase the impact much further,” says Tomy Mathew, Chair of the Association of Indian Fairtrade Producers.

Homegrown Indian brands are now available providing Fairtrade rice, tea, coffee, spices and cotton for Indian consumers and businesses.

A range of wholesale Fairtrade products are available, including cotton, coffee, rice, sugar, spices, dried fruit, cocoa, and coconut, among others.

“We are excited about the launch of Fairtrade because it provides an innovative opportunity for ethical businesses like ours to credibly demonstrate our commitment and to create a tangible positive impact on cotton farmers and workers’ lives,” says Sreeranga Rajan, the CEO of Dibella India, which offers products made from Fairtrade certified cotton. “We strongly believe that Indian consumers are ready to exercise their power and act as change agents through their daily purchases.”

Fairtrade International has also recently introduced the Standard for Hired Labour, marking an important step in the organisation’s effort to extend its work beyond Fairtrade Premium projects and basic labour rights protection.

The organisation says the new document is based on the principles of the workers’ rights strategy, but grounded firmly in the daily reality of Fairtrade workers across three continents.

The Standard includes requirements on freedom of association, benchmarks for companies working towards the living wage, provisions for the use of migrant labour, and giving workers the power to decide on how the Fairtrade Premium is invested. G C R Rice, coffee, and cocoa are just some of the locally produced Fairtrade products now available in India.

The new dimension of espresso quality

www.nuovasimonelli.com

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