Poor Farmer

Energy drinks on sale in San Diego, California (Photo: courtesy of TIME) By Janet Morrissey Time November 15, 2010 When 24-year old Alex Stein is looking for a morning pick-me-up, he doesn't reach for a cup of cappuccino as his parents, Len and Berdie, did daily while he was growing up in Westchester County, N.Y. — he grabs an energy drink. Coffee just doesn't cut it with him. "The taste is just so bitter — I couldn't have more than a couple of sips of it without needing to wash it down with water," he says. A recent report released by Mintel, a market research firm, predicts that Stein's generation may become coffee-resistant unless marketers find ways to make coffee drinks relevant for kids under the age of 25. Demand for coffee remains robust among people aged 45 and over, thanks to older customers, who will likely drive coffee's sales growth over the next five years, the report said. However, the younger demographic makes the industry's ...

Reuters November 12, 2010 Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) signed an agreement with Chinese provincial government bodies on Friday to open and operate its first ever coffee bean farm and processing facility in the world in Yunnan, China. "Our investment in this coffee growing region demonstrates our ongoing commitment to build China into our second home market outside of the U.S.," said Howard Schultz, chief executive of Starbucks, in a statement. The farm will be located in Yunnan province, a rice planting province in southwest China. As part of the agreement, Seattle-based Starbucks will help local farmers promote responsible coffee-growing practices and develop localised coffee. Yunnan's government also plans to invest 3 billion yuan ($453 million) in expanding green bean volume from the current 38,000 tons to 200,000 tons by 2020, Starbucks said in its press release. Starbucks did not reveal the size of its investment. The world's top coffee chain, which sl...

By Laurie Burkitt The Wall Street Journal NOVEMBER 12, 2010 KUNMING, China—Starbucks Corp. is developing its own coffee farm in China to secure supply amid a booming population of coffee drinkers and a global battle for quality coffee beans. The Seattle-based coffee chain said Friday it plans to hire coffee growers in China's southwest Yunnan province who will plant Arabica seeds in the first quarter of next year and harvest yields by 2014. A processing facility and a coffee development research center are also in the pipeline, said Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz. "Our investment in this coffee growing region demonstrates our ongoing commitment to build China into our second home market outside of the U.S.," Mr. Schultz said. The push comes as China's demand for coffee is skyrocketing, as is the global price of coffee beans. Coffee sales for the industry climbed 9% last year to 4.6 billion yuan, or roughly $700 million, according to research comp...

World Market Wakes Up and Smells Region's Exciting New Aroma Scola Kamau allAfrica.com November 8, 2010 Nairobi - The aroma of coffee from East Africa is permeating the world market, an indication of increased revenues, as supply from South and Central America take a nose dive. Coffee is among the leading contributors to the region's gross domestic product. According to Eastern African Fine Coffees Association (EAFCA), in 2008/2009, Uganda the leading exporter from the region and the second in Africa, earned $291.7 million from coffee exports while Kenya and Tanzania earned $141.8 million and $132.2 million respectively. Rwanda derived 22 per cent of its export revenues from the product, earning $42m in the same year. According to a report by the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) published last month title Telling Africa's Development Story, East Africa will reap from the increased Arabica prices that have seen a faster rise than Robusta. The trends in the composit...

“… market fundamentals continue to be favourable to firm coffee prices, a situation which would seem to be attributable to the growing concerns with short-term supplies while world consumption remains buoyant. With regard to producer stocks, a rebuilding is not expected to be possible in the near future as adverse weather conditions are affecting many producing areas and limiting production prospects.” - the International Coffee Organization (ICO). Below is the compressed version of the report. Read the complete report is found here . To download the report, click here . --- Monthly Coffee Market Report - October, 2010 ICO October 2010 Coffee prices during the month of October remained firm despite an overall fallback due to a decrease in Arabica prices. The monthly average of the ICO composite indicator price was 161.56 US cents per lb in October, a slight decrease of 1.3% compared to 163.61 US cents per lb in September. However, the ICO daily composite price recorded high ...

The waiver also comes at a time when some societies in Central Kenya have appealed to the government to assist them due to destruction of part of this season’s crop by coffee berry disease. (Photo: Courtesy of Sunday Nation) By Mwaniki Wahome Sunday Nation November 7, 2010 The Kenyan Government will waive a Sh4 billion [apprx. $50 million] debt owed by coffee societies in the country, giving a fresh lease of life to the sector, which has been struggling to regain its footing. Co-operative and Marketing minister, Joseph Nyagah, said the matter had been agreed on and the Finance minister, Uhuru Kenyatta, will soon effect it. “The government will waive over Sh4 billion in debt and Uhuru will be making the announcement soon,” he said on Thursday. The debt waiver will be a relief to coffee societies, which have been struggling to clean their balance sheets after going through lean times in the 1990s, when the sector nearly collapsed. In the 1970s and 80s, coffee was a top fore...

Starbucks is sending staff to Africa to get their hands dirty with coffee farmers. But is it any more than a hollow PR stunt? Starbucks Hampstead Heath manager Jessica Stoller picks coffee beans in Tanzania (Photo courtesy: The Guardian) Patrick Collinson The Guardian November 6, 2010 You'll normally find Laurence Winch at a service station off the A3, behind the counter at Starbucks serving lattes and cappuccinos. But this morning he's picking red coffee berries in a smallholding in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro. Yesterday he was planting coffee saplings in a dusty village co-operative and tomorrow he'll be milling and roasting beans. Starbucks has brought scores of store workers from across Europe to the farms and co-operatives where it sources much of its Fairtrade coffee. It wants to create an "emotional connection" between its staff and their product, one that it hopes they'll share with customers and colleagues. After an hour of scraping and scratc...

By Heather Walsh Bloomberg November 05, 2010 World coffee output may slide next season as stockpiles hover near a record low because of a smaller harvest in Brazil, the world’s biggest producer, the International Coffee Organization said. Global output in the 2011 crop year may fall from between 133 million and 135 million bags in the current season, ICO Executive Director Jose Sette, 55, said yesterday in an interview. He declined to give a specific forecast. “Brazil is such a big chunk that unless there is something unexpected in the other countries, inevitably the next crop year has to be smaller,” Sette, 55, said in Cartagena, Colombia. Coffee has surged 50 percent this year and touched a 13- year high in New York yesterday, as above-average rainfall in Central America and Colombia hurt harvests. Brazil may harvest 36 million bags of coffee next year, down from 47.2 million this year and 39.5 million in 2009, Gilson Ximenes, the head of the National Coffee Council, said ...

Story highlights: Coffee may extend a rally to $2.15 a pound by the end of this month as supply from Colombia may be smaller than forecast. Coffee consumption in Brazil may surpass the U.S. to become the world’s largest as early as 2012. Coffee may not have much room to advance as its rally was driven by not only fundamental factors but credit-easing expectations. A surge in arabica coffee prices also prompted some roasters to shift to robusta beans. Higher prices may lead to a drop in Japan’s coffee imports next year as many of Japanese roasters have difficulty in passing increased raw-material costs onto customers amid deflation. --- Coffee May Rise 10% as Rain, Fungus Cap Supply, Kanematsu's Kobayashi Says By Aya Takada and Ichiro Suzuki Bloomgerg November 3, 2010 Coffee may extend a rally to $2.15 a pound by the end of this month as supply from Colombia, the second-largest producer of arabica beans, may be smaller than forecast, said Japanese trading company Kane...