Poor Farmer

By Allan Odhiambo Business Daily Africa November 20  2011  A farmer picks her coffee crop. Photo: Courtesy of Business Daily.  Some millers and roasters could be investigated for allegedly engaging in illegal dealings that are fuelling theft of beans in coffee growing areas across the country. The industry regulator, the Coffee Board of Kenya, said last Thursday if found guilty the millers and roasters would be stripped of their licences. “We have received claims of some millers and roasters allegedly engaging in dealings that are causing theft of coffee and we have forwarded the information to the relevant arms of government for action,” the board’s managing director, Loise Njeru, told a media briefing in Nairobi. Cases of theft and illegal dealing in the commodity have been on climb since the 2004/05 crop season, coinciding with a steady increase in prices that has persisted into this year. “Theft of coffee has become very serious especially a...

By Scott Shalaway Pittsburg Post Gazette November 20, 2011 Next time you're grocery shopping, try finding a bag of "environmentally friendly" coffee. But don't be fooled by deceptive packaging. Just because a bag has an image of a bird on it doesn't mean it's "green." Coffee drinking birders and conservationists can make a difference by purchasing coffee that is certified organic and "bird-friendly." Unfortunately these certifications can be confusing. The Smithsonian Institution's Migratory Bird Center's certification process is the gold standard. Begun in 1995 and based on years of scientific research, SMBC developed strict criteria for evaluating shade coffee farms. Independent third-party inspectors evaluate coffee farms. Only those that meet SMBC standards and are certified "organic" by the U.S. Department of Agriculture are eligible for bird friendly certification. Roasters that have earned the Bi...

Good Magazine November 16, 2011 Picture: Courtesy of Good Magazine On a rainy Wednesday afternoon in Venice, California, Dan Kougan spreads out three shot glasses in front of a curious audience. The champagne-colored liquid bubbling on the left is a homemade hops soda. The creamy, tan shot in the middle is a barley-chocolate malt topped with a tuft of steamed milk. And the chestnut-hued beverage on the right, the raison d’être of this whole ordeal, gives off the unmistakable scent of fresh espresso, extracted from the highest-quality coffee beans the developing world has to offer. “Thanks, Dan, I’m really excited!” says Elaine Levia. She smiles as she eyes the Flight of Three—the name given to the triptych of shot glasses on the glass-top bar before her. “Do you have drinking instructions?” she asks. Of course he does. For a month, Kougan has been planning the details of each beverage for his hops-themed menu. It’s his week to curate the Slow Bar, the backspace of...

By Leslie Patton Bloomberg November 17, 2011   Sept. 16, 2012, is D Day -- or at least K Day -- for  Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR) That’s when it will lose the main patents on K-Cups, the coffee pods that helped make Green Mountain the largest player in the $1 billion-plus U.S. single-serve coffee market. Once the patents expire, competitors can make their own version of K-cups and threaten the prospects of a company already battling criticism from hedge fund manager  David Einhorn  that its market-share gains have peaked. Einhorn, president of Greenlight Capital Inc., declined to comment for this story and won’t say if his firm is shorting the stock. “New entrants into private label could hurt their volume,” said Bea Chiem, a San Francisco-based analyst at  Standard & Poor’s , who gives the company a B+ credit rating, four levels below investment grade. When the patents run out, it could also “open up the door for other ...

Interior Minister Mayard-Paul Launches First International Summit of Haitian Coffee by The Ministry of the Interior, Local Authorities and National Defense defend.ht November 17 201 Min. Therry Mayard Paul and VIPs at the Coffee Summit FURCY, Haiti (defend.ht) - November 16, 2011. The Minister of the Interior, Mr. Thierry Mayard Paul opened in the mountains of Furcy the first International Summit of Haitian Coffee at "The Lodge" restaurant. The Minister gave his full support to local producers and extensively discussed ways to promote and develop the coffee industry abroad. This event, organized by the Clinton Foundation, included the National Coffee Association of Haiti and other Haitian cooperative associations of producers and coffee companies. International actors, whose roles are essential in the development of this sector were also invited to share their expertise and offer their cooperation to facilitate access to new markets and pro...

By Marvin G. Perez Bloomberg November 17, 2011 Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Coffee exports from El Salvador soared to 23,081 bags in October from 1,101 bags a year earlier, the country’s coffee council said in a report. “Exports rose because the changes in climate ripened beans sooner than normal,” spurring growers to accelerate the harvest, Ana Elena Escalante, the council’s executive director, said today in a telephone interview from San Salvador, the capital. Heavy rain in October will cut El Salvador’s crop by almost 90,000 bags in the year ending in September, Procafe, an industry group, has said. “The crop will still be reduced by the rains, but the quality will not be affected,” Escalante said. Losses may climb as high as 239,000 bags, or 17 percent of the expected output of 1.42 million bags, because of high winds and road damage, Procafe said on Oct. 26. A bag weighs 60 kilograms, or 132 pounds. Arabica coffee for March delivery fell 0.5 percent to $2...

Reuters November 17, 2011 NAIROBI   (Reuters) - Kenya expects its coffee export earnings to rise by 7 percent in the 2011/12 (Oct-Sep) season, buoyed by high international prices and increased volumes, the ministry of agriculture's top official said on Thursday. Statistics from industry regulator Coffee Board of Kenya showed east Africa's biggest economy earned around 26 billion Kenyan shillings from exports of the commodity in 2010/11, up from 16 billion shillings a year earlier. "We expected the current high prices to persist for some time and pull the overall earning this season," Agriculture Ministry Permanent Secretary Romano Kiome told reporters. "We are looking at an earning of 28 billion (shillings) for this year because we have conducted major reforms to boost production and this has been iced by very good prices." Kenya is a relatively small producer but its specialty beans are famous for their high quality and are much ...