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First-Ever Sustainable Coffee Cupping Signals Emerging Culture and Growing Market for Higher-Quality CoffeeMarch 18, 2004
At its first-ever formal cupping event, the emerging field of "certified-sustainable" coffee received gourmet evaluation by a panel of leading coffee experts. The Rainforest Alliance event, sponsored by Citigroup, "Cupping for Quality," on March 14-15, was the inauguration of what will become an annual gourmet tasting of Rainforest Alliance Certified coffees. It marked the first time that a panel of experts specifically evaluated sustainably-grown coffee beans for their gourmet characteristics. It also underscored how, as more of the painstakingly produced, environmentally and socially sustainable beans hit the US and other consumer markets in the form of specialty coffee, their higher quality is gaining recognition from the gourmet food world, while industry analysts predict ever-growing demand as consumers discover their superior flavors. The panel of judges consisted of some of the world's most respected coffee specialists, including experts from Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), Starbucks, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Caribou Coffee and others, who roasted and tasted dozens of entrants in a first-round evaluation at the New York Board of Trade on March 14.
The samples came from growers in Colombia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama and Mexico that participate in the Rainforest Alliance's sustainable coffee certification program. On these farms, the environmental and social dimensions of coffee farming are significantly improved as soils are conserved, tropical forests are preserved and replanted, rivers and other key wildlife habitats are protected and workers are provided fair wages, decent housing, schools and access to health care. "Coffee can protect wildlife, ecosystems and environments," said Tensie Whelan, executive director of the Rainforest Alliance. "And caring about sustainable coffee can also protect coffee workers, of whom there are some 25 million worldwide. Our certification standards promote integrated crop management, integrated waste management, soil management, the right to organize, public health and safety and support for local communities. We currently have certified about 20 million pounds of coffee, this year, and that number will grow exponentially with demand." The promise of growing demand is due in large part to better taste. Sustainable practices differ markedly from the techniques of full-sun, chemical- and machine-intensive, fast-growing coffee farms. They involve intense hand labor, natural pest control through biodiversity and careful matching of plant material and farming techniques to the local ecosystem. Not incidentally, they yield beans whose quality is consistently among the highest in the world. About 70% of the coffees entered in the cupping event were found to be among the top ten percent in quality worldwide. "As in any industry, the better practices that a company has at all levels, the better the product is," said Linda Smithers, chairman, Susan's Coffee and Tea. "A company that has good practices with management, staff training, harvesting and reclamation of water will produce high quality coffee. If all the Rainforest Alliance's best management practices are followed -- barring any uncontrollable variables such as climate -- the outcome should be an outstanding cup of coffee." "Things that taste good are generally difficult to grow. This is very true of coffee," said Ted Lingle, executive director of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and the head judge of the cupping panel. "The notion of specialty coffee is matching a sense of place where the coffee is grown with a sense of taste." As a result, the expert cupping panel grouped the coffees by country and region, judging them not so much against each other as against the norms of regional varieties, just as wine tastings would distinguish a Bordeaux from a Pinot Noir, for example. "The coffees were judged for their performance in ten categories including fragrance, flavor, body, acidity and aftertaste," said Shawn Hamilton, vice president of operations for Java City and one of the judges at the event. "Each category is worth 10 points, for a total possible score of 100." On March 15, eight high-scorers were re-evaluated in a second and final cupping at the French Culinary Institute of New York, in the FCINY's Culinary Theater. Before an audience of culinary students, restaurateurs, environmentalists and trade and general media, the expert cuppers sipped, snuffed, expectorated and explained the intricacies of tasting coffee, which is composed of some 1200 chemicals and has one of the most complex flavor systems in the world. "There was a lot of excitement," said Martin Diedrich, founder and chief coffee officer of Diedrich Coffee. "We had 41 coffees to taste, and through our efforts applying a lifetime of cupping skills, a few exceptional coffees would have to stand out. It's like a treasure hunt. I tasted a lot of great coffees; all the medallists are first rate coffees, and the placing three are really exceptional." Eight producers were awarded medals for the highest quality, including Finca Oriflama, Guatemala; Santo Tomas Pachuj, Guatemala; Ole, Panama; Grupo Kachalu, Colombia; La Bastilla, Nicaragua; and the placing three, Santa Isabel, Guatemala (third place); Rio Negro, Costa Rica (second place) and La Esmeralda, Panama (first place). "[La Esmeralda] was unique; it had a wonderful flavor and aroma. It is an outstanding coffee," said Starbucks senior advisor Mary Williams. "The farm and Rainforest Alliance should both be really proud of it. It proves that when farmers are committed to sustainability, the quality will be improved." La Esmeralda's owner Price Peterson said, "The judges on that panel are a remarkable group of people. I can't think of a group I would rather have our coffee in front of. The event speaks well for the whole Rainforest Alliance sustainable coffee program. It's not just another seal or certification, but also results in high quality coffee. It shows that coffee can be socially and ecologically good, and can taste good too." "We can use the results of this cupping event as detailed, expert feedback for the growers about how to grow and process better-tasting coffee," said Sabrina Vigilante, marketing manager for the Rainforest Alliance's sustainable agriculture program. "That's part of our commitment to helping farmers better manage their lands and, in partnership with the Specialty Coffee Association of America, improve the quality of their coffee. This is going to be an annual event, so the dialogue between producers and expert cuppers will be ongoing and growing." At a staggering 100 million bags of coffee a year, coffee is already the world's second largest commodity after oil, subject to price volatility and economic upheavals just as oil is. Much of it is commercial grade, not a gourmet item. But the SCAA's Ted Lingle believes that after 300 years of coffee cultivation, high-quality sustainable coffee has a vast untapped potential for helping the industry evolve into something greater than a global commodity: a subtle, diverse, widely appreciated culture with a devoted global market, analogous to wine. "Sustainability is a three-legged stool," he said. "It consists of economic viability, environmental stewardship and social responsibility. But of these, economic viability is the most important -- without it you won't realize the other benefits. Wine is the model for what sustainable coffee can be. Over the centuries winemakers have showed us how to develop a product's economic viability by building its quality." "It's nothing new; people like things that taste good," Lingle said. "I have been involved in the coffee industry since 1970. I've seen coffee prices at 50 cents, one dollar, three dollars. And every year, regardless of the price, I've seen the market for good-tasting coffee keep growing steadily. What it underscores for me is the elasticity of demand for high-quality coffee."
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