Hello and welcome to the start of a series of articles that will talk about the Coffee Value Chain. More or so, in common terms this is all about the "Seed to Cup" that most of you heard about. It indicates and explain the stages where the coffee is processed from start to finish and which hands it passes through along.
Do note that what I will explain here and in the future posts are the standards and common stages where most coffee farms around the world are following.
First, we'll start with the beginning of the chain which is the Harvest Stage.
Coffee is a plant. Well, technically a tropical shrub that grows only on the Equitorial regions around the world. This region is known as the Coffee Belt.
The coffee we know is categorized into 2 species. Namely, Coffea arabica (arabica) and Coffea Canephora (robusta). Arabica coffee is the one with the most demand in the market. Having an astounding 80% on the market share. This species of coffee is what most commercial coffee company produces and manufactures.
Here are key differences between the two species:
Arabica Coffee | Robusta Coffee |
vulnerable to pests and plant diseases | high resistance |
high maintenance (needs proper sunlight exposure and cold climate) | low maintenance need |
some are low yielding and some are high | at most it yields higher fruit than Arabica |
elongated physical shape | small and round physical shape |
caffeine is 1% by weight | caffeine is 2% by weight |
better quality when grown at high elevation | can grow anywhere with proper maintenance |
For this article and the upcoming ones for this series, we'll only focus on Arabica coffee.
Whenever a coffee is planted, it usually starts with the seeds. Yes, the coffee bean itself is the seeds. If the embryo is still intact within the seeds you can germinate it to become a coffee plant.
First stage is the nursery.
Around five to six weeks the seed will starts sprouting a stem peeking up to the soil layer. Around three months, the plant will sprout two or three leaves. This is the time where the farmer will sort out the bad ones such as those with diseases and holes in the leaves or even defected leaves that doesn't have a potential to grow properly. Coffee seedlings will stay in nursery for four to five months. The time before the start of the rainy season is the proper time for them to be transferred to the plot of soil where they will fully grow.
There are two types of growing area for the plants. Shade grown and full sun. The shade grown method is usually done in the forests. The high trees act as a canopy to prevent intense heat of the sun from reaching the coffee shrubs below. The full sun is the opposite, where the coffee shrubs are grown under the sun usually in hill sides of a mountain or an open farm.
In comparison, a lot of people in the industry implied that shade grown is much better in terms of quality and flavor of the coffee. Some say it's even more sweet. Though I will not explain here the botanical science behind it.
So, the coffees have been planted and growing. It will now take three years for it to first bear flowers which will then turn into coffee cherries as we call it. Why? Because it looks like cherries when ripe.
Depending on the variety of the Arabica species. Aside from the color red, some ripe fruits will be yellow and pink in color. These are common in the Bourbon and Catuai varieties.
The harvest season depends on where the farm is located. If it is above the equator (Ethiopia, Philippines, Central America, Colombia, India, Thailand), it will be September to March. If the farm is below the equator (Tanzania, Kenya, Congo, Brazil, Peru, Indonesia, Bolivia), it will be April to August. And yes, the coffees don't ripen all at the same time. This is why a method of selective picking is available where pickers will only get those ripe coffee cherries and throw them into a basket that they usually carry along. Usually, they will be needing to return to the same plant the next day or the coming days to harvest the remaining fruits in the same shrub. This can go as long as the entire harvest season which is also labor and cost intensive. A farm will employ people or sometimes the family who owns the farm to be the pickers. But the quality is always better in turn can be sold at a higher price. This type of harvest method is known as a standard in the specialty coffee industry.
Another method of coffee picking is the use of mechanical machines. Which are great if the plot of land is smooth and flat. These big machines strip out the coffee shrubs removing every fruit that is in it whether red or green. It's quick and uses less time and labor but with a downside of quality due to difference in fruit maturation. Without sorting and separation the coffees will be un-uniform which can lead into drying issues along the processing stage. This is what most big coffee companies use like Nestle and Folgers.
Harvesting methods all have their positives and negatives with each having an impact on quality. Nevertheless, the decisions will still depend on the farmer who owns the land on what choices he/she will take upon since a lot of variables will be needing to take account.
Comentários