april 2015

April 2015Vol. XXVIII No. 4www.CoffeeTalk.com

ConneCt. Grow. ProsPer!

See NAMAExhibitor Listings

page 42

See SCAA Exhibitor Listings

page 40page 8

This Month:14 How to Run a Successful Crowd-Funding Campaign

22 David versus Goliath: Using Competitive Advantage

28 Comfort, Community, and Culture: Ebrik Coffee Room

Single Serve Coffee Solutions

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6 The ViewToo Little Time8 Connecting the DotsSingle Serve Coffee Solutions14 The Crowd Funding PhenomenaHow to Run a Successful Crowd-Funding Campaign16 Book ProfileThe Little Coffee Know-It-All / a sneak preview18 Root Capital Investments in CoffeeCoffees Innovators: Pioneers of Impact Investing20 Coffee Service CornerSpecialty Beverage Impact in Coffee Service 22 OCS SeriesDavid versus Goliath: Using Competitive Advantage24 Roaster's Guild new Score SheetThe Roast Evaluation Form26 SCAA Awards ProcessWhat We Award28 What's YOUR StoryEbrik Coffee Room30 Greener Green CoffeeEarth Day and the Coffee Connection34 Roaster's RockWait? WHAT! Theres a SECOND crack?!?!36 Nitro CoffeeNitrogenated Coffee Can Boost Summer Sales38 Producer ProfileHonduras: Miguel Moreno Leiva of El Filo farm40 SCAA Show Listings

42 NAMA Show Listings

42 Newsbites

46 Advertiser Index

Feature

Cont

ents

22 David versus Goliath: Using Competitive Advantage

28 Comfort, Community, and Culture: Ebrik Coffee Room

14 How to Run a Successful Crowd-Funding Campaign

Single Serve Coffee Solutions

4

April 2015

ConneCt. Grow. ProsPer!

WHO WE ARE

Professional Memberships

OwnerPublisherKerri Goodman, ext 1 [email protected]

AdministrationLaurie Veatch, ext [email protected]

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Mailing InfoMail: HNCT, LLC, 25525 77th Ave SWVashon, WA 98070Phone: 206.686.7378Fax: 866.373.0392Web: www.coffeetalk.com

DisclaimerCoffeeTalk does not assume the responsibility for validity of claims made for advertised products and services. We reserve the right to reject any advertising. Although we support copyrights and trademarks, we generally do not include copyright and trademark symbols in our news stories and columns.Postmaster: Send address changes to HNCT, LLC, 25525 77th Ave SW, Vashon, WA 98070Subscription: The cost of a subscription in the U.S. is $47.50 per year; in Canada, the cost is $72.00. Free to qualified industry professionals. Non-qualified requests may be rejected. Publisher reserves the right to limit the number of free subscriptions. For subscription inquiries, please call 206.686.7378 x1 or subscribe online at www.CoffeeTalk.com.Copyright 2015, HNCT, LLC, All Rights Reserved

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6April 2015

Calendar

Kerri Goodman The View

This month Seattle will host potentially the largest gathering of coffee professionals in North America ever. The Specialty Coffee Association of America Event boasts 10,000+ participants from 72 countries, 50+ hours of lectures given by close to 100 presenters, 124 Skill Building Workshop hours including 41 offering Certificate Credits, and a multitude of special events, competitions, and networking opportunities.

To be blunt, you will miss something important during this event. It is 100% guaranteed. Though you may possess great prioritization skills, make a list of all potential activities and meetings, identify which are urgent vs. important, be flexible and adaptable, and even know when to cut, there are simply too many opportunities to take advantage of all of them. I know I find this incredibly frustrating and thus am really particular about making sure every activity has maximum potential for multiple objectives. That is way I love the Charity Scavenger Hunt! It is designed to create lasting relationships and memories great for business, AND give back to our amazing industry at the same time. Please check out our web page on the event and see if you can be a part of this! coffeetalk.com/scaahunt

AND another thing not to be missed!If you are interested in purchasing extraordinary green coffee with a great story, that guarantees to change lives then you need to mark April 23rd on your calendar for the Cup of Excellence online auction. Astrid Medina, 38, is a woman who finds time for everything, including taking care of her family and producing exceptional coffee. In the last 2015 Cup of Excellence competition, her coffee, which the cuppers described as having exotic attributes, came in first place with a score of 90.2 points.

Ms. Medina was enthusiastic, This is an amazing accomplishment. Thank God we won. Coffee is wonderful and we mustnt let it go to waste. This achievement translates into a better future for Gaitana and for Planadas (her hometown).

We women are boundless and beautiful. Although being a coffee grower is challenging, its a wonderful dream. I only grow my coffee based on good practices. Astrid specifically thanked the FNCs Extension Service for the permanent support it provides to coffee growers.

In regard to the auction on April 23, Astrid knows that the quality premium that the highest bidder will pay for her coffee will translate into welfare for her entire family, her employees, and productive improvements on the farm. "I will invest it in improving our house, providing better living conditions for our farm manager, our employees, expanding the beneficiadero (post-harvest processing facilities), because we think about growing more coffee in the future, having better technology, improving everything, she says.

Thanks to the farm, her eldest daughter has already started studying environmental engineering in Bogota and she will be able to continue to pursue her career. Coffee has allowed Astrid to keep her family together and help each other. There is strength in numbers. There have been ups and downs. We have already been working nine years on this farm. There have been times of low prices in which one wants to give many things to the employees and one cannot, but we keep going on hope, she ends.

This competition is part of the FNCs differentiation, value added and positioning strategy and organized in conjunction with the Alliance for Coffee Excellence, which designs and implements its rules and standards. The 31 lots that received more than 85 points on the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) scale will participate in a real-time online auction and buyers from all around the globe will have the chance to bid for the best Colombian coffees. The auction can be followed at www.cupofexcellence.org.

For complete and updated show information visit our online calendar: http://magazine.coffeetalk.com/industry-calendar/

Too Little Time

April 9-12 SCAA, Seattle, WA USA

April 9-12 Coffee Expo Seoul, Seou, Korea

April 10 JavaJog for a Cause, Seattle, WA USA

April 13-15 The National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association, Tempe, Arizona, USA

April 13-16 Intersicop, Madrid

April 14-17 II International Congress of Coffee and Cacao, Havana, Cuba

April 22-24 NAMA One, Las Vegas, NV USA

April 26-27 Northwest Foodservice Show

May 24-27 Partnership for Gender Equity Workshop, Tagengon, Indonesia

June 5-7 Coffee Fest Chicago, Chicago, IL USA

Astrid Medina: a mother, a wife, and a producer of an exceptional coffee in Planadas, Tolima

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8April 2015

What comes to your mind when you hear single serve coffee? Do you think of K-cups and coffee pods or bean to cup machines? Perhaps you prefer a lovely four-minute pour over or a thirty-second AeroPress? Whatever your preference there is no denying that single serve is rapidly escalating in its share of the specialty coffee industry. And even though consumers are paying 50 plus dollars a pound for arguably unexceptional coffee, single-serve coffee systems only continue to gain in popularity. Improvements in design and technology are overcoming many of the previous drawbacks and criticisms of weak coffee, the ability to brew only one cup at a time, and most notably, flawed capsule designs and water heating systems. Capsule systems now offer bigger and bolder portions, some with their own travel mugs serving up portions from a 4 oz. cup to a four-cup carafe and some machines allow you the options of using capsules, pods or ground coffee.

As far as the environmental havoc that disposable K-cups create, the race is on to see who can realistically create a recyclable or compostable K-cup that will still maintain the freshness of the coffee. Much backlash stems from the vast amount of waste involved in single serve and 2020 is the target date for which Keurig intends all K-Cups to be 100% recyclable. Illy has already introduced its IperEspresso capsule recycle program where you can mail in your used capsules and they will take it from there, and Ethical Coffee of Switzerland advertises their capsules as the only biodegradable ones available. Nespresso, meanwhile has introduced recycling bins in Switzerland to collect its used capsules. In British Colombia the Lafarge cement plant turned 1.4 million K-Cups into cement last year by teaming up with Van Houtte Coffee Services, who collected the used pods for recycling.

Between the Halifax-based Egg Studios (in partnership with Social Bean Gourmet Coffee Co.) video of pods attacking the earth and K-Cup inventor John Sylvans interview in which he regretted creating them, it is indeed encouraging to see companies compete to make capsules more environmentally friendly.

Thankfully consumers are no longer relegated to only a few choices in the single serve realm. K-Cup varieties now include tea, hot chocolate, iced teas, fruit drinks and flavored waters. You can even carbonate them if you so wish. Many companies offer custom coffee blends, flavored coffees, certified and organic coffees, and a variety of roasts. The number of refillable reusable filters is growing and even small batch roasters are getting on board with making their own compatible capsules.

So, CoffeeTalk invites you to peruse the following pages to delve further into the single serve phenomena and explore the innovative single serve products and machines available.

cont. on page 10

Pods & Cupsby Pod Pack International, LTD.podpack.com | 225.752.1160Choose the Single Cup Experts. Choose the quality and service oriented copacker specializing in private labeling and national branding using your coffee and tea blends. Now, you can also choose between the convenience of the Cups or the quality, greener, and value story of the Pods.

EcoCup with RealCup Technologyby Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee Inc.realcup.com | 800.387.9398With smart product design, committed industry partners and productive discussions, Mother Parkers developed EcoCupTM to give consumers the ability to separate (without tools) all the components of the capsule, giving it the ability to compost what can be composted, recycle what can be recycled, and significantly minimize landfill waste.

Cafe Don Pablo Signature Blend Single Serve Cupsby Cafe Don Pablocafedonpablo.com | 305.249.5628If you are not getting a deep, rich, fresh, full-bodied and flavorful coffee from your single serve brewer, dont throw it out. Try Cafe Don Pablo Single Serve; its specialty coffee roasted in small batches thats compatible with your Keurig machine. Its surprisingly good!

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April 2015

Single Serve

cont. on page 12

Omnidegradable Filmsby TekPak SolutionsTekPakSolutions.com | 416.505.3839With 54 Billion single use cups entering our waste stream each year, we offer a solution that allows enhanced Biodegradation in Landfills or Oceans in a fraction of the time it would take traditional plastics. We can replace the Lidding, Cup and Outer bags with high barrier Omnidegradable (R) materials.

AeroPress coffee makerby Aerobie, Inc.aerobie.com | 650.493.3050The AeroPress coffee maker uses a rapid, total immersion process to brew amazingly delicious, rich, smooth coffee in less than a minute without any bitterness and with very low acidity. It brews a clean cup without any grit and cleans up in a few seconds, both unlike a French press.

Club Coffee L.P.by Club Coffee L.P.clubcoffee.ca | 800.387.4367Coming in 2015: First 100% Compostable Pod!This revolutionary pod is designed to work in Keurig brewers including the new K2.0 models. But unlike K-cups, our entire pod is 100% Compostable. No separating, no mess, no hassle. After brewing simply drop the pod into your kitchen compost bin. Convert to dirt!

PodPerfect Espressoby ABCD - Automatic Brewers and Coffee Devices, Inc.abcd-pods.com | 610.828.6000PodPerfect Espresso Pods from ABCD 610.828.6000 |

abcd-pods.com. We precision grind your espresso beans to your exacting specs, pod it precisely in biodegradable filter paper, nitrogen flush and seal for freshness. ABCD is the first co-packer of pods in North America. For more information email ABCD today at [email protected].

KReal In-Room Capsule Brewerby Bloomfield World Widebloomfieldworldwide.com | 314.678.6336Fresh & fast flavor in every cup! The NEW Bloomfield in-room brewer is simple to operate, has better coffee extraction (more complete coffee soak) and has a large 14oz brewing capacity. Can be use with any K-Cup or capsule. The perfect cup of coffee every time!

Curtis Gold Cupby Curtiswilburcurtis.com/ | 800.421.6150Whats new in the single cup brewing world? The Curtis Gold Cup Brewer! Each cup delivers SCAA Golden Cup standard coffee and perfects American-style, drip filtered brewing. Elevate the coffee experience and bring your customers the ultimate coffee experience with this remarkable new open source brewer. Check out wilburcurtis. com/goldcupbrewer

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April 2015

RC400 Single Serve Brewerby Grindmasterrc400brewer.com | 800.695.4500The RC400 Single Serve Brewer has revolutionized single cup brewing. The machines patent-pending brew chamber design combined with the utilization of pulse brewing and pre-infusion results in beverages that boast an outstanding flavor product. Superior beverage quality no longer has to be sacrificed in favor of convenience.

Single Serve

Single Serveby Massimo Zanetti Beverage USAmzb-usa.com | 757.215.7300No matter your need for single serve coffee, Massimo Zanetti Beverage has you covered. MZB offers a propriety closed loop system for Office Coffee Service, or if you have an existing single serve program, try our new Filter Cups, which offer an eco-friendly design, more coffee aroma and richer flavor.

FLAVIA Baristaby Mars Drinksbarista.marsdrinks.com/barista | 484.332.3017The Mars Drinks FLAVIA Barista single-serve brewer was designed with the office of the future in mind; crafting perfect coffees, teas, lattes, cappuccinos, and now espressos, at the press of a button. In fact, the only thing it wont do is misspell your name on a paper cup.

Bistro 10T3 HCby Newco Enterprises Inc.newcocoffee.com/family-bistro10.htm | 800.325.7867The Bistro 10T3-H&C gives customers the option to serve 10 hot or cold drinks in less than 10 seconds. The H/C option allows dispensing of ambient coffee and drinks to be served over ice. The 10T3 allows sales of two liquid coffees, French Vanilla cappuccino, hot chocolate and powdered milk.

Presse by bobbleby bobblepressebybobble.com | 919.809.5219Presse by bobble is a clever one-cup-at-a-time coffee brewer that combines immersion brewing and reverse flow filtration. Brew, press & go for the perfect cup of coffee every time. Micro-filter prevents over-brewed bitterness and grit. 3-wall insulation keeps your coffee hot for hours. No plastic pod or paper filter waste.

Coffee Condiment-Spinnerby Plastic & Products Marketingplasticpm.com | 800.654.5741Keep your coffee customers engaged with just a spin. Look how much this holds in just 12 of counter space. From K-Cups, creamers, sugars & stirrers on 9 commercial grade turntable. Made in the USA (including Plastic!) and from a Female 100% owned business.

Double Wall Glass French Pressby Service Ideas, Inc.serviceideas.com | 800.328.4493French Presses allow your guests to customize their coffee experience. Brewing coffee at the table, and having it readily available is a great way to allow customers to truly appreciate the coffee theyre drinking. Double wall glass offers clear view without heat transfer.

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April 2015

The Crowd Funding Phenomena Part Threeby Brian WiklemPart Three: How to Run a Successful Crowd-Funding Campaign

Crowd funding certainly has a purpose, and its intentions are generally good ones. The majority of campaigns launched on Kickstarter also have good intentions, but over the past couple of years, there are certainly lessons that can be learned from successful and failed campaigns, some of which I will share for those who want to launch crowd-funded campaigns. After Bonaverde and ZPM Espresso, crowd funding for coffee makers just got harder.

1. Be realistic. Campaigns are often run by overly optimistic individuals with little manufacturing experience. Manufacturing a compact disc (CD) of music is not the same as manufacturing a complex machine for which tooling doesnt exist. If you have little manufacturing experience, you shouldnt make promises until you have the facts at hand or previous experience to support your claims. Every crowd-funded idea is not the same, but there are basic principles that apply universally, and being realistic is one of them. Understand the the market and your consumers.

2. Be honest. Dont present your campaign as all figured out give us money to make it happen when the reality is the opposite. In the case of the Bonaverde machine, they presented their history of prototypes (18 months, 130+ units) and claimed that they were ready for manufacturing. The reality could not be further from the truth. To get funding and then completely walk away from what was promised, only to reinvent the wheel again is grossly dishonest, unethical, and a negligent use of supporters money.

3. Reward carefully. Heres where I say crowd-funding campaigns have gotten carried away, angering backers while putting project owners and crowd-funding sites at risk. Many have reward levels that are aimed squarely at offering the project item for which funding is being solicited. As a result, you have a dichotomy: supporters who treat crowd-funding campaigns as a store to buy the things of interest; crowd-funding sites struggling to remind people they arent buying a product; and project leaders treating crowd-funding sites as an interest free loan. Crowd-funding sites should vet their project more carefully, or at the very least prohibit expensive one-off projects from offering the actual product as a reward. Rewards could be treated more like buying your place in line (with a credit towards the item once its available), which limits the exposure from supporters, and limits the exposure of the project at hand. I think many Bonaverde supporters would be less irate at having contributed say, $50 to being first in line to be a Beta tester vs. the $250-$500 spread for a machine.

4. Update Frequently. Heres where Bonaverde, in one respect, did something properly: they engaged in frequent updates to their supporters. Quite often, especially when a project runs into trouble post-funding, the updates stop. However, the updates Bonaverde gave continued to alienate their supporters. Statements made in the initial

funding story were coming to light in the updates as being patently false. Their updates for the 12 months after funding would not only contradict previous updates (see #2: Be honest), but would continue to include information that wasnt relevant to supporters or even changed the terms of what supporters had backed (read: RFID tags would be required to brew coffee, meaning you had to buy your coffee from Bonaverde exclusively this has been rescinded after backlash from supporters).

5. Stay True to your campaign. If one thing is obvious from the list of the first

4 items, its that Bonaverde changed their terms multiple times, angering supporters who feel theyve been cheated, misled, or taken advantage of. The campaign for Bonaverde started out to raise money for an all-in-one coffee machine that was apparently ready to go. 135 prototypes, and yet Bonaverde suddenly had to build an all-new unit? The second change from the campaign was that this was supposed to be all about a coffee maker; not buying coffee from Bonaverde. They were offering a platform to connect buyers to farmers. This bit receives exactly 1 and sentences in their campaign story. Six months into the project updates, it was announced that only coffee purchased through Bonaverde (with a single use RFID tag) will work in the coffee maker. This was never described in the original project campaign. It wasnt even hinted at. Less than two months later, Bonaverde partially backtracked saying that RFID tags for various roasting states with unlimited use will be supplied to early backers only. A series of stretch goals (hitting financial targets) offered color choices, timers, and other improvements. Those have all since been rescinded. Its understandable that things can change, but when they change considerably, even after financial targets have been exceeded, it brings into question the ethics surrounding the campaign.

Crowd funding has its place and a lot of great things have come out of crowd funding, whether it be products or even simple financial support for those struggling with life changing ailments. At the same time, crowd funding for new and exciting products (from games to gadgets) has gotten reckless, and the crowd funding sites themselves have to shoulder a large part of the responsibility. Its their platform that connects supporters and believers with the dreamers trying to turn their dreams into reality.

In the end, there doesnt seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel for early supporters of the Bonaverde all-in-one coffee brewer. However, there does seem to be a never-ending supply of start-up capital for their quest to change the way we drink coffee. But will any of us ever get a taste of this supposedly wonderful coffee?

By Brian Wiklem

Read the full story here: http://magazine.coffeetalk.com/april15-crowdfunding

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16

April 2015

Book Profileby Shawn SteimanThe Little Coffee Know-It-All / a sneak preview

CoffeeTalk is proud to provide a series of sneak previews of Dr. Shawn Steimans new book, The Little Coffee Know-It-All: A miscellany to growing, roasting and brewing the worlds best coffee, uncompromising and unapologetic.

Dr. Steimans forthcoming book explores the multiple aspects of the coffee plant and of coffee production through the lens of a scientist. And while backed with scientific data and facts, his easygoing and informal writing style makes it accessible knowledge to all.

Shawn is a coffee scientist, Q-grader, author, and consultant. He's a graduate of Oberlin College as well as the University of Hawaii. His coffee research has included coffee production, entomology, ecology, physiology, biochemistry, organoleptic quality, and brewing. Aside from being an owner of Daylight Mind Coffee Company, he also owns Coffea Consulting, a coffee-centric consulting firm. Shawn regularly presents seminars, workshops, and tastings for both public and private events.

Why this book? (An excerpt)People are crazy about coffee. They read coffee blogs, trade magazines, and books and attend conferences, trade shows, and coffee schools. They buy all kinds of coffee brewers, grinders, and related paraphernalia. They discuss the nuances of cherry processing, roasting, storage, and brewing at every opportunity. Theyll even wait in line for twenty minutes for a $10 cup of coffee! And these are just ordinary people, not coffee professionals!

Coffee has become a worthy hobby and intense passion for all sorts of people. People want to learn as much as they can about coffee and they want answers to all sorts of questions brewing in their heads. What, then, is more appropriate than providing answers to some of those questions in a fun way that doesnt feel too much like a high school classroom? While there are many coffee books available, this one is different. It attempts to look at a myriad of coffee ideas and explore them using scientific principles, scientifically acquired data, and peer-reviewed publications. Even though the scientific method isnt fool-proof and there are other ways of acquiring truth and knowledge, science has generally proven to be a good way of exploring the world.

Part 1: The Beans (an excerpt) Why does a coffee plant produce caffeine?So many of us love coffee because of what caffeine does for us. Without the caffeine, humanity may never have continued consuming coffee after the first initial tries (what reason would we have had for stumbling on the importance of processing, drying, roasting, and brewing?). But, what does caffeine do for the coffee plant? After all, it doesnt manufacture the stuff for us and it requires energy to produce it.

Caffeine is found in all parts of coffee, from the roots to the seeds and even in the xylem, the upward-elevator organ in plants. A number of hypotheses have been posited for what caffeine can do for the coffee plant. It could be an allelopathic agent, an anti-herbivory agent, a form of nitrogen storage, and/or a pollinator stimulant.

Allelopathy is plant chemical warfare against other plants. Some plants produce chemicals that can harm or kill seeds or plants, typically of other species. These compounds, spread by the decomposition of leaf litter or exudation by roots and seeds, influence the population dynamics of plants within a community; not all allelochemicals kill all plants. Many researchers have demonstrated that caffeine is toxic to a number of different plants. However, nobody has demonstrated caffeines efficacy in a natural setting. Thus, just because it can kill some other species, there is no guarantee that it would kill competitor plants in the forests of Ethiopia (where it evolved).

Caffeine is incredibly toxic to some insects and fungi (humans, too, in a high enough concentration). So, it is often argued that it is a defense mechanism from critters.

This hypothesis is supported by the fact that caffeine is produced in young, developing

organs that are more susceptible to insect attack. This is a logical hypothesis but it is incredibly difficult to prove.

Since caffeine has been found moving up through a plant and it contains four nitrogen atoms, it is thought that it may simply be a way to store nitrogen until needed for a specific purpose. What little research has been done on this hasnt successfully demonstrated this function.

Lastly, caffeine may be an incentivizing treat for pollinators, particularly honeybees. Research has shown that honeybees long-term memory is improved after having caffeine. Presumably, this would help the bees remember the flower they were enjoying and be more likely to return to it in the future, thus helping the plants to cross-pollinate. While this is promising research, it has yet to be tested outside the laboratory. In addition, it wouldnt explain why caffeine is synthesized in all the organs in the plant.

We will probably never know why coffee first developed caffeine. If were lucky, well find out why it has continued to do so. Of course, from the coffees perspective, caffeine production has been a huge success. After all, because of that molecule, the human species has spread the seeds of the plant to nearly every place on the planet in which they could thrive!

Dr. Steiman has authored numerous articles in scientific journals, trade magazines, newsletters, and newspapers. He is the author of The Hawaii Coffee Book: A Gourmet's Guide from Kona to Kauai and is a co-editor and author of Coffee: A Comprehensive Guide to the Bean, the Beverage, and the Industry. His forthcoming book, published 2015 by Quarry Books, will be available in the spring of 2015. Stay tuned to future issues of CoffeeTalk for more excerpts from The Little Coffee Know-It-All.

18

April 2015

Root Capital Investments in Coffeeby Liam BrodyCoffees Innovators: Pioneers of Impact Investing

The New York Times conservative Op-Ed columnist David Brooks recently penned a piece on impact investing leading some to ask, Has impact investing gone mainstream? You may have just answered that question with a resounding no if you are asking yourself, What is impact investing?

Impact investing seeks to generate a wide range of financial returns alongside measurable social and environmental impacts. J.P. Morgan estimates that last year, there were more than $46 billion in impact investments under management, a nearly 20 percent increase from 2013. Just last month Unilever and The Clinton Foundation announced a $10 million impact investment that will be used to strengthen smallholder value chains.

Brooks column, How to Leave a Mark, examines the role of impact investing in creating social change. Brooks touts the promise of social capitalism the blending of nonprofit and for-profit minds in providing solutions to vexing global issues from poverty to climate change. There are many models to look to, ranging from Benefit Corporations (or B Corps) like Sustainable Harvest, to social investment funds like Root Capitalboth of which were born in and of coffee.

Willy Foote, my partner in crime, founded Root Capital to grow rural prosperity in low- and mid-income countries. We provide toolsloans and financial trainingthat enable small and growing agricultural businesses to access global markets and improve livelihoods for smallholder farmers. As better run, more efficient businesses with access to capital, Root Capital clients become more reliable suppliers. They are able to procure, process, and sell greater volumes of agricultural goods, like coffee, while also investing product quality and consistencyall of which is critical to the long-term resilience and viability of the coffee industry.

In 1999, we made our inaugural loan of $73,000 to a coffee and cardamom cooperative in the highlands of Guatemala. Since then, Root Capital has

disbursed nearly $800 million in credit to 530 agricultural businesses, representing 1.1 million smallholder farmers around the world.

While David Brooks and some of his readers are just waking up to the power and promise of impact investing, it is something that the coffee industry has been brewing up for over a decade.

Atlantic (Ecom), Deans Beans, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (now Keurig Green Mountain), and Starbucks were among Root Capitals first investors. These trailblazers pioneering investments were catalytic for Root Capital. On a larger scale, I believe that they are the unsung heroes of impact investing. Their leadership has helped give rise a new financial services industry, focused on serving the worlds 450 million smallholder farmers.

Thanks to those early innovators and the hundreds of investors who have followed, Root Capital reached an important milestone earlier this year. For the first time in our history, our outstanding portfolio balance the amount of capital we have actively deployed has exceeded the $100 million mark. Whether you look at this milestone from the perspective of scaling our direct impact on farm families or evidence on new models for using capital for good, we hope this accomplishment can serve as a testament to the viability of our clients, our model for impact-driven agricultural finance, and the emerging field of impact investing.

Brooks ended his piece by saying that if we want to leave our mark and create positive change in the world, we should consider getting involved in impact investing. We couldnt agree more. Its proven, and we have a 15-year track record to show for it. Impact investing works because we work together. And together, we are growing prosperity throughout the entire value chainincluding -and especially- for farmers, who are the very lifeblood of this industry.

By Liam Brody, Root Capital

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April 2015

Ken Shea

Coffee Service CornerSPECIALTY BEVERAGE IMPACT IN COFFEE SERVICE

Asanoperator,Iseeachancetoenhancebatchbrewprofitswellbeyondwhere they were pre-single cup. I also see this as a retention tool.

A Tea Movement?My personal journey in exploring the world of tea as a coffee service opportunity began when my wife Charlotte relayed her first-time experience at a Teavana store, which was very positive.

Fast-forward 8 weeks and I have immersed myself into learning more about this category. It culminated with a visit to the Teaja corporate offices at Vancouver, BC. I was provided a wealth of information and was able to sample of number of exquisite loose leaf Teaja offerings.

In my many takeaways, one was insight into the growing demand for tea. I had already recognized the Millennials interest in high-end tea. I personally see my baby-boomer generation taking an interest in herbal remedy teas. When one couples that reality with the influx of workers coming in from overseas from predominantly tea-drinking countries, the potential of this opportunity is foreseeable.

The Coffee Service Industry has historically followed the Specialty Beverage world regarding trends. Could tea become the next coffee? Is demand for high-end, organic tea already in the workplace?

Where can we hear more?At the upcoming NAMA show in Las Vegas, April 21-24, Mike Tompkins will be moderating a session focusing on Specialty Beverages in Coffee Service. Mike is a well-known and respected expert who has been NAMAs Quality Coffee Certification professor for more than a decade. The panel of four well established regional and national coffee service operators will address the marketing and operational challenges to incorporating retail-quality specialty beverages into business-to-business environments, in order to satisfy the growing demands of emerging demographics.

This is also a grand opportunity for the non-NAMA-member roaster community to see new client opportunities at the trade show. I hope to see you there!

Ken Shea, DS Services

The Coffee Service Industry has long recognized the Specialty Beverage world for the role it played in revitalizing our industry. For many years leading up to the coffee shop boom, North American workplaces were mostly being provided mediocre brews in glass pots that did little more than provide a caffeine lift for the work force.

In the 1980s air pots and thermal carafes provided some improvement to the quality of the beverage, but a decanter cannot magically re-craft an average brew. I comfortably continue to tip my hat to the coffee shop community even though they continue to take profits from office accounts that my industry serves.

A Key MetricMost operators have a key performance measurement tool that is designed to grow profit per account, or same-store profit as some call it. I prefer to attach the metric to each brewer rather than an account as this has an equalizing effect as performance is monitored.

When single-cup arrived on the scene in the early nineties, the opportunity to drive profit per machine was upon us. (For this article, I am including single cup as a specialty beverage knowing that some readers will disagree.) Prior to single-cup, a typical brewer supporting 30 workers might average $60 profit per machine. A K-cup or Flavia unit could easily generate double that.

My assumption is that for a single machine, a batch brew account would purchase 3-4 cases of 40-count fractional pack coffee in the $30-$35 range, add some basic related items to the ticket and generate 50-55% profit for the operator. This translates into industry-accepted consumption trends.Changing that brew site to a single-cup machine with the same consumption metrics inflates the cost of goods and selling price but reduces the percentage of profit somewhat. The net result in my experience is that the brewer profits easily double. Fast forward to 2015 and we see competitive pressures diminishing single-cup profits, but coffee service operators consistently report profits exceeding that of batch brew.

Batch brew redux?A number of operators are reporting a growing demand for higher quality, artisan style bulk or fractional pack varieties from their office accounts. If this trend continues, we could see a rebirth of batch brewing to a measurable degree.

From a key performance metric standpoint, that could be a good thing.

Some points to consider: Fromacostofgoodsandsellingpricestandpoint,single-cupismore

costly. Thecoffeeservicecustomerbaseispayingupwardsof75centspercup.

The expectation has been set. Thereiscompetitivedownwardserviceproviderpressureonpricing. CouldIintroducebulkcoffeeor40count,2.5ouncefractionalpacks

to my menu and improve my profits? Assuming that a 40-count kit generates 400 cups (10 cups containing 7 ounces of liquid served in an 8 ounce cup) and I paid $40.00 per case ($6.25 per lb.), I could sell that case for $80.00. That equates to an average selling price of 20 cents per cup. Quite a comparative value to single cup. Some of you will challenge that the cost per lb. on some coffees might be closer to $10.00 per lb. If that is true, the value story still holds. (I include bulk coffee as an option as this would be the package of choice by local, craft roasters that do not have sophisticated packaging lines).

Itshouldbenotedthatshouldanoperatorgotherouteofbulkcoffeedispensed by the cup from a hopper-based system that the brewer cost will be significantly higher but will allow combination beverages, as there are typically one or more water-soluble hoppers within the brewer.

Asanoperator,Iwouldhavethreetosixvarietiespresentedinahandsome display rack of thermal decanters. Would offices want or prefer this option?

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April 2015

OCS Seriesby Dan RaganDavid versus Goliath: Using Competitive Advantage

As Goliath moved in for the kill, David reached into his bag and slung one of his stones at Goliath's head. Finding a hole in the armor, the stone sank into the giant's forehead and he fell facedown on the ground. The story of David and Goliath compares to the current Office Coffee Service (OCS) environment as Big Box stores move in for the kill. Using the competitive advantage requires an understanding of strengths and weaknesses, and having a commitment to success.

OCS is a convenience that began in the late 1960s with a vision of providing coffee and equipment to offices at a low cost per cup. The OCS convenience was worth $0.05 per cup to the office buyer, and OCS operators had a fast return on the investment in $75.00 brewers. Success creates competition, and many OCS companies started. OCS operators created competitive advantages through additional conveniences designed to improve the customer experience, including allied products, water-connected machines, and inventory service. The industry continues to innovate and create new convenience with single-cup products, internet ordering, and state-of-the-art equipment solutions.

The office buyer wants quality products that are easy to acquire at a fair price. Some office buyers may have more lofty, environmentally-minded goals. Operators must take these requests seriously, and provide solutions for todays challenges. Convenience, alternative products, and personal service will separate the OCS operators from other channels. However, the OCS operation must clearly communicate these advantages.

The single-cup trend continues to grow because it is convenient. Proprietary suppliers of equipment and cup solutions are motivated to place equipment at little or no cost to the operator in exchange for a signed agreement to purchase a certain number of machines, and to use only the proprietary product. Alternative sales channels and Big Box stores are taking advantage of the low-cost equipment to gain market share through commercial sales. the opportunity to diversify the platform gives the OCS advantage in single-cup.

OCS operators diversify the single-cup platform using non-proprietary products, including bean-to-cup machines and pods. These open platform options require the operator to understand the functionality of the brewing equipment and product choices to optimize the customer experience. These machines are plug-n-play from the factory, but operators can make adjustments that differentiate the product and create coffee-shop quality drinks at a lower cost than a closed platform system. Additionally, some equipment options offer profit opportunities in soluble product not readily available from the different sales channels.

Alternative sales channels are typically catalog-based with a large number of branded products. However, they may not provide specialized beverage products for the office. Some operators use locally roasted products with a story to differentiate themselves from other sales channels. New product opportunities are available from wholesalers. They are easily added to a product listing, and add value to the customer experience. Also, supporting local events or organizations with loyalty programs (i.e. during May purchases benefit) will encourage organizations to purchase from a hometown operator.

Furthermore, OCS operators have capabilities to provide various water solutions to customers to improve the coffee experience and make drinking water available. In certain locations ice makers are an appropriate add-on item. Water solutions offer options for other beverage and food items including tea, cocoa, soup, and oatmeal. Although these categories are not new, products are available to differentiate operators from main-stream catalog items. Operators should look for products that keep competitors out of the customer location.

Personal service provides a clear advantage versus Big Box stores. Operators should emphasize the interaction between employees and the buyer as a benefit, and accommodate the convenience of the buyer. Some buyers are easily frustrated when the ease-of-use regarding the Big Box Internet ordering process is overwhelmed by an inefficient return process. OCS companies are customer-centric, and provide a valuable resource concerning the buyer experience.

Communication ties the advantages together. The benefits OCS operators offer requires constant communication. The route driver provides a personal service the alternative channels do not. The customer should know the machine is clean and working properly, the product is stocked to an appropriate par level, and new products are available to enhance the customer experience. Everyone in the OCS organization participates in the sales process, and communicates these values each time they interact with the customer.

Regardless of the OCS organization size, communication will improve the customer experience. OCS managers should provide a theme the employees communicate during customer interaction. The theme need not be static. Examples include seasonal product, local product, equipment innovation, and allied product growth. Encourage the employees to provide ideas, and take part in the success of the business.

Success creates competition, and the OCS manager can provide incentives to employees for growth. The incentive should be in line with the goals of the organization. The goal of the organization may be to exploit the competitive advantage by increasing certain product categories. Communicating the competitive advantage encourages a performance culture in the organization, and inspires the employees to be the best in their field. The competition created within an organization is a model for sustainable growth.

Today, the OCS cost of convenience is between $0.10-1.50 per cup versus the $0.05 starting point, and brewing equipment ranges from $100-$3,000. Success continues to add competition in the market, and many options exist for the office buyer. Understand the competitive advantages available in single-cup, product alternatives, and personal service, and then communicate regularly to capitalize on the market. Tradeshows are an excellent resource to find new products, and improve manager and employee expertise. Although the competitors represent different sales channels, the goal for OCS operators remains the same: provide coffee and equipment at a low-cost per cup.

Dan Ragan, Pod Pack International, Ltd

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April 2015

Roaster's Guild new Score Sheetby Joe MarraccoThe Roast Evaluation Form

The Roasters Guild Executive Council, in collaboration with the SCAA and the Roasters Guild Certificate Committee has been hard at work on a new tool for roasters. The SCAA has had a score sheet for coffee evaluation for some time. If you are a coffee taster, you know the form. Having a standardized form has been a bit of a revolution in the way we communicate about Specialty Coffee.

However, this sheet is focused on coffee quality analysis, and does not flesh out other inputs, primarily: roast. When we roasters get a hold of a coffee (which we have already analyzed) and we shape it to express features that we decide we want to highlight or diminish. How do we go about analyzing this? The same score sheet can present some challenges.

I have reached out to Nolan Dutton, of Ozo Coffee in Boulder, CO. to fill us in on the new scoring system. Nolan has been the main spearhead in getting this put together.

Why did the RG feel a separate analysis tool was needed for roast, vs. coffee quality? The existing SCAA cupping form is a good tool for evaluating the characteristics of a coffee, ideally for making purchasing decisions or communicating quality up and down the supply chain. The Roasters Guild wanted to create a form that could take a coffee that is already 'specialty' (having passed a grading test and scored above an 82 for example) and help discern the differences that show up in that coffee as the effects of different roast batches or profiles.

Highlight some of the unique attributes of this form and the thoughts behind those. The biggest change on this new Roast Evaluation Form is the sweetness category. We changed it from a yes/no score to a 0-10 numerical score (like

acidity, flavor, or body). The idea is that different roast profiles or approaches can make a coffee more or less sweet, and roasters regularly talk about the sweetness of their roast. We wanted to score sweetness since it differs greatly in roasts based on how the roaster controlled the Maillard reactions and caramelization, and is very much a quality controlled by the roaster operator. Other changes we made are that we weighted some of the normal categories more or less depending on how relevant the specific category is affected by roasting (i.e. the scores for Acidity and Body are multiplied by 2 because the roast has a huge effect on how these are perceived.)

Another big change is the use of deductions for roasting defects (tipping, facing, scorching, baking, etc) instead of the green coffee faults of uniformity and clean cup. This allows the cupper to specifically reduce points for the sample based on negative aspects from poor roasting.

Where is the form in the approval process? We are still working with the stats and standards committee in the SCAA to get this form finalized.

When do you think this form will be available to the masses as an SCAA sanctioned tool? I hope this will be a sanctioned tool by Expo 2016 at the latest, maybe earlier!

Can people get their hands on it now to check it out, and if so, how? We will get the form as a work in progress on the RG website and blasted on social media platforms soon for people to use and give us feedback. We are trying to make a really useful tool for our members, and getting the right feedback before we officially release it is very important to us.

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April 2015

SCAA Awards Processby Tim CastleWhat We Award

A career might be compared to a meal at a new restaurants community table. An industry award might be compared to that toast at the end of a glorious meal. We want to recognize those who added to our enjoyment of the meal, even if we both eyed the same drumstick, or rib, before yielding up one for the other.

In the coffee industry, and in the specialty coffee industry especially, this comparison works particularly well because so many of us enjoy the companionship of a great meal. We also appreciate the craft that goes into making a great meal come together, perhaps because that effort is so similar to making a great cup of coffee.

The official awards that our trade organization, the Specialty Coffee Association of America, has bestowed upon the various participants and allies of our industry, over the years have been a group effort and a work in progress. As a group, weve wanted to acknowledge past accomplishment but also to motivate and inspire future breakthroughs and success. It is hard to say which aspect is more important.

Competing with and sometimes enhancing those two desires is a third more complex endeavor, one that is not as selfless but just as important. We want to ally ourselves with and nurture those who can bring future benefit to us: through their good name; through their recognition of us; or through the resources they can bring to us. It may be viewed as crass to consider, but it is sometimes the sole reason many non-profit organizations give awards to their community members at all. Rather than ignore the fact that we want to praise those whose prominence might bring more to us than our award will impart to them, we are better off acknowledging this as a natural part of the award dynamic and ensure that it is conducted transparently and forthrightly.

It must be noted that not all awards or motivations driving them originate from a genuine desire to help the industry as a whole, but rather to help particular persons or companies. It is even possible for certain individuals to gain a reputation for the ability to ensure that certain awards are granted to certain members. Whether this is done out of some notion of camaraderie or -worst case- cash up-front, it obviously doesnt serve the interests of the industry as a whole and tarnishes the process, and the meaning of the award.

This past year, thanks to the efforts of the SCAAs immediate past chair, Paul Thornton, a codified procedure was put into place for collecting nominations for the SCAA's Annual Recognition Awards, vetting them, and presenting them to the board for approval. In the past that process has lacked coherence, much less commonsense, in some cases.

The SCAAs board and membership have adopted a number of award categories over the years to acknowledge and motivate excellent achievement in a number of categories. Some of these awards are more naturally presented to someone in mid-career (or earlier) and some others, the Life Achievement Award in particular, at the conclusion of ones work-life.

An example of an award designed to motivate and inspire both the awardee and other members of the industry is the SCAAs newest award, the Distinguished Newcomer Award. This award, being presented for the

first time in 2015, is designed to acknowledge a coffee professional of 5 or less years whose significant contributions have made an impact, change of course, significant insight or added value within the coffee industry. Hopefully such an award will not only inspire others to excel in their contributions to the industry at the earliest stage of their career, but also encourage the recipient to continue with his or her contributions well into the future.

Speaking of his or her, it should be noted that every effort is always made to solicit as many nominations as possible and that the awardees, as a group, invariably represent a cross-section of those nominated. Those that claim to have an interest in greater diversity after the awardees are announced should perhaps consider participating earlier in the process next year, when the call for nominations is made, rather than after the fact. Ironically, the call for nominations was reopened twice this year, and yet the complaints with regard to the overall diversity of the awardees were the shrillest.

Healthy democracies with diverse, representative legislative bodies depend upon active, engaged participation, barring any impediments to that participation. The awards process of our industry also depends upon its members bringing forth as many deserving nominees as possible in time for them to be considered. Complaining after the fact does little to directly correct the situation.

Perhaps, it is time for us, as an industry, to encourage more diverse participation from outside our trade than presently exists. Despite the vibrant participation of a relatively few very dynamic women, our trade is still male dominated, especially at its highest echelons of corporate leadership. One look around the room at any industry gathering will quickly show that our group has more work to do with regard to ethnic diversity. The person or group that spearheads that initiative might even be deserving of an award, perhaps The Special Recognition Award*, and surely a toast.

* is an individual award in recognition of a person's special contribution of self to the SCAA. These contributions may include but are not limited to dedication of time, volunteerism, contributions of professional skill, exemplary work on a specific SCAA project, or other notable contribution of self. Importantly, the contributions should be above and beyond the everyday and have had a long lasting impact on the Association.

By Timothy Castle, Castle & Co.

Read the full story here: http://magazine.coffeetalk.com/april15-what-we-award

Congratulations to2015 SCAA Recognition Award Winners

Lifetime Achievement: William McAlpinAlfred Peet Passionate Cup: Carlo Di RuccoService to the Association: Allen Leibowitz & Kevin KuyersOutstanding Contribution: Spencer TurerDistinguished Author: Oliver StrandDistinguished Newcomer: David BelanichSpecial Recognition: Joe Marrocco

2015 Sustainability Award Winner: Bukonzo Joint Cooperative for their project Gender Action Learning System (GALS): Enhancing the participation of women coffee farmers in western Uganda

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April 2015

What's Your Storyby Benjamin PutanoComfort, Community, and Culture:

Ebrik Coffee Room

When you run a coffee shop, what comes first: the coffee, or the people? Abbas Arman of the Ebrik Coffee Room in Atlanta posed this question to me when I visited him last weekend. To add some context, he was describing a time when he had to let one of his best baristas go. While knowledgeable and skillful, she drove an Ebrik customer away when the they asked for a cappuccino, without foam. There is a good way to teach customers about coffee, and there is a bad way. My barista flat out told the customer he was wrong. Abbas expected a helpful explanation of the difference between a cappuccino and a latte, devoid of snobbishness and perhaps including a sample of both. Abbas and the Ebrik team take coffee very seriously but know that educating, not belittling, earns back customers. Ebrik Coffee Room sits on the edge of Georgia State University campus in downtown Atlanta. In the late 1970s, downtown earned a dangerous reputation and it has been rebuilding ever since. The 1996 Summer Olympics brought Olympic Centennial Park, The World of Coca Cola, the Georgia Aquarium, and the CNN Center, but active downtown life has not yet returned in full.

We realized we had a catch-22 down here, Abbas said, People weren't staying downtown on the weekends, so businesses would close. Now that businesses are closed on the weekends, people wont come downtown. We took a leap of faith to try to change that." Ebrik Coffee Room opened its doors on February 17, 2014 to partake in the downtown revival. In order to survive downtown, Abbas knows he must build a sense of community where there is none. Born in Chicago and of Palestinian decent, Abbas visited Chicago coffee shops with his family where customers became friends and community came first. He is now trying to recreate a bit of what he experienced growing up. Those places looked nothing like this, though, he said, looking around his shop. We think the key to succeeding downtown is building community. People down here will work in the same building for years but never talk to each other. When they see each other in Ebrik, they will introduce themselves and start a conversation. Abbas told me. Downtown Atlanta is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the city and Abbas actively seeks out chances to build community within his shop. I watched him greet regulars by name as they walked in and wave at others when they walked by. When he didn't recognize a customer, he asked if it was their first time in the shop, where they were from, and would also introduce himself at the end of the transaction. I have dozens of GSU professors

come into the shop and Ill introduce them to other professors from different departments, he said, "We get all kinds of people in here. Its a very interesting mix."

Hand-brewing locally roasted beans from Land of 1000 Hills Roasters and Atlanta Coffee Roasters, Abbas is both student and teacher of Third Wave coffee. Im learning something new everyday, he told me. Ebrik brings enticing new coffee options to the city. Of course there are the Italian traditionsespresso, cortado, machiatto, and latte and you can order a single-origin Yirgecheffe from Atlanta Coffee Roasters brewed in a Chemex. But unusual to Atlanta is one of Ebriks most popular options: Turkish coffee.

Turkish coffee consists of finely powdered coffee, cardamom spice and sugar, mixed into a small copper pot of boiling water, otherwise called an Ibrik or Cezve. Turkish Coffee is the general term for a broad range of coffee brewing recipes all originating in Middle East and Mediterranean. Once steeped, Abbas poured the coffee into a tiny demitasse and handed me the Ibrik on a platter. The coffee is strong, vibrant, and flavorful thanks to the cardamon. We are actually making something closer to Lebanese coffee, Abbas says as I take my first sips.

Another traditional Middle Eastern option offered at Ebrik is Kurdish coffee, which starts with milk and includes the same powdered coffee, cardamon, and sugar. Called the Deniz at Ebrik, it is one of their most popular and delicious drinks. It had the consistency of Chai tea. This diverse assortment of options offers many opportunities for coffee drinkers to learn and ask questions. And this is exactly what Abbas wants. We dont just follow the Middle Eastern coffee tradition. We mix several traditions into one. Our customers are always very curious about our different options. How can you sum up Ebrik Coffee Rooms hospitality, unique options, and beautiful space? Abbas says his customers created their slogan for them. We look to provide three things: comfort, community, culture. As a life returns to downtown Atlanta, patrons, residents, and guests alike will be looking for comfort, community, and culture. Whether they are jumpstarting their day, meeting with friends, or relaxing after work, everyone should know they can find these things and more at Ebrik Coffee Room.

Ben Putano currently travels the country looking for great coffee and good times and blogs about it at thwave.co. To contact him, send him an email at [email protected]

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April 2015cont. on page 32

Greener Green Coffeeby Bernard GauvinEarth Day and the Coffee Connection

Its hard to believe that 45 years have passed since the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, when Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin started a grass-roots movement empowering ordinary citizens to protect the environment and denounce social injustice.

This bold step united individuals from varying races, religions, economic backgrounds, and political leanings from around the world, and led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of powerful environmental legislation.

With each passing year, April 22nd commemorates our renewed commitment to the environment and reminds us just how fragile our world really is.

So in honor of Earth Day lets ask ourselves, Are we doing everything we can at home and in our businesses to protect the environment? Is there a policy or a change that we can implement this year to make a significant difference in our carbon footprint?

At the most basic level, we can renew and expand our commitment to the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). For caf operators, the Specialty Coffee Association of America offers a digital Green Guide with strategies for energy conservation, waste reduction, water conservation, and toxics reduction.

For coffee roasters and brokers, making a renewed or increased commitment to sustainable sourcing would offer far-reaching benefits. Zero net deforestation should be the absolute minimum requirement. We all should be striving for positive reforestation and the sourcing of equitable, environmentally-friendly coffee which is free of pesticides and toxins.

For coffee growers, cooperatives, agricultural project developers, and investors, committing to an additional 3Rs (Reforest, Restore, and Rebuild) is extremely necessary in helping the environment to recover from the ravages of deforestation. This needs to be done in a way that also provides sustainable growth, support, training, and a positive future for coffee farming families.

Deforestation: The chickens come home to roost (or roast?)The dangers of deforestation cannot be overemphasized. National Geographic warns that the worlds rain forests could completely

vanish in a hundred years at our current rate of deforestation. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that forest loss is responsible for 20% of current global greenhouse gas emissions and that we are losing forests at the rate of 48 football fields per minute.

The coffee industry has a very positive role to play in diminishing the rate of deforestation and thus the rate of global warming. The benefits of shade grown coffee are undeniable. Apart from the exceptional taste inherent in beans that mature more slowly, shade trees reduce greenhouse gasses by filtering carbon dioxide. They also provide welcome shelter to a dwindling migratory bird population, provide natural insect control leading to a reduced need for chemical pesticides. Shade canopies also increase moisture retention in the soil, reduce erosion and run-off and thus lower the need for chemical fertilizer. This is how coffee was traditionally grown.

Despite the obvious benefits of shade grown coffee, Science Daily recently reported that it is a shrinking portion of global coffee production. An April 2014 study by scientists at the University of Texas in Austin found that shade

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April 2015

Greener Green

grown coffee declined from 43 percent of total cultivated area to 24 percent since 1996. The report states that, although global production of shade grown coffee has increased, the area of land used for non-shade coffee has increased at a much faster rate.

Why the increase in non-shade coffee when shade coffee provides so many environmental benefits? An unfortunate reality is that reforestation and sustainability require money and technical know-how that the majority of coffee farmers simply do not have. Many farmers work in isolated areas and do not have the resources to invest in new initiatives, or the financial wherewithal to wait a few years for the seeds of an investment to bear fruit.

Therefore, encouraging reforestation needs to be a collaborative effort.

Being part of the SolutionWorking with farmers in South America has given me a keen appreciation for the hardships and challenges that farmers face. Many are eager to reforest, to grow environmentally-friendly crops and to secure a sustainable farming future for their families and community but simply lack the resources to make this a reality.

ECOTIERRA has since established a country-wide Shade Coffee and Cocoa Reforestation Project in Peru, certified by ECOCERT under the Verified Carbon standard (VCS) banner, offering financial and technical assistance, monitoring, training and project support to 15,000 small farming producers in 32 cooperatives from Ecuador to Bolivia.

This scalable program is a sustainable development tool that combines the principles of impact investing as well carbon finance. Its main objective is to create a profitable and sustainable agro-forestry system, involving the continuous enrollment of registered degraded and deforested lands for reforestation during a 10-year period ending 2022. It also aims to facilitate

the renewal of older plantations using the best available techniques and added certifications, leading to qualitative/quantitative crop improvements as well as higher incomes and sustainability for farmers.

Involvement in the project comes in many forms and budgets: SomecompaniesinvestaspartoftheirCorporateSocialResponsibility

programs, allowing them strengthen, develop, or give back to local relationships.

Othersaimtosecurenewsourcesofgreencoffee.Ecotierraprovidesaccess to a Greener Green Coffee zero net deforestation, equitable, with a zero carbon footprint as transportation emissions are offset.

Otherinvestorsmightseektopurchasethegeneratedcarbonoffsets.

Project participants share a common vision of sustainability through reforestation and net zero deforestation principles working in collaboration with local communities to promote conservation, protection, restoration, and sustainability.

Since 1970, Earth Day has grown to include 1 billion participants in 192 countries -- yet climate change not only remains; it is accelerating. The problem is man-made. Will you be part of the solution?

By Bernard Gauvin, Ecotierra

Etienne Desmarais, President & Co-founder of Ecotierraa developer of environmental & sustainable development projects, utilizing the benefits of carbon finance for the long term benefits of farming communities.

Visit www.sccrp.ECOTIERRA.co for more information on the SCCRP Project

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FORNEWNEW!From our beginnings as a small custom

roaster, weve grown over four generations

into a business that still values family and

coffee above all. And were honored to offer the

kind of there-any-time-you-need-us service, equipment, support,

expertise and advice our partners have come to expect. Because,

like you, our business was built one cup at a time.

You pour your heart and soul into your business. The least we can do is help pour the coffee.

F.

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Come visit us at SCAA Expo in Seattle, Booth 7005.

gavina.com1.800.428.4627

Photo: Alessandro Ciapanna

www.TheCoffeeTrust.org/La-Roya-Recovery-Project

for the Ixil Region of GuatemalaUniting coffee cafes, coffee drinkers and coffee farmers to ensure the future of specialty coffee and the people who grow it.

A nationwide campaign enlisting coffee retailers and customers to support a safe, organic and sustainable solution to stop the spread of coffee rust, recover coffee production and help coffee farmers feed their families.

Meet the people behind The Coffee Trust and learn about our exciting, upcoming projects that tackle hunger

and poverty in the coffeelands.

Find out about our latest campaign The La Roya Recovery Project that unites coffee merchants, coffee drinkers and coffee farmers to ensure the future of specialty coffee and the people who grow it. Come honor the legacy of Coffee Kids and hear stories from its founders Bill Fishbein,

Dean Cycon, David Abedon and Susan Wood.

Reception Friday,April 10th 5:30-8:30pmWashington State Convention Center, Room 605

800 Convention Place, Seattle WA 98101

Cash Bar and Refreshments provided!

Then see if you can handleThe EM Challenge!

Join our special event at the SCAA!

www.TheCoffeeTrust.org

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April 2015

Rocky Rhodes

Roasters RockWAIT! WHAT? THERES A SECOND CRACK?!?!

Photo by Trish Rothgeb

There is a dramatic difference in what roasters in Asia are doing and what is done in the United States. It all has to do with the perception of the term Production Roasting. A discussion with roasters on either side of the Pacific yields very different results.

In the United States, coffee roasting evolved into massive commercial roasters spewing forth brown water called coffee. For generations we accepted this as the way coffee was supposed to be. It was consistent, cheap, and we had it every day. After all, it was so cheap that our bosses gave it to us for free in the office.

What is interesting about this evolution is that it was not always that way. Coffee was roasted at home in the 1800s, and in small shops in the early 1900s. It was the mid 1900s that saw the demise of the little shops roasting their own. So in the late 1900s the coffee industry devolved, in a manner of speaking, into an additional market segment called Specialty Coffee. This movement created the micro-roaster and small batch craftsmen.

The movement came alive when the Roasters Guild formed and started the propagation of roasting education and best practices. People that enjoyed the craft also enjoyed each others passion and willingness to share trade secrets. Sadly, there was something missing: the barista. In the early part of this century, the barista really took what the roaster was doing and presented the public with true differentiated tastes. The art of shot pulling and hand crafting coffees took off and the roasters craft continued to improve with single origin offerings and espresso blending.

One of the business realities of roasting coffee in the US is that if you are roasting for just one shop then you are probably having a hard time making a go of it and feeding your family. This is where the roaster starts looking for other coffee shops, restaurants, and offices that want to improve their coffee offering. There is a wholesale component to most US roaster businesses that facilitate the cash flow needed for survival.

Blending for consistency throughout the year has become just as important a skill as finding the sweet spot in a lot of Geisha. Although we WANT to only roast the beautiful stuff, we pay the bills with the bulk roasting and blends.

This is NOT what is happening in Asian countries.

This author has visited shops in Indonesia, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, and Hong Kong. Everywhere they served coffee, it was kick-ass unbelievable craftsmanship and stunning presentation. Not only is the coffee spectacular, but the presentation and the knowledge of the barista is like a coffee persons dream come true.

Overstatement? Not really. You see, the coffee industry evolved differently in Asia. Where we went from commercial to craft, they went from tea to craft. As a matter of fact, you couldnt get (until just recently) a take away coffee, much less find a coffee shop open before noon.

Coffee in Asia, as with tea, is meant to be a shared experience among friends or business associates. It is not the secret elixir of productivity. The thought of a Venti almost causes heart palpitations to most baristas in Asia. The saving grace as a traveler is the Americano where at least you can get a full cup of something hot.

At a recent teaching of the SCAA roasting Level 1 classes in Taiwan, the difference in roasting styles became shockingly clear. When asked what machine they used to roast, the LARGEST one was a 1 kilo roaster. (or 2.2 pounds!) The other reality is that almost EVERY coffee house roasts their own. This means that every day they roast the Kilo or two of Grade 1, 90+ coffee they have in stock to provide their clients with the best coffee flavor possible. They happen to often serve in what amounts to a shot glass and the customers LOVE it. They sip, savor, and discuss the coffee.

The third wave experience in Asia is EVERYWHERE. Of course that is a gross overstatement, but it is easier to find great coffee in Asia than in the US. The challenge they face is the shortage of true 90+ coffees. They are participating fairly fully in the direct relationship model by flying from country to country looking for good sources of beans. They pay top dollar and they get rewarded for it at the coffee counter.

What this environment has produced, however, is a generation of Asian roasters who have yet to find the second crack! You are more likely than not to be drinking sample roast coffee so as not to diminish any of the enzymatic byproducts while pushing up the sugar browning. They are experimenting with different burners in their 1 kilos and getting fantastic control over their roasts.

Translation is often a difficult thing. When trying to explain the need and desire for coffee roasted into the second crack, it was as if you were explaining quantum physics to kindergartners. They knew something was being explained, but it made no sense whatsoever. They just dont wholesale there. They have no need for shelf life, consistency of blend flavor and find that any hint of carbon is just an admittance that you could not find the good stuff in the beans.

They have truly taken the best practices of the third wave and improved upon them. They are artists both at the roaster, the pour over station, and the espresso machine. But when you try to explain how the rest of the world roasts, you are met with, Wait! WHAT? There is a SECOND CRACK?!?

Rocky Rhodes is an 18 year coffee veteran, roaster, and Q-Grader Instructor, and his mission now is to transform the coffee supply chain and make sweeping differences in the lives of those that produce the green coffee. Rocky can be reached at [email protected]

Bidding for Antioquia's Best Coffee competition was fierce, especially amongst the Korean contingent.

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April 2015

Nitro Coffeeby Randy AndersonNitrogenated Coffee Can Boost Summer Sales

Cold brew coffee is hot, no doubt about it. And while it's been trending on grocery shelves, it's also gaining popularity in coffee shops from Portland to Brooklyn. There is even a semi-friendly controversy over methods. There is the popular and easy immersion method; this method doesn't bring out a lot of the nuances of individual coffees, but is sweet, chocolaty and low in acid content. Then there is the Kyoto or Dutch coffee drip method. It might not be the best choice for producing cold brew in quantity, but its a beautiful thing to watch (and taste.) Finally there is the flash brew or Japanese style cold brew that drips hot brewed coffee directly over ice, reducing oxidation but retaining more discernible flavors. Makers of cold brew coffee concentrates use a variety of methods and most claim that their flavor is best. You may want to cast your vote for your favorite commercial cold brew at the 1st Annual Cold Brew Coffee Competition at SCAA Seattle 2015.

No matter which method you prefer, there is a common factor that can be a downside for in-store sales when compared to other iced drink items a lack of texture. Iced drinks that sell well generally add texture (or mouthfeel) via dairy, carbonation or ice. Flat or still drinks tend to not sell as well as their more textured counterparts. Adding texture to the beverage by adding ingredients, blending, etc., will increase prep time, ingredient costs, or both.

On the other hand, Nitro Coffee adds only gas and has virtually no prep time. If you haven't had nitro coffee, it is something you won't forget and will most likely tell your friends about. It appears with the same kind of theatre and whimsy one experiences while watching a Guinness stout being poured. The dark brown liquid begins filling from the bottom, appearing more caramel than dark brown at first. As the glass is filled, the froth quickly expands upward. As the cascading slows, the creamy white head becomes more defined, contrasting with the dark brown coffee. It is hard to not be transfixed by the phenomenon of cascading micro bubbles. But it's not the visual presentation that brings nitro coffee devotees coming back. It is the taste experience of the frothy and sweet cold brew coffee with a distinct mouthfeel unique to nitrogenation.

For customers, nitro coffee delivers memorable mouthfeel and amazing theatre. This is great for business. Yet for coffee shop owners, the real profit comes at the end of the day when factoring SPMH (sales per man hour). Nitro coffee is delivered on tap and takes approximately 3-5 seconds to pour. Compare that to the minute plus drink prep time for most iced drinks. A busy traffic line can move pretty quickly when pouring nitro coffee on tap. Independent shops and smaller chains seek out every means possible

to differentiate themselves from the bigger brands. Delivering coffee on tap creates

remarkability as well as profitability.

In years past, cold brew coffee (or iced coffee) was kept in covered pitchers or gallon jugs in the refrigerator. Dispensing it was a matter of pouring from a pitcher or jug. Not too difficult, but kind of clunky. Its far easier and better looking to dispense cold brew coffee from a tap, especially when it is nitro coffee.

The most common method is to pre-nitrogenate a keg full of cold brew coffee. The process has multiple steps, but is straightforward: Step 1. Fill the keg with cold brew coffee (diluted to the desired strength). Step 2. Pressurize the keg with 100% N2 at 30+psi (or a blend of Nitrogen and CO2). Step 3. Keep the keg in cold storage (32-38 degrees) as liquid accepts gas into solution the colder it becomes. Step 4. Agitate. Step 5. In 12-24 hours the keg is considered "nitrogenated".

Another method uses a patented infusion system that nitrogenates the coffee inline as the keg is filled through a hose. The third method is the JoeTap system from AC Beverage, which is newer but more accessible. A beverage tank or keg is filled on-site with cold brew coffee and placed in the compartment of the JoeTap. Beverage and gas lines are attached to the keg of cold brew coffee (N2 can be a tank or a Nitrogenator). The lid with tower (about five pounds total) is placed on top of the refrigerated compartment and nitro coffee is ready to be poured. The JoeTap's dual faucet allows cold brew to be served still or

nitrogenated.

The main advantage we see besides cost savings for coffee shop owners is having the process of nitrogenation

in their control. says Terry Olson - Sales Director for AC Beverage. Generally speaking, those who own a JoeTap only need access to cold brew coffee or even brew their own. We've calculated that a JoeTap can pay for itself in as little two months or less.

The warmer months of late spring and summer have historically meant slower coffee sales and Nitro coffee on tap has great potential during these months. In those places where it is already being served it is extremely popular. Who knows, it's possible that nitro coffee will someday be as ubiquitous and accessible as espresso.

Randy Anderson, AC Beverage, Inc

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James Hoffmanns THE WORLD ATLAS OF COFFEEFrom Beans to BrewingCoffees Explored, Explained and Enjoyed

Takes ambitious as its starting point and then shoots for exhaustive. Fresh Cup

288 pages in full color maps large hardcoverAt bookstores and online

Contact James Hoffmann www.jimseven.com

Wholesale orders contact: parisa@ re ybooks.com

Fresh CupGorgeous

Published by

38

April 2015

Libby Smith

Producer ProfileHONDURAS: MIGUEL MORENO LEIVA OF EL FILO FARM

What is Cup of Excellence?Cup of Excellence is a premier coffee competition and worldwide auction offering the highest award given to a top scoring coffee. The level of scrutiny that Cup of Excellence coffees undergo is unmatched as all of the COE award winners are cupped at least five times (the top ten are cupped again) during the three-week competition. Literally

hundreds of cups are smelled, tasted and scored based on their exemplary characteristics. The prices that these winning coffees receive at the auction have broken records time and again to prove that there is a huge demand for these rare, farmer identified coffees. The farmer receives the majority of the auction pro

april 2015

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