Friday, September 12, 2003


congressmen beg powell to rejoin i.c.o.

actually, the headline on this piece is about the growing problem in latin america of desperate coffee farmers turning to cultivating illegal drugs.

apparently, 20% of former coffee land in colombia has now been converted to coca production for cocaine, and that drug is headed towards our streets and communities.

but the real news is that some visionary members of congress sent a letter to the mostly-invisible-these-days sec. of state colin powell to urge him to support the effort to re-join the i.c.o.

long-time readers know that this has been a pet project of bccy for a while.

why should the average coffee lover care about what seems like arcane regulations and obscure trade groups far away?

because the on-going world-price depression known as the coffee crisis is a direct threat to consumers.

how is this so? not only because of these questions of illegal drugs, and the illegal immigration the crisis causes as displaced coffee workers seek work in the north.

but most simply: the premium, gourmet, specialty coffee -- the kind you enjoy from starbucks, peets, gillies, what have you -- is frankly endangered by the crisis.

the kind of coffee we love is expensive to nurture. it needs a lot of hand-love and careful processing. it costs about US$0.90 a pound to grow; but as of yesterday coffee was in general selling for just US$0.70.

"quality begets price begets quality," sez a friend of mine in the coffee industry. and he's right. without a good price, the quality of coffee will continue to decline.

after 3 years of such a price differential -- and worse -- what farmer can stay in business, much less work to improve the quality of his crop? thus the smaller farmers who guard some of the most special and unique coffee types really have to throw in the towel, or offer a lesser quality product.

it's possible we could lose some of our most-prized, highest-quality origins if something doesn't change soon. or almost as bad, they will become amazingly expensive and difficult to obtain.

when good coffee costs upwards of US$15 a pound, and bad coffee costs a few dimes, what do you think will surround us? who benefits from a sea of ultra-cheap, bad-tasting coffee?

it isn't the consumer -- notice as the crisis has continued, and prices have fallen, even the so-called better quality supermarket can brand x coffees have risen in price.

are consumers benefitting from price reductions? no waaay. . .will consumers benefit when a pound of good coffee costs as much as a better wine? when all good coffees cost what kona does now?

coffee is as worthy a beverage as wine, no doubt, but i can't imagine most specialty coffee lovers paying iron horse prices for their beloved bean.

somewhere there in the middle's a situation whereby both farmers and consumers can get their hands on a fair price, one that encourages and rewards farmers without giving coffee lovers sticker shock. but this current road won't lead us there!

it's true too many people are now in the coffee business. we have to help some people transition out of coffee in a way that doesn't destroy their social fabric.

that's why coffeekids' programs exist; they're great, and they work.

we have to do several things simultaneously to end this crisis. we have to drink more specialty coffee -- that includes more organic, fair-trade, bird-friendly coffees -- and we have to politely encourage others to do so by our own example.

we have to support coffeekids and other coffee-related charitities to alleviate the current human misery.

we have to get trash coffee off the market. this low-grade, low-quality stuff helps depress prices.

a great way to improve coffee quality is to support the new coffee purity regulations supported by our friends at the scaa.

americans deserve to drink only the highest-quality coffees! and the u.s.a. must re-join the i.c.o. part of re-joining the i.c.o. is to adopt these new purity rules.

finally, we must support the oxfam initiative to destroy excess coffee stocks.

most of these are long-term initiatives. right now, i encourage everyone just to make themselves another pot. . . and enjoy. . .

posted by fortune | 11:20 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | |