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Nestlé's fair trade interest a concern for coffee producers

Recent reports that Nestlé, the world’s biggest food company, is considering a move into the fair trade market have been met with scepticism and disbelief by market observers and rival coffee makers alike, but as analysts Datamonitor point out, any such move could have serious implications for the fast-growing ethical coffee market as a whole.

Nestlé has refused to comment on the rumours, first published in the UK’s Independent on Sunday newspaper earlier this month, but a move into the ethical coffee market by the multinational would not be out of character: the market for ethical products has grown rapidly in recent years – worth some £1.8 billion in the UK alone last year - and there is no sign of growth slowing in the immediate future.

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The Virtues of Coffee Drinking

Coffee is no longer a considered a health villain, and that's grounds for celebration.

Since there are so many bad habits to feel guilty about, it's awfully nice when one of those vices actually turns out to be something of a virtue. Take coffee: Over the years, it has been accused of causing everything from birth defects to breast cancer.

Now -- with thousands of medical studies showing little or no adverse health effects from coffee -- all the decades of nay-saying are finally coming to a close. In fact, there are a number of proven benefits to partaking in a daily cup or two of joe:

Coffee drinking may lower your risk of colon cancer by up to 25 percent because of its ability to help keep you regular.

Two observational studies found that regular coffee intake reduced the risk of developing kidney stones.

People with asthma who drink coffee can have up to 25 percent fewer symptoms because one of the compounds in coffee -- theophylline -- acts as a bronchodilator.

Other diseases that coffee may help prevent: cirrhosis of the liver, Parkinson's disease, skin cancer, and gallstones.

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A Coffee Primer

From the book, Celebrate the Season 2001

Making the perfect cup of java ain't no jive. Here's how.

For the coffee aficionado, understanding all the subtleties that make a great cup can be as captivating as knowledge of good wines is to the wine lover. Fortunately for all of us, however, achieving the perfect cup is easy once you're familiar with a few basic coffee-making concepts.

Know Your Beans

When you walk into a specialty coffee shop, a coffeehouse that sells coffee beans -- or even a grocery store with a wide variety of whole-bean coffees -- you'll probably spot an enticing display of coffee beans. Usually, they'll range in color from light to dark brown, with names like French roast, Ethiopian, espresso roast, and even designations such as "house blend" and "Christmas blend." Knowing a little bit about the origins of coffee beans and how they're harvested, roasted, and named can help you choose the bean that's right for your cup.

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Turkish Coffee Recipe

Yield: 2 servings

3/4 c Water
1 tb Sugar
1 tb Pulverized Coffee
1 Cardamon Pod

Combine water and sugar in an ibrik or small saucepan. Bring to a
boil; then remove from heat and add coffee and cardamon. Stir well
and return to heat. When coffee foams up, remove form heat and let
grounds settle. Repeat twice more. Pour into cups; let grounds
settle before drinking.
From Sheila Buff & Judi Olstien, "The New Mixer's Guide to
Low-Alcohol and Nonalcholic Drinks." Published By HPBooks, Inc.,
1986, ISBN 0-89586-458-4.

Coffee Genes Hold the Jolt

Associated Press

For those who love the full flavor of real coffee but can't handle the kick, the genetics revolution may have a solution.

Researchers say they have genetically engineered coffee plants that have 70 percent less caffeine than usual in their leaves. The crucial question for brewing coffee -- whether beans from those plants will have less caffeine -- won't be known for three to four years when the plants mature, said study author Shinjiro Ogita.

However, the results indicate it should be possible, according to the researcher's report in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

The researchers at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology in Japan used RNA interference -- an increasingly popular genetic tool -- to manipulate the plant, interfering with the gene responsible for an enzyme used to make caffeine.

Experts contend a caffeine-free bean would be an improvement over current decaffeination processes, which use water or organic solvents to remove the stimulant from the beans before they are roasted, taking out some flavor and aroma as well.

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NASA: Smelling the Coffee

By Declan McCullagh and Ben Polen

WASHINGTON -- When the Kauai Coffee Company wanted a cheaper way to monitor the ripeness of its coffee beans, the federal government helped out.

Starting next fall, the sky over America's largest coffee plantation will be dotted with an unmanned NASA aircraft. It'll hover over Kauai Coffee's Hawaiian crops, monitor the ripeness of the beans and inform executives when it's the perfect time for the harvest.

The NASA-funded team, based at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, received a $3.76 million grant from the federal government to purchase and maintain the unmanned solar-powered aircraft. A NASA statement says the project will let Kauai Coffee "know, down to the day, the best time for harvesting the beans, bringing the best flavor to consumers."

"This is a very futuristic approach to precision agriculture," says Stan Herwitz, a professor of earth science at Clark University who's heading the project.

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Peru struggles to improve coffee quality

Reuters

By Robin Emmott

LIMA, Peru, May 18 (Reuters) - In the morning mist, Peruvian farmers come down from the mountains on horseback to sell their coffee beans to local intermediary buyers, willing to take whatever price they are offered.

Without the resources to process and export their crop, many farmers hand over their arabica beans -- coffee that has the potential to be sold as a gourmet food in the United States -- to middlemen in this Altomayo Valley town who combine the produce with other local coffees and sell it on to Lima-based exporters for a profit.

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Thai Iced Coffee

Yield: 4 servings

3/4 c Ground Coffee
2 2/3 c Water
Ice Cubes
Cardamom
1/2 c Evaporated Milk
Sugar To Taste

Using amounts specified, brew coffee in a drip-style coffee maker.
Fill four 10 to 12 ounce beverage glasses to the rim with ice
cubes; then fill two thirds full with coffee. Into each glass, stir about
2 tablespoons evaporated milk; add a dash of ground cardamom and sweeten to
taste with sugar.

Coffee Headlines on Your Website

We have discussed RSS before and I want to show you an example of what you can do on your website for your readers.

What is RSS? It stands for Really Simple Syndication, and to learn more, go to XML.com. My eyes glaze over by the second line, so don't feel bad if you don't enjoy reading about RSS or XML.

We have made it simple for you to add headlines to your website. Go to Roaster4Hire.com and see how it looks. This format shows the latest five headlines from Badgett's Coffee eJournal, and updates automatically each time a new article appears. Neat, huh?

If you would like to have the same service for your readers, send an email with RSS in the subject line and I will send you the code that you can copy and paste into your website. Please send the url of your website, also.

Robert

Coffee importer tries new brew in Costa Rica

Coffee importer tries new brew in Costa Rica
By Allison Wollam
Houston Business Journal

Mills Duncan is grinding out plans to import his own coffee by pouring an investment into Costa Rica.

The president of Houston-based Duncan Coffee Co. has three farms under contract in the Central American republic. If the deals go through, the 83-year-old business will import company-owned coffee for the first time.

Duncan sees similarities between growing coffee and raising cattle.

"I like the idea of being able to go out to the farm and oversee the growth and quality control of the coffee, just like I'm able to do at my cattle ranch," says Duncan, who seven years ago revived the business founded by his great-grandfather Herschel Mills Duncan.

The cream of the company's coffee crop holdings will be a 200-acre field in one of Costa Rica's top producing regions.

Duncan estimates it will take three to five years to produce top-quality coffee for import and sale in the local market.

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