Category: Resilience

G < (E + M)

2015-06-09 Comments Off on G < (E + M)

The first part of the Colombia Sensory Trial featured coffee buyers and quality control experts from some of the most important coffee organizations in the Americas.  During two cupping panels at Intelligentsia Roasting Works in Chicago, they scored pairs of Castillo and Caturra samples collected from 22 farms in Nariño, Colombia. The second part enlisted […]

How can we encourage direct investment at the base of the coffee supply chain?

2015-06-08 Comments Off on How can we encourage direct investment at the base of the coffee supply chain?

Hugh and I are in the Netherlands, where we are getting ready to participate in the Sustainable Food Lab Summit, a meeting that gathers together different stakeholders in supply chains and facilitates a great discussion about finding solutions to ensure the future of our global supply chains. It is against this backdrop that I start […]

Microlots: Questions from “Alex”

2015-06-02 Comments Off on Microlots: Questions from “Alex”

I have a friend in coffee whom I am going to call “Alex.”  S/he is brilliant.  Driven.  Focused.  Working hard to make coffee sourcing at her/his company more profitable for people in its supply chain and less damaging to the planet. Alex and I have had an ongoing conversation over the past few years about […]

Coffee ground: The importance of soil health

2015-05-27 Comments Off on Coffee ground: The importance of soil health

In my last Coffeelands post, as part of our tribute to the International Year of Soils, I promised to seek out experts in the area of soil management and coffee production and to share their invaluable insights with you.  Fortunately, I didn’t have to look far.  My colleague, Luis Álvarez Welchez, knows soil and coffee.  […]

Bird Friendly Coffee: Good for the farmers?

2015-05-22 Comments Off on Bird Friendly Coffee: Good for the farmers?

Dr. Robert Rice is commonly referred to as the coffee industry’s “voice of the birds,” and the certification he represents the gold standard for environmentally friendly coffee. That point is difficult to argue:  The Smithsonian’s Migratory Bird Center’s Bird Friendly coffee certification requires farmers to be organic certified, possess at least ten different species of trees […]

A (coffee-focused) David Letterman mash-up

2015-05-20 Comments Off on A (coffee-focused) David Letterman mash-up

Tonight is the last broadcast of the Late Show with David Letterman.  In homage to his 33 years on the air, I offer this coffee-focused mash-up of the venerable “Top 10 List” and the comparatively lesser-known sketch “Is this anything?” The first needs no introduction; the second featured oddball performances by guests, then banter between […]

Soil Management: Coffee Digs Good Dirt

2015-04-30 Comments Off on Soil Management: Coffee Digs Good Dirt

When you think of UN resolutions (if you ever spend time thinking of UN resolutions that is), what probably comes to mind are some of the world’s most intractable conflicts, such as Syria, Iraq or the Congo.  The UN, however, can also use these resolutions in order to educate the global public.   This was the […]

The coffee variety conundrum: How Caturra vs. Castillo plays out all over the coffeelands

2015-04-20 Comments Off on The coffee variety conundrum: How Caturra vs. Castillo plays out all over the coffeelands

For my first few posts on Coffeelands, I’d like to explore a number of issues regarding coffee varietal development and farmer adoption. This week’s post will look at the undercard of the Caturra vs. Castillo bout.

A simple question: Castillo or Caturra?

2015-04-09 Comments Off on A simple question: Castillo or Caturra?

Yesterday I had the honor to present the preliminary results of the Colombia Sensory Trial at the 2015 SCAA Symposium. The Colombia Sensory Trial is a cross-sector collaboration with allies in the research community (the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Kansas State University and World Coffee Research), industry (Counter Culture, Federación Nacional de Cafeteros, George […]