Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority, in collaboration with the Feed the Future Ethiopia value chain activity funded by USAIDS, is bringing Cup of Excellence to Ethiopia for the first time. Cup of Excellence is a prestigious competition and auction for high-quality coffees. It is aimed at discovering and showcasing exceptional coffees for the global market place.
Such program is a major boon for the Ethiopian coffee industry as it facilitates an international platform to promote Ethiopia’s coffee and creates new market opportunities for producers. The prices for the competition that winning coffees receive are substantial and can be life changing for the winning farmers, their families and communities. In this regard, The Ethiopian Herald has just approached International Alliance for Coffee Excellence executive director, Darrin Daniel and Feed the Future Ethiopia value chain activity chief of party, Ian Chesterman, to expound on the executive aspect of Cup of Excellence’s program and other related aspects of coffee sub-sector. Excerpts:
Herald: Could you brief us about Alliance for Coffee Excellence?
Darrin: It is a non-profit organization. It was established two decades back. We began our work in Brazil in 1999. Our whole emphasis is presenting competitive spirit for the top quality coffee among coffee-producing countries worldwide. We are working with 11 countries pertaining to the competition of Cup of Excellence. And also the emphasis is on completion with international buyers as well.
Our membership is based on coffee buyers around the world. All the major market of coffee representation is listed. We are the top tester around the world. In this case, we came to Addis in April for testing and selecting favorable coffee beans. And we parade the winners in the ceremony to be held world over. The farmers are also entered in the competition. In so doing, we e-commerce the coffee product in online auction. This is part of our network.
Herald: What are the main standards in the coffee evaluation score sheet?
Darrin: There are so many standards. We have a form to evaluate all the attribute of the coffee values of beans including, body, necessity and balance. A given coffee’s score has to reach a certain level. On the average 86 are the qualified numbers of the coffee quality. In all places, we work on the same protocol and standards to analyze and discover quality coffees.
Herald: How do you assess the quality of coffee here in Ethiopia?
Darrin: The competition encompasses the entire places of the country. The assessment includes all varieties, processing and representation of all the states of the country. General open submissions of coffee varieties are entailed in the competition. And the boiling aspects of standardization of coffees are also determinate factors for competition.
Herald: How do you see the international market competition among coffee processing companies?
Darrin: The competition draws score evaluating samples from the international market. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan have a very large market for our program of Cup of Excellence. And China, North America, Europe are also emerging markets of coffee processing groups .But mostly, the highest prices are from Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Australia. Those are the primary interested markets of coffee beans.
Herald: What kind of coffee product is demandable in the global market?
Darrin: The international market looks for exceptional quality, flavor, consistent business and delivery services. A lot of companies need a coffee delivery service that is consistent. Commitment has to be there. The companies need a market that can be responding to the needs they have. And staying in the coffee industry meeting the specific requirements buyers demand is critical. I think in the planet of buyers, international market has a sort of complexity by its nature. Ethiopia is also the most complex world country. It has resources of high demandable ingredients as compared to other countries of the world.
Herald: Do you think the competition is inclusive of small-holder farmers?
Ian: The activities of the Feed the Future Program in Ethiopia is channeled for value chain of the sub-sectors. The coffee value chain is one of the six value chains we support. And we have partnership with the Coffee Authority here. The Alliance of Cup of Excellence is one of marketing strategies for coffee value chain. As we know, the coffee value chain has a huge significance in Ethiopia in terms of the number of producers who are involved in the coffee beans sub-sector. This is a good position for foreign exchange .It as well has unique diversity in Ethiopia.
So, as USAID’s funding project, we have the ability to support the smallholder farmers to change the volume of coffee in the long run with extension and implanting programs. And we are also working with extension authority. A lot of our focus is on
the marketing side that changing the value of coffee has a significant contribution and could create a quick impact in moving coffee forwarded as a commodity towards specialty coffee. Mobilizing petition is highlight to see the value of coffee to the network of buyers we bring to Ethiopia. It will be open up to the market. Cup of Excellence is a process of understanding facts about test of coffee flavors.
Many farmers understand coffee as a physical side. That is categorizing them green, ripe and unripe. They understand the quality of coffee in this scope. But a lot of smallholder farmers do not have the opportunity to understand the importance of having the potential of labor to buyers.
Within subsequent years, we will arrange training opportunities to train farmers to understand how to improve their production, how they process and how they influence their flavor. They should also consider what sort of flavor is favored in the international market.
Darrin: The most important part is any company must care about the quality at first. Taste is the most important one. So, consumers become more and more aware of the taste of coffee. It is not the image, it is the actual reality that makes a given coffee great. The favor of the coffee matters.
Herald: Could you tell us about the price value of coffee Arabica across the world?
Darrin: Coffee Arabica is the most supply chain across the world because the complexity of the coffee. It is growing on higher attitude. They have slow maturity period than coffee Robusta. And it is easily more generic diversity as well. The customers are more interested in sweet and clean coffee bean products. Those are the two pillars in the competition. And the coffee has to be clean, uniform and very sweet. And we focus on taste and favor of the coffee.
Herald: What is your overall view of the competition?
Darrin: The whole process is started in January, 2020. We collect samples from all states of the country. Those samples would be evaluated properly. The evaluation actually takes place in Addis. Any coffee bean bar follows standards and procedures to be labeled high in the next pre-selection process. And then move to join the top 100 coffee after evaluated by judges. Then after, the top 10 on the list get awards as winners of Cup of Excellence.
Herald: Are there contenders drawn from other countries for the competition?
Darrin: We are expecting to see participation from South Korea, USA and different countries in Europe, Eastern Europe and Taiwan. The aforementioned countries are very eager to come here to observe the competition.
Herald: Is there any attempt made to render smallholder farmers beneficiaries of the program?
Darrin: The intention of this program is taking on board desirable of high price smallholders farmers. And also it creates excitement and occasions for higher level of appreciation. But the competition does not necessarily resolve the bigger problem of the country. This program is set to change the price of coffee for the benefit of smallholder farmers. Our program is a spotlight to encourage higher prices for the quality coffee beans.
Ian: It affords smallholder farmers the opportunity of getting the right price for selling coffee products. The price should be correlated with the quality of the coffee beans. The care that must be exercised from the starting point of washing and drawing is of paramount significance to the quality of coffee beans.
Farmers should nurture it and process it properly. Then, they should be rewarded for the flavors’ test. That is a determinant factor for the quality attribution of coffee products. The coffee industry has both challenges and opportunities. Incentivizing quality of coffee is inevitable to cultivate good flavor coffee beans.
Herald: Who can participate in Cup of Excellence?
Darrin: The Cup of Excellence competition is open to all farmers throughout Ethiopia. Large, small, estate, cooperative, union, private and public washing stations could come on board. All samples submitted to the competition need to produce traceability evidence. The program levels the playing field and does its best to support equal access and success for all farmers regardless of size and financial status.
Herald: Who benefits from the Cup of Excellence?
Darrin: The Cup of Excellence competition benefits producers, roaster, exporters, coffee industry and host country at large. Quality coffee producers are the primary beneficiaries of the competition as they stand to earn significant incomes through an auction. Roasters and other major actors involved in the value chain also benefit from the event as it brings much higher prices for their coffees and creates a new market opportunity. The event will attract global attention; provide Ethiopian coffee brands an opportunity to increase visibility among international media and other industry stakeholders.
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday December 8/2019
BY MEHARI BEYENE
