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Coffee is similar to wine: there is a lot of plonk in the world, but there are some great estates cultivating plants to set your taste buds alight. Most coffee sold in the world is poor quality (including a lot of Fairtrade) and very low value. This is the coffee people buy from the supermarkets and drink in the cafes from Iceland to Italy – the Italians just prepare it better. In parts of Europe, the North America, Australia and New Zealand the coffee revolution is well under way.
Kiwis and Aussies are a fairly easy-going lot, except when it comes to their coffee. Give an Aussie or a Kiwi a poor coffee and they'll let you know all about it. Australia and New Zealand have a great mix of different foods and take their kai pretty seriously. When the coffee culture really started taking off in the early 90s it didn't take long for people to start demanding the best coffee going. This meant sourcing great green beans, roasting the beans locally and preparing the coffee properly. I remember being reverently taught and rigorously tested on my coffee preparation skills in every cafe I worked in. If someone couldn't pull a 25 second shot of espresso they wouldn't be allowed to touch the machine. The coffee revolution is also revolution in the cyclical sense. The best coffee was once drunk all over Europe and North America, but the great depression caused a price war between the largest coffee companies resulting in demand for the cheapest possible coffee. Consumers got used to the poor quality coffee and started to think of coffee as little more than a shot of caffeine. They also got used to the price. The farmers never had a choice in the matter and Brazil burnt tonnes of coffee in a vain attempt to raise the world price. The coffee revolution will be a victory for coffee producers. Speciality coffee fetches much higher prices than both 'commercial' coffee and Fairtrade coffees and is not a subsidy like Fairtrade. If consumers settle for poor quality or blindly subsidise the harvesting of poor quality beans, the farmers will continue to produce cheap beans. If consumers demand great quality coffee the speciality market grows, the more growers add value to their crop by cultivating their beans. Who’s this? “I had a really bad coffee the other day, so I only drank half of it then left.” If it’s you then you’re probably going to continue to suffer bad coffee. If you want good coffee you have to fight for it. Viva la revolucion! |
