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Weekly Coffee Report: Coffee Markets Continue To Be Disrupted.

by with No Comment Coffee Reports

Dear readers – coffee aficionados, coffee lovers,

I hope this message finds you well. Here comes another report about last week!

The coffee market continues to wander aimlessly. Like the last report, the coffee markets are being disrupted by new waves of communication, disruptive ever-changing technologies, changes in weather, lack of stocks and continued growth of coffee consumption. This has led the global economy to a complete global standstill and disorganisation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been aggravated by the Ukraine invasion by Russia.

The basics of the physical coffee market remain largely unaltered. Numbers released lately by the Brazilian Coffee Industry Association and the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) confirm that there has been growth of consumption – both in Brazil and worldwide. Yet, the global production of coffee, due to climate change, still has cause for concern. Current global stocks, as reported last week, are historically low. There are limited alternatives to consistent growth regarding re-stock of international global supplies.

Certified coffee stocks at ICE New York had fallen yesterday by 3,001 sacks. They ended last week on 1,077,178 sacks while a year ago there were 1,857,303 sacks – a fall of 780,125 sacks in a year. The uncertainties are due to climate uncertainties, lack of stock, high increase in consumption which results in a push and pressure on prices.

Yet, coffee is the most volatile commodity after oil which reacts to any news. This high speculative market is caused by traders who are not involved in physical markets. They only buy and shorten positions due to their short-term interests in the market itself, buying a minimum of 37,500 lbs per contract on the coffee market.

The ICO released a monthly report that informed that the global coffee market will register a deficit of 3.1 million sacks on the crop of 2021/2022 (from October to September). Already, in Brazil, the largest coffee producer of Arabica beans had a smaller crop in 2021. The ICO has forecasted a global coffee production of the year 2021/2022 at 167.2 million 60kg sacks – a decrease of 2.1% compared to the previous year. The consumption of coffee forecast is 170.3 million 60kg sacks – an annual growth of 3.3% (Source: Reuters).

Up to the 8th of April, shipments out of Brazil were 11,039 sacks of Arabica beans, 7,959 sacks of Robusta beans and 17,074 sacks of instant coffee – totalling 36,072 sacks. This is a decrease compared to the same day in March totalling 43,472 sacks. Up to the 8th of April, requests for certification of coffee origin for the month of April totalled 217,893 compared to 442,878 sacks on the same day in the month of March. Hence, this clearly shows that there have been fewer coffee beans shipped out of Brazil in April compared to March.

The New York Stock Exchange closed on Friday with an increase of 325 points – combining at around 233 USD/lbs – this was an increase compared to last week of about 5 USD per sack. Currency exchange between USD in BRL means that type 6 coffee in Brazil would cost BRL 1,410 while on Friday, 8 April, it cost BRL 1,442 which clearly shows a growth trend.

New Coffee Arriving

Our new container of coffee is now on the way to the UK.

Thank you!

Calum

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Weekly Coffee Report: London Coffee Festival & Fluctuating Markets.

by with No Comment Coffee Reports

Hello, coffee aficionados and coffee lovers.

Apologies for being out of the picture in the last few weeks. We’ve been busy recently, we attended the London Coffee Festival, and the world has been changing in the last couple of months – disruptive technologies, the war in Ukraine, climate change, extremely low number of stocks globally and myself sourcing and procuring more coffee has captured my attention in the past two weeks. This report will be based on last week (Friday 1, April) and hopefully, bring us updated and back to our routine of weekly reports as we should have another one released over the weekend as well! 

Overall, in this last week, we have had gridlock coffee negotiations which was been quite challenging for the coffee industry. On Monday, coffee contracts at ICE Futures US in New York retreated quite considerably. After Monday, the prices were on a trend upwards – on Friday 1st of April, they reached their maximum of USD 2.3040 – an increase of 200 points. By the end of the day, the price slightly retreated, closing at USD 2.2840, for the contracts starting in May. On Thursday, there was an increase of 455 points, yet on Monday there was a drop of 730 points. Overall, across the week, the market has increased by 655 points. Yet, compared to the previous week, the market had increased by 180 points. This showcases that the market trends combined with strong consumption and the current shortage of stocks have been pushing the prices up.

Nonetheless, investment funds that buy and sell coffee contracts have shortened their positions in the market itself which alleviates the pressure on price rises while monitoring the forecast of Brazilian crops for 2022 and 2023. The International Coffee Organisation (ICO) had forecasted a growth of 3% in 2021/2022 with coffee consumption being around 170.3 million sacks of 60kgs. COVID-19 has brought worries to the coffee market as the demand is outstripping the supply. Yesterday, ICO released information that there was an actual reduction of coffee exports by 0.8% between October 2021 and February 2022. Brazilian rainfall season has started to ease off in the southeast of the country in March. This decrease has been below the historical averages for the month of March, though this is much better than the last two years.

The stocks of certified coffee in the coffee market in New York have increased by 4726 sacks compared to last Thursday last week which is currently sitting at 1,084,842 sacks. A year ago, this amounted to 1,845,586 sacks – a drop of 760,744 bags. The USD compared to BRL has depreciated, the USD fell to the lowest recorded year (in the last two years) compared to the BRL which is currently valued at 4.7 BRL to 1 USD. This is quite negative as Brazil is the second-largest coffee consumer market in the world and there are less incentives for producers, exporters, brokers, and traders to export coffee. Hence, this has brought down the pressure on prices at origin. Coffee prices have dropped as the USD has dropped. Nonetheless, this might be inflated due to investors moving out of funding commodities in Russia and Ukraine which is now being funded in Brazil instead. With a greater influx of foreign direct investment, there will be a greater increase in BRL value.

The Brazilian market itself has been quite quiet as producers are reluctant to sell their coffee with a forecast set to increase. Up to the 1st of April, the March shipments included 2,781,704 sacks of Arabica beans, 111,555 sacks of Robusta beans and 292,635 sacks of instant coffee – totalling shipments out of Brazil at 3,185,894 sacks. This is an increase compared to the total amount of 2,622,540 sacks on the same day in February. Up to the 1st of April, the requests for certificates of origin had totalled 3,786,284 sacks compared to 3,362,564 sacks on the same day last month.

Thank you very much for the read – I hope you have a lovely week! Calum

Weekly Coffee Report: Visitors From Brazil.

by with No Comment Uncategorized

Dear coffee friends, aficionados, lovers, and anybody who’s interested in our weekly coffee report – here are some notes from Cal’s Coffee:

Firstly, I would like to apologise for the last three weeks that we were away – we were hosting, visiting a coffee farmer here in the UK and only did a quarter of what we planned to do! I’m sure that this is going to be the first of many visits of the farmers who will come over and I know that many of you – roasters and readers – will have a chance to come and visit Brazil, to see the actual coffee farms.

Let’s get down to business and talk about coffee! In the last week, in Brazil, the market was quiet due to carnival (a long bank holiday that extends four-days) with only Friday operating during the week. There was a significant standstill due to the war between Ukraine and Russia. While, in the last 5 days, the market in Brazil was operating at a standstill, in the last 12 days, the coffee market has slumped in relation to the beginning of the year. In these last 12 days, there was a downfall of 1440 points. Coffee was being traded before the war at 265 US cents per pound and is currently being traded at 226.75 US cents per pound. At the end of last Friday, prices ended on 2.3865 US cents per pound.

The USD compared to BRL significantly depreciated which is having a negative impact on Brazilian exports due to the local market being more interested in trading and exporting coffee. Currently, there was an increase in value where 1 USD = 5.156 BRL while, last Wednesday, there was a decrease of 1.57 %. Last week, there was a slight increase of 0.2% altogether. Most of the coffee in Brazil has decreased in value. One coffee sack, on average, was 1,672 BRL and is now being traded at 1,482.52 BRL. There is little being offered as farmers don’t want to trade at these prices which is making the market stagnate.

International coffee stocks are still at an all-time low. Recently there were just above 1,250,088 sacks of certified coffee, while a year ago, on the same date, there were 1,797,622 sacks which is a decrease of 795,034 sacks of 60kg. We have never seen such low stocks of certified coffee. So, why have coffee prices taken such a shock? The reason why prices have dropped so much is due to the war.

We don’t realise that Russia is a large coffee-consuming country. They are the second largest importer of instant coffee that is made in Brazil – about 540,000 60 kg – and altogether Russia consumes 3.5 – 4 million sacks from all over the world. Sanctions and all other actions that the West is taking against Russia is considerably driving the price down for coffee in contrast to all other commodities. The coffee farmers in Brazil are very concerned due to the high dependency on importing fertilisers from Russia, especially the raw materials – potassium and phosphorous. All the bans and embargoes are pushing these costs 3x or 4x higher, which has been evident in the last 15 days.

Most coffee farmers have stock for the next 6 months while some buy stock on the spot. The same trading issues that are happening with coffee are happening with fertilisers between cooperatives and producers. On the 4th of March, shipments out of Brazil were 2876 sacks of Arabica beans, 3804 sacks of instant coffee, totalling 6680 sacks compared to the same day in February totalling 6246 sacks.

While there is little coffee offering in the market; however, the current crop is approaching. Some coffee farmers will start harvesting at end of the March (at its earliest). Though, due to the frost, and current forecasts of it not being a large crop, our Brazilian harvest is likely to start at the end of April/beginning of May. At closing time, a lot of the market is starting to look ahead. The forecast for 2023 is that there’ll be a lot of rain in Brazil which is more optimistic than the current harvest.

Let’s hope that Russia comes to its senses and stops a completely unnecessary war by bringing more stability to the world which is what we all need. Just a little trivia on raw materials; Russia and Ukraine are the largest exporters of wheat and corn compared to the USA and these are the two commodities that are driving a lot of the prices up for food – so keep an eye on this as it’s not just coffee that has pushed the prices up. Raw materials like wheat and corn will have a negative impact on inflation. Unfortunately, this is not the best of news but let’s hope that the future is brighter.

All the very best!

See you next week!

Calum

Weekly Coffee Report: Impact of The Ukraine Crisis

by with No Comment Coffee Reports

Here’s another report dated from last week, Friday, 11 March 2022. The war on eastern Europe of invading Ukraine, caused by Russia, continues. We still have investors who are frightened, and the current market is completely lost and disorientated. It is impossible to evaluate the damage insured in a short, medium, and long-term context in the global as well as the Brazilian economy.

Coffee quotations on the ICE Futures US in New York returned to be quite varied with many ups and downs. At the end of the week, the market closed on a downturn. Analysts talk about the increase in energy prices, caused by the Russian invasion which may destabilise and derail the global economy. This downturn in the economy could cause consumers to reduce their consumption and spending on coffee – bringing a lower average of consumers as they tighten their belts and limit their visits to restaurants and cafés. In our opinion, most coffee farmers won’t harvest for a higher 2-year cycle for 2022 due to huge droughts that occurred in the second half of 2020 and two major frosts in July. This only ended with the beginning of the rains in November 2021. This has brought a lot of concerns to coffee producers in Brazil and has substantially decreased the 2022 crop forecast.

Brazilian giant oil and gas company, PETRONAS, has announced an increase in diesel prices of 24.9% in Brazil. Energy and electricity prices went up last year. The prices of fertilisers, which already started increasing this year, have now skyrocketed. The market has already seen inflation at a minimum of 7% while the SELIC, run by Brazilian journal, Estadão, forecast a minimum of 14%. It is not by mistake that most coffee producers in Brazil have refused to sell their current stocks at the offered prices lately and are instead holding their stocks.

Coffee contracts of ICE Futures in New York had another week of devaluation and closed on Friday, 11 March, with a fall of 225 points (USD 2.2195 per pound). On Thursday, they decreased by 510 points. This week’s balance sheet drop was by 230 points. Last week, the fall altogether was 1440 points. As always, the USD compared to BRL has fluctuated with its ups and downs. Last week, there was a small appreciation of 0.74% where one USD could buy BRL 5.0540. In BRL, low level commodity sacks have been negotiated by BRL 1483.83, compared to the previous week at BRL 1487.90. Two weeks ago, on Friday, they closed at BRL 1506.33.

On Friday, last week, the offers of the buyers were kept at bay as most of the suppliers and producers kept themselves out of the market. The Brazilian physical market has been slow with little business negotiated as the market essentially stopped. On Thursday, the international stocks of certified coffee on the ICE New York, increased by 5,712 bags. They concluded last Thursday at 1,027,688 bags while a year ago they concluded at 1,836,918 bags so there was a drop of stocks by 809,230 bags.

CECAFÉ, Brazilian Agreement of Exporters, released a report that last month in February there were 3,440,963 sacks of 60kg of coffee – approximately a drop by 13.7% (approximately half a million sacks fewer than the same month in 2021). Yet, there were 1.6% more than the previous month of January. There were 3,016,441 sacks of Arabica coffee and 129,809 sacks of Robusta, totalling 3,146,250 bags of green coffee, which added to 291,746 bags of instant coffee and 2,967 bags of roasted beans, totalling altogether 3,440,963 sacks.

Up to the 11th of March, the shipments exported from Brazil were 438,226 sacks of Arabica coffee, 18,399 sacks of Robusta beans, 36,373 bags of instant coffee, totalling 492,998 bags, against 569,399 bags on the same day in the month of February. Up to the 11th of March, the requests for certified of origin totalled about 1,065,683 sacks against 1,122,878 sacks on the same day in the previous month.

We look to the beginning of the week, with Monday the 14th and Tuesday the 15th of March with further losses on the coffee market. This is due to decreasing prices caused by the war in Ukraine which keeps pushing the prices down with fear of high inflation and squeeze on consumer purchasing power. Our forecast is that the price will go up until Easter due to the basics of the global economy. Though, the war in Ukraine has shaken this up a bit. If we start seeing the beginning of the harvest at the end of April/beginning of May then we will see that prices will ease further, subject to major catastrophic climate disasters in Brazilian wintertime. Hopefully there will be more price stability with a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. We hope that Brazil will manage a successful harvest during the summertime in the northern hemisphere and we can start to have a bit more stability in the nearby future.

I wish you all the very best!

Thank you very much,

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Weekly Coffee Report: Price Of Coffee Remains Strong.

by with No Comment Coffee Reports

Hello dear coffee aficionados, here is our fifth report of 2022!

The ICE Futures New York Commodity Exchange have had another week of many ups and downs. On Friday, the highest price was 2.444 USD/lbs, while at the end of the day it ended on 2.4185 USD/lbs with a decrease of 205 points. Last week, the total price change was up by 595 points, an increase of 2.87% in prices. Altogether, in 2022, the price had gone up by 1575 points.

We still believe that the basis for the rise of coffee prices remains strong with the limited amount of green coffee supply and logistics issues. The great amount of rain in Brazil brings hope for traders and brokers for a greater crop in 2023. Yet, the high inflation and gridlock logistics provide reason for concern as well as heightened uncertainties regarding the weather, altogether putting pressure to increase coffee prices.

Following the next release on the currently ICE New York stocks, its more evidence on the decrease amount of coffee in stock internationally. On Thursday, 23,814 sacks went down of commodity certified coffee compared to the decrease of 16,000 from the same day last year. Currently, the stocks of certified coffee totalled 1,110,084 sacks compared to a year ago which was 1,638,515 sacks. During a year of trade, the current stocks in New York of certified coffees decreased by over half a million sacks.

Another coffee-producing country that is showing concerns for the market is in Colombia. The second-largest Arabica beans producers had registered a downfall of 20% of their crop during the month of January. Last month produced 868,000 sacks of 60kg, contrasted to the 1.1 million produced a year ago in 2021. The Brazilian market has been quite solid throughout the week with almost no business taking place. The buyers started to increase their offer but are still limited with volume orders – in other words – buyers slightly increased their bidding price for coffee, but farmers are only selling coffee when needed.

Up to the 3rd of February, shipments from Brazil were at 2,516,260 bags of Arabica beans, 88,193 bags of Robusta beans and 280,970 bags of instant coffee – totalling an export amount of 2,885,423 sacks. Compared to the same dates in December they were 3,387,495 sacks. compared to the same date last year’s total of 4,100,133 sacks.

Altogether, we have noticed the increase in prices and how the ICE keeps on pushing the prices up. There is added pressure due to the shortages of supply from Brazil’s 2022, yet positive climate news regarding more rain may bring a little ease of pressure on the upcoming markets in 2023.

All the best,

Calum

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Weekly Coffee Report: Coffee Market Finds Balance

by with No Comment Coffee Reports

3/2/2022

Dear all coffee aficionados, coffee lovers, coffee roasters and anyone who spares ten minutes to read our coffee report – I hope you find it useful.

Last week, the coffee market showed many ups and downs in the New York commodity exchange. The New York Stock Exchange ISE Futures, contracts were on an upcycle for most of the day with the maximum value reaching 2.3790 USD/lbs and the minimum value at 2.3030 USD/lbs at their lowest rate.

Update

Overall, there was balance throughout the week. During the fourth week of 2022, after all of this, there was a decrease of 200 points on the commodities exchange market for coffee. Last week, during the third week of 2022, there was another 175-point decrease. However, during the second week of 2022, markets went up by 120 points and during the first week, there were gains of 1235 points. Overall, coffee has accumulated gains at 980 points by the end of the first month of 2022. Coffee contracts ending in March 2022 are valued at 2.2610 per pound. We continue with our belief that market trends are on the up as there are shortages of green coffee beans. This reflects short-term speculation and regulation of the market itself by operators who can buy and sell coffee futures contracts.

Nevertheless, the rains from the Brazilian summertime have brought hopes for brokers and coffee people that the upcoming 2023 harvest will be plentiful – all that is needed to increase the coffee stock ICE. However, there are still shortages of people offering to sell green coffee on spot. There are worries about the Brazilian production downturn and the global supplying issues that occurred in 2021 such as logistics, backlogs, COVID-19, weather irregularities, low stocks, high costs for fertilisers, agriculture defensives, and inflation overall in the Brazilian market.

At the same time, the Brazilian market itself has not been operating as much due to most coffee farmers putting less of their crop of 2021 on sale in 2022. There are few buyers starting to make bids at the asking price that coffee farmers are asking for hence there is very little movement occurring in the physical Brazilian coffee market. Stocks of ICE certified coffees in New York are at 1,280,626 sacks while a year ago there were 1,618,809 sacks – a drop by 331,000 sacks.

The Brazilian president has approved the budget for 2022 which has brought good news for coffee farmers. FUNCAFÉ, a fund allocated to defend struggling coffee producers, had increased its value by 1.7% compared to the previous year. This was due to extensive lobbying by coffee farmers in need of greater government assistance needed due to the frost in 2021. This FUNCAFÉ is valued at 1.2 billion USD and 6,079,685,650.00 BRL.

Good News

Following the reports of the Brazilian Coffee Association of Industries, instant coffee exporters had exported their coffee to 98 countries from Brazil in 2021. This has amounted for over 4.09 million sacks of 60 kg. This is a historical record compared to 2020 where there’s been an increase of 0.6% of 4.07 million sacks. Up to the 27th of January, the shipments from Brazil abroad of coffee had totalled 1,547,596 sacks of Arabica beans, 35,117 sacks of Robusta beans and 211,060 sacks of instant coffee. This totals to an amount of 1,793,773 sacks shipped out of Brazil compared to 2,207,546 sacks on the same day in December. Up to the 27th of January, requests for issuing certificates regarding orders of origin for the month of January had totalled 2,844,171sacks compared to 3,493,896 sacks on the same day of the previous month.

Thank you very much for reading our report,

All the best,

Calum

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How Frost Has Impacted Brazil’s Coffee Farmers.

by with No Comment Coffee Reports

This report will not be focusing on the historical frost of 24/07/2021. As the market assesses the damages and coffee farmers lobby the Brazilian government for help, the market coffee on spot marketplace will offer unseen high prices for a while. This report will show the principles behind the price rise trend before the impact of the frost:

1st the pandemic impact on the farmers; the fear of lockdowns and retail industry closing doors such as roasteries and cafes made farmers hedge part of their future crops at cooperatives at prices at U$D 1.2 – 1.3 cents per lb weight.

2nd the drought of October, November and early December 2020 pushed again prices up. Farmers that have not hedged before, were again attracted to close future contracts delivering coffee to cooperatives. By price climbing to U$D 1.6 – 1.75 cents per lb coffee producers seems to become eager to hedge a small share. Yet to wait as the market forces finally strengthen the coffee producer position that had installed irrigation.

3rd Stock Levels of green coffee at consuming countries such as USA, Japan and Europe are at a historical low level on the beginning of 2021. After a Nestle reports that regardless of the lockdowns Nestle coffee consumption growth organically at 3.5 %. The demand of coffee only went from cafes to home brew during the pandemic.

4th Logistics and infrastructure bottlenecks in the global trade supply of containers also damages the supply flow of coffee. ON the 23rd of March Ever Given blocked the Suez Canal leading to major ship congestion in major ports such as Rotterdam, Kilindini Harbour – Mumbassa, Djibouti Ethiopia container shortage and New Orleans, LA. Staff shortages affecting harvest and farm labour to major shipping lines. All together with major strikes in Colombia’s major docks proved that 2021 shipping containers were more challenging than ever.

5th Vaccination programmes in the US and Western Europe drives consumption back to new heights. Cafes, restaurants, hotels, retail, and major roasteries start to place new orders and search for contracts. The rise in demand however will be halted by a strong frost on the 24/07/2021. Pushing prices over the U$D 2.00 cents per lb. making commercial coffee the prices of low-grade specialty coffee beans. Rates not seen since 2014.

The impact at origin of the frost will be assessed at the next post. This post offer context and highlight the structural challenges the coffee supply has gone through in the last 24 months. Large commercial roasters that are orientated on low prices will have a more challenging picture that those roasters focused on quality in the next months.

Supposably, the coffee prices continue to increase we should be put in perspective. Many farmer’s objective is to achieves NY futures prices. But what if the prices reach U$3.00 cents per lb? Roasters would be paying about U$4 – U$5 cents per lb. resulting on a coffee bag being sold at U$660 for 60kg sack (farmers getting U$D 400 per 60kg sacks), or £510 for green coffee. £10 per kg on green coffee (already discounting the 15 % weigh loss). The pass on charges will be passed on to the café, or retail. A café that sells a cup of coffee at £2.5 can extract some 50 cups for each kg. making £125 per kg.

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Introduction To Our Coffee Reports

by with No Comment Coffee Reports

This is the first of a weekly informative and trend-based report focused on all Coffee. It will be written by Calum Maciel Brough – founder of Cal’s Coffee – UK-based green coffee importer and distributor.


The report will be based upon coffee data gathered from sources in Brazil, such as Globo Rural, Escritorio Carvalhaes, ABIC, Canal Rural, Revista Rural. This will be combined with information from the International coffee association, ICE Coffee futures trends and reports, other importers sources and major Brazilian cooperatives such as Cooxupe and Cocapec.

Finally, the most important sources of Cal’s Reports will be the farmers family in the Alta Mogiana region; Paulo Ribeiro Maciel, Fernanda Maciel Raucci and Felipe Maciel Raucci; together with data shared by larger coffee producers such as Gabriel Oliveira senior and his son Gabriel from Bom Jesus aka Labareda.


The outcome of the report is to share what is happening in the grounds of Brazil, by the farmer’s view. To inform trends and coffee facts to all enthusiasts, coffee shops, roasters and all people interested in discovering the coffee industry. As Cal’s is based between the UK and Brazil these two will be the focus to most of the reports.

Mundo Novo variety

Effects Of Coronavirus On Brazilian Coffee Farmers.

by with No Comment Blog

First of all, yes, the situation in Brazil is very serious. I wish to share the feedback I am getting from my relatives in Brazil both farmers and city folk alike. Brazil is made of 25 states and the capital district and each state reacted differently. Sao Paulo state where all our farms are located was the first state to have cases, went in lockdown and is trying to be under control.

The drop in Specialty Coffee shops and it’s demand.


I received from both my coffee growing aunt’s Fernanda and Rita a message that the coffee consumption worldwide went up by volume, during the early lockdown. However, the worldwide stockpile of roasted coffee in chains like Starbooks, Pret Organic, Costa and others was felt by larger coffee farms and cooperatives that have access to those markets. Gabriel son, my close friend told me in the begging of lockdown 2nd week of March, how Australia was being affected. (Gabriel son, from Bom Jesus farm has a direct trade relationship established in Ozzy land). The farms that had access to Nestle, Illy, Lavazza, Stockler/InterAmerica, large cooperativees – like Cocapec, Cooxupe, have successfully sold the residuals of 2019/20 harvest to them.

The Exchange rate and Coffee farmers


The clearest impact on the day to day life os farmers was the spike in the U$D to the Brazilian currency R$ (Reais) on the months of March to May. It allowed the coffee prices for commodity type coffee to sit at a decent price for the farmers. The Farmers that at the time closed future contracts – agreed with buyers to sell their coffee in the future closed great coffee businesses. However, in June as the New Harvest 2020/21 arriving and USA manifestations started the great fall performed by the U$D and dragging the overall commodity coffee prices down.

Forecasts, New harvest and staff during COVID-19


The need for speciality market and direct trade will be exposed on the coming months. The harvest carried on in Brazil and most staff managed to carry on their tasks with self-isolation measures. The quality of the coffee is being truly remarkable. Yet the traditional exodus of farm workers moving from region to region looking for jobs in farms that do not have a fixed staff was completely stopped. As the government is subsidising their wages, with a universal benefit. What used to take 3-4 months to finish harvest might be extended for 5 months of harvesting, going up to mid/end of August. What might mean an over supply of great quality coffee when the world is exiting lockdowns in September. To keep paying the farmers independently from the fluctuating and volatile coffee markets the need for transparency and traceability will be highlighted by the world post- covid-19.

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Why some Coffee brands are synonymous of quality and others are not.

by with No Comment Blog

Why some Coffee brands are synonymous with quality and others are not.

Today I just had a coffee that was simply not right. But have you ever thought why some brands are seen as better than others? Illy > Nescafe, Lavazza > Kenco, Taylors > Aldi coffee.

Brands such as Illy, Lavazza, are a traditional offer as synonymous of quality of coffee in the European continent and compared to instant coffee. That in some cases add flavours in an attempt to improve flavours. Yet the quality benchmark established from Illy is being passed by current medium and large independent roasters such as Caravan, Squire Mile or Unio Hand Roast.

What some brands do that enable them to captive the public attention? Most important is their understanding over the complexity in coffee. From the seed to the raw coffee (green bean). The same coffee with same flavour and characteristics can be distributed and traded in different ways. Most Brazilian farmers have at least the first set of dry mills machinery (Beneficio in Brazilain Portuguese) that simply remove the husks and skins.

But with the full set of dry mills machinery at the origin warehouse we can separate the same batch of coffee in 7-9 different sizes that can be traded for different markets. In the Middle East most coffee sold to consumers are roasted and grind very fine so the smaller beans size 12&13 from Brazilian producers is sold to that market. Illy in Italy often buys 14&15 sizes as it is relatively consistent to roast, you can buy quality at accessible price and Illy than grinds for consumer or buys larger sizes to supply roasted cafes.

The 4th Wave orientated by Australians and New Zealanders seek the bigger beans and flavour and is the root Independent roasters in the UK are doing. Bigger beans are more appealing, more expensive and easier to roast as it is more consistent. But most Brazilian coffee is sold 16 up which is about 40% of the Brazilian crop, we bring 17& 18 sizes which is only 20 % of the crop produced by farmers.

We must see that the good thing in coffee is that all coffee can be used and there is little waste when each different bean is used to different things.

We only work with the best farms in Brazil, from award winning coffee to humble farmers who are new to the scene. We try and bring great coffee to the masses and put a little bit if extra income in the farmers pocket.

If you would like to some of our wholesale prices for our Brazilian speciality coffee, get in touch here.