Articles de revues sur le sujet « Specialty coffee producers »

Abstract The distinctive and special taste of Indonesian coffees has been renowned in the world coffee market. In the coffee’s production system at the farm level, the term specialty coffee typically refers to sustainable coffee. To keep up and maintain the uniqueness of specialty coffees’ tastes, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham) of Indonesia has issued the Geographical Indication certification on coffees. Understanding consumers’ preferences are very important to be able to identify the market, enabling producers and businesses to promote their products in a better way. This study revealed the consumers’ preferences for North Sumatera specialty coffees and investigate the problems in marketing them. The conclusions are: the coffee’s taste is the most important factor for consumers in deciding the coffee shop to buy specialty coffees; the medium acidity level (sour taste) is the most important factor for consumers in choosing specialty coffees to buy; and consumers prefer Sidikalang Robusta coffee the most, followed by Sumatera Mandheling and Sumatera Simalungun Arabica coffee.

Smallholder coffee producers are the foundation of the specialty coffee industry and are currently facing a set of challenges that threaten the sustainability of the industry. Movement towards a more sustainable specialty coffee sector requires strong collaboration between interdisciplinary researchers and industry stakeholders to develop research projects and interventions that address critical social, economic, and environmental threats to the industry. To improve upon past sector initiatives it is essential that cross-sector collaboration better incorporate and center coffee farmers’ voices, which have often been absent from top-down interventions. This article describes one such collaboration, which investigated agronomic and market system needs of the Guatemalan smallholder coffee sector. We conducted participatory interviews with 33 coffee producers and 22 non-producer key informants, and used mixed-methods analysis of the interview data to better understand the key challenges facing smallholder coffee producers in Guatemala. The following factors emerged: pests and diseases, climate change, price, labor, nutrient management, market access, yield, nurseries and transplants, and technical assistance. Cross-sector, interdisciplinary collaborations that directly address these areas would directly improve the long-term sustainability of the coffee industry by reducing pressures currently limiting specialty coffee production. This research framework can also serve as a model for others interested in conducting interdisciplinary, cross-sector research.

This paper addresses the understandings of quality recognized by diverse actors along the coffee chain with focus on specialty coffee producers. In the specialty coffee niche, the assessment of (physical) quality acts as a coordination device among chain actors that enables the identification of divergences on how quality is practiced. This paper aims to uncover how quality attributes (e.g., physical, symbolic) are understood (perceived) by value chain actors and are interwoven with quality conventions (e.g., market, green). Explorative interviews were carried out with Colombian producers located in selected coffee regions. A cupping exercise (tasting of coffee) was organized with producers. Afterwards, another informal cupping was done with roasters in Vienna, Austria. By coupling the concepts of quality attributes and conventions, the paper proposes a theoretical framework that connects quality attributes, conventions and the links to value addition (i.e., from parchment coffee to roasted coffee). Results show that the understandings of quality produce risky battles and ruptures among producers to follow certain conventions. The divergences, risky battles and ruptures in the understandings of quality acknowledged by producers are not only based on “roaster-driven” quality definitions penetrating the producers’ community, or the (individual) knowledge gained by producers, but also on the regulatory framework pursued by producers in a country with a strong coffee federation aiming to legitimize and safeguard the product’s reputation. To what extent is sound experimentation allowed, and direct exchange and interaction between producers, buyers and roasters desirable? Specialty coffee represents a differentiation alternative for small producers located in remote rural areas. Therefore, a transparent and inclusive dialogue between chain actors is required to reduce the divergences in the understandings of quality to balance the value appropriation along the chain.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the early stages of the transition to specialty coffee in Burundi and the role of an agribusiness support program as a catalyst for this transition. Design/methodology/approach This study uses two years of panel data (2007 and 2012) to analyze changes in technology adoption among coffee washing stations (CWSs) and how the adoption of improved technologies affects coffee quality. Findings Programmatic investment in Burundi’s coffee value chain resulted in a significant shift in adoption of processing technologies by CWSs. Producers who processed at these stations saw a significant increase in the quality of their coffee and forged sustainable trade relationships with international buyers. Research limitations/implications Future research should investigate the incentives and barriers of producers to invest in production boosting practices. Originality/value This is one of the first empirical papers that analyzes Burundi’s transition from ordinary to specialty coffee and how programmatic investments in improved technologies has helped to make the change possible.

ABSTRACT Brazil represents approximately 29% of the world’s coffee exports, with 15% of that being "specialty coffee." Most Brazilian coffee exports are composed of commoditized green beans, influencing the value chain to be grounded on an exchange paradigm. This scenario started to change with the introduction of specialized coffee shops, coffee capsules for home consumption, and demand for a more artisanal product. A paradigm of value creation along the chain drives production processes that aim to differentiate products through superior coffee beans and unique experiences. This study was developed through content analysis of 15 years of news collected from two Brazilian newspapers. Additionally, we interviewed owners of coffee shops, coffee producers, cooperatives, intermediaries, and regulators. We concluded that the value chain faces challenges in reaching higher value-in-use creation for all involved actors.

In Mexico, coffee crop is strategic for peasant and globalized economy. The paper discuss peasant strategies and global value chain in Otomi-Tepehua region, in Hidalgo Mexico. We use participant observations and in-depth interviews. Peasant coffee producers faced adverse environment with limited institutional support, they are related to low add-value chain. Peasant strategies and family work in: milpa, cafetal and chilar enabled the coffee crops continuity. Cooperative production is an alternative to produce rents in specialty markets.

Learning outcomes The main pedagogical objectives of the case are: illustrate how Latin American companies dedicated to the production and harvesting of commodities can be vertically integrated to gain a larger share of the value created throughout the production chain. Understand how futures and options contracts in commodities can be used to hedge price risk on long and short positions in the underlying products. Understand how option contracts add value by hedging risk in those contexts where the counterparty has optionality. Discuss the implications of Fair Trade for commodity traders and producers. Case overview/synopsis In the case, Hernan Arosamena, CFO of The Specialty Coffee Trading Co. (TSCT), faces the challenge of designing an effective strategy to hedge the price risk caused by the increasing demand of the so-called Fair Trade coffee. Hernan Arosamena decides to review how the company has typically managed the price risk in its business transactions using future contracts to then incorporate the additional elements that trading Fair Trade coffee may entail. The typical price risk hedging strategy involves the use of coffee future contracts in long and short positions to ensure that the company obtains the desired margin in its coffee trading negotiations. To hedge the exposure to the risk of fluctuations in the price of coffee when the company sells Fair Trade coffee requires the additional use of put options. Complexity academic level The case is appropriate for students enrolled in courses or specialization programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 5: International Business.

Abtract: The emergence of classification and orientation of coffee farmers that focuses on preserving local values and aims solely for commercialization has created a marketing contest for processed coffee products in the Gayo highlands. Based on this, this study aims to identify how the contestation that occurs at the level of gayo coffee marketing along with the actors involved in it. That is, this article wants to explain the understanding and practice of contestation that occurs between coffee farmers with various farming practices with specialty coffee producers and export-based coffee producers. By using a qualitative method with a descriptive type, the researcher tries to understand (verstehen) so that the intensity of the interaction between the researcher and the subject emerges. So that efforts to capture meaning from the point of view and appreciation of coffee processing business actors on their motives and choices of actions in managing coffee agricultural products will be revealed. The results show that there are two main actors in the coffee marketing model in the Gayo highlands, namely cooperative-based farmer groups representing export market schemes and roasting companies representing regional and national market schemes.Abstrak: Munculnya klasifikasi dan orientasi petani kopi yang berfokus pada pelestarian nilai lokal serta bertujuan untuk komersialisasi semata telah memunculkan kontestasi pemasaran produk olahan kopi di dataran tinggi Gayo. Berdasarkan hal tersebut, studi ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi bagaimana kontestasi yang terjadi di aras pemasaran kopi gayo beserta dengan aktor yang terlibat di dalamnya. Artinya, artikel ini ingin menjelaskan tentang pemahaman dan praktek kontestasi yang terjadi diantara para petani kopi dengan ragam praktik bertani dengan produsen kopi specialty dan produsen kopi berbasis ekspor. Dengan menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan tipe deskriptif, peneliti berusaha memahami (verstehen) sehingga muncul intensitas dari interaksi antara peneliti dengan subjek. Sehingga upaya menangkap makna dari sudut pandang dan penghayatan para pelaku usaha pengolahan kopi atas motif dan pilhan tindakan mereka dalam mengelola hasil pertanian kopi akan bisa diungkap. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa ada dua aktor utama dalam model pemasaran kopi di dataran tinggi Gayo yaitu kelompok petani berbasis koperasi yang mewakili skema pasar ekspor dan perusahaan roasting yang mewakili skema pasar regional dan nasional.

<p align="center">ABSTRAK</p><p align="center"><strong> </strong></p><p>Uni Eropa merupakan importir kopi terbesar di dunia yang menyerap hampir setengah produksi kopi dunia, dan menjadi pasar global terbesar untuk kopi berbasis keberlanjutan yang bernilai tinggi. Namun sebagai salah satu produsen kopi terbesar dunia yang mengekspor produk kopi ke lebih dari 60 negara, pangsa Indonesia di pasar Uni Eropa masih sangat kecil jika dibandingkan dengan negara produsen kopi lainnya seperti Brazil dan Vietnam. Faktor yang menjadi penyebabnya adalah standar pasar Uni Eropa dikenal sangat tinggi terhadap mutu dan keamanan kopi, bahkan seringkali melebihi standar internasional pada umumnya. Di sisi lain, kemampuan Indonesia untuk memproduksi kopi yang sesuai standar tersebut relatif masih kecil yang diakibatkan oleh produsen kopi yang didominasi oleh petani kecil dengan kapasitas dan kapabilitas yang terbatas untuk memenuhi standar keberlanjutan yang menjadi tuntutan pasar, sehingga perlu upaya khusus untuk meningkatkan pangsa ekspor kopi Indonesia ke wilayah tersebut. Untuk itu, Indonesia membutuhkan beberapa terobosan yang perlu didukung oleh semua pemangku kepentingan di dalam negeri, mulai dari level usahatani hingga strategi ekspor. Pada level usahatani, peningkatan produktivitas dan efisiensi usahatani, kualitas produk dan resiliensi petani perlu diperkuat, khususnya terkait dengan sistem produksi kopi yang berkelanjutan. Untuk meningkatkan ekspor kopi Indonesia di pasar Uni Eropa, langkah utama yang harus dilakukan adalah memperhatikan aspek keberlanjutan. Sedangkan strategi ekspor yang harus dilakukan sesuai dengan prioritasnya adalah: pemilihan saluran distribusi dan penetapan harga produk, pemilihan pedagang dan rekanan dagang, mengoptimalkan peran industri pengolahan dan asosiasi kopi, layanan daring, mengikuti pameran dagang dan pelatihan ekspor yang sering diselenggarakan oleh negara-negara Uni Eropa.</p><p align="center">ABSTRACT</p><p><em> </em></p><p>European Union (EU) is the world's largest coffee importer that takes up more than half of global coffee production, as well as the largest global market for high value and sustainability-based coffee products. However, as one of the main coffee producers which supply coffee products to more than 60 countries, Indonesian share to the EU coffee market was relatively low, compared to other main producing countries (i.e. Brazil and Vietnam). It is caused by the very high and strict standard for coffee quality and safety in EU market which often exceeds the international standards in general. On the other hand, Indonesian coffee production that meet the EU standard relatively low as the result of the domination of small-scale coffee producers in Indonesia which have low capacity and capability in fulfilling the sustainability and export standard so that it needs to reformulate the strategies to expand the Indonesian coffee market in the EU region. Therefore, strategic and action plans are needed and supported by policy makers and stake holders (i.e. on-farm level through increasing productivity, efficiency, quality and farmers resiliency in order to meet the sustainability and export quality standard), the selection of distribution channels and product pricing, the selection of traders and trading partners, empowering specialty roasters, small-scale roasters, coffee associations, online services, as well as coffee trade exhibition and exports training which often organized by European Union countries.</p>

The increase in coffee consumption for the last few years, especially for specialty coffee, becomes an opportunity to develop the local coffee market in Indonesia. In terms of developing local coffee, consumers’ sensory quality knowledge plays a vital role for coffee producer and marketer to increase sales. Taking this fact into account, the purpose of this study was to establish the quality of the sensory attributes of two selected local Indonesian coffee grown in Cianjur and Pangalengan, West Java. This study also aims to determine consumer perceptions of the attributes. Quality of the sensory attributes was evaluated by three certified panelists from the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute using cup testing method according to Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) standard, while consumer perception was studied based on gap analysis between perceived importance and performance of the sensory attributes, assessed by 35 participants. Result revealed that the coffees had passed specialty grade and customer satisfaction, indicating the great potential for their market development. However, improvements in several sensory attributes such as flavour, aftertaste, and balance still need to be done.

Abstract As one of the most consumed beverages in the world, coffee plays many major socioeconomical roles in various regions. Because of the wide coffee varieties available in the marketplaces, and the substantial price gaps between them (e.g., Arabica versus Robusta; speciality versus commodity coffees), coffees are susceptible to intentional or accidental adulteration. Therefore, there is a sustaining interest from the producers and regulatory agents to develop protocols to detect fraudulent practices. In general, strategies to authenticate coffee are based on targeted chemical profile analyses to determine specific markers of adulterants, or nontargeted analyses based on the “fingerprinting” concept. This paper reviews the literature related to chemometric approaches to discriminate coffees based on nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, chromatography, infrared/Raman spectroscopy, and array sensors/indicators. In terms of chemical profiling, the paper focuses on the detection of diterpenes, homostachydrine, phenolic acids, carbohydrates, fatty acids, triacylglycerols, and deoxyribonucleic acid. Finally, the prospects of coffee authentication are discussed.

ABSTRACT Specialty coffees can be differentiated in various ways, including the environmental conditions in which they are produced and the sensory composition of the drink. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of altitude, slope exposure and fruit color on the sensory attributes of cafes of the region of Matas de Minas. Sampling points were georeferenced in four altitude ranges (< 700 m; 700 ≤ x ≤ 825 m, 825 < x < 950 m and ≥ 950 m) of the coffee crop; two fruit colors of var. Catuaí (yellow and red); and two slope exposures (North-facing and South-facing). Coffee fruit at the cherry stage were processed and submitted to sensory analysis. The sensory attributes evaluated were overall perception, clean cup, balance, aftertaste, sweetness, acidity, body and flavor, which made up the final score. The scores were examined by ANOVA and means were compared by the Tukey test (p ≤ 0.05). From the sensory standpoint, coffee fruits of both colors are similar, as well as the coffees from both slope exposures when these factors were analyzed separately. However, at higher altitudes, Yellow Catuaí produces coffees with better sensory quality. Similarly, coffees from North-facing slopes, at higher altitudes produce better quality cup. The altitude is the main factor that interferes with coffee quality in the area. All factors together contribute to the final quality of the beverage produced in the region of Matas de Minas.

Indonesian specialty coffee farmer organization is established by Government of Indonesia (GoI) for managing coffee production, processing, and marketing in farmer group level. Through farm-level industrialization program, the GoI supported coffee farmer organizations in several specialty coffee producing regions for increasing farmers’ livelihoods. These farmer organizations are encouraged to produce higher quality of coffee in term of specialty coffee and link directly with buyers. Therefore, the farmer groups would obtain the profits that can be shared to the members of farmer organizations. This research aims firstly to understand the performances, challenges and risk management of specialty coffee business on farmer organizations level across Indonesia, and secoundly to understand the profits gained by specialty coffee farmer organizations. The research has been conducted in several specialty coffee producing regions, including Bali, East Java, Flores and South Sulawesi. The case study and ethnography were carried out by collecting data through direct observation and in depth interviews. Number of respondents were 27 producer organizations which were selected by judgement sampling method. The data were analyzed by using descriptive method and profit analysis. The research results show that alternative model of value chain interventions (VCIs) is required for improving the profits of specialty coffee business on farmer organizations level and farmers’ livelihoods. Maximization the VCIs to increase the benefits for farmers, the VCIs should be conducted by incorporating both off-farm and on-farm aspects.

Organic coffee is one of several types of speciality coffees selling at a premium over mainstream coffees because of distinct origin and flavour, environment-friendly production or socio-economic concerns for the smallholder coffee growers. The demand for organic coffee in Western Europe, North America and Japan exceeds the present supply, which is still small (<1% of annual world production). More than 85% of organic coffees come from Latin America and practically all is (washed) arabica coffee. The production of certified organic coffee follows the principles of organic farming developed in Europe and the United States out of concern for the perceived negative effects of conventional high-input agriculture on health and environment. It claims superior ecological sustainability in combination with sound economic viability. A rather complex and expensive system of certification has to be passed before such coffees can be sold as truly organic. Growers adhering to the strict rules of organic coffee production may to some extent share the concern of the health- and environment-conscious consumers, but they are motivated primarily by the economic benefits from the premium received for certified organic coffee. Nevertheless, there appears to be considerable injustice between the extreme preconditions demanded for ‘organics’ by the largely urban consumer of the industrialized world and the modest rewards received by the organic coffee growers for their strenuous efforts. From an agronomic point of view, there is also considerable ground for criticism on the principles of organic farming when applied to coffee. For instance, to sustain economically viable yield levels (1 t green coffee ha−1 year−1) large additional amounts of composted organic matter will have to come from external sources to meet nutrient requirements (especially N and K). Most smallholders will be unable to acquire such quantities and have to face declining yields. Organic farming does not necessarily reduce incidence of diseases and pests below economically harmful thresholds, while the humid conditions of heavily shaded coffee may actually stimulate the outbreak of others. These and other aspects peculiar to the preconditions of organic coffee production are addressed in this review. It is concluded that the concept of organic farming in its strict sense, when applied to coffee, is not sustainable and also not serving the interests of the producer and consumer as much as the proponents would like us to believe. On the other hand, agronomically and economically sustainable coffee production is feasible by applying best practices of crop production and post-harvest processing.

Coffee commodity is one of the commodities that is the main target of the priority sub-agenda for agro-industry improvement. Indonesia is the fourth largest producer in the world and makes coffee one of the leading plantation commodities. Robusta coffee in Babakan Madang District is one of the coffees that has the potential to be developed because it is a specialty type of coffee that has a distinctive taste and has a wide-open market. However, inadequate marketing due to low prices at the farm level is one of the problems for Robusta coffee in Babakan Madang District. This study aims to analyze the structure, conduct, performance of Robusta coffee in Babakan Madang District, Bogor Regency. Data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively using the approach structure, conduct, performance (SCP). The result of this research is there are 6 established marketing channels, with channel II having the largest sales volume. Analysis of the market structure formed for the marketing of Robusta coffee is monopolistic competition at the farmer level. The level of village collector traders is oligopoly, large trader 1 and large trader 2 monopoly. The Robusta coffee market is very highly concentrated. Barriers to market entry are high for new competitors. In market behavior, the marketing functions performed by each marketing agency are exchange, physical, and facility functions. The price determination at the farm level is carried out by the marketing agency, then at the merchant level the price is determined by themselves. In market performance, the margin value and farmer's share efficient are obtained from channel VI, because on this channel the smallest margin value and they are obtained farmer share largest.

The shift from Fordism to post-Fordism in the United States introduced vast changes to production and consumption practices. In contrast to the commercial enterprises of Fordism, the post-Fordist economy relies on fast-changing tastes and small, niche markets along with new cultural forms for inducing consumption and anchoring identities. This article focuses on the specialty (or “third wave”) coffee industry, where coffee is treated similarly to wine, which I argue is emblematic of a post-Fordist economy. Relying on data collected from over a year of ethnographic fieldwork, I argue that the specialty coffee industry represents a qualitative shift in the coffee industry, one that produces a new niche market and consumer base that commoditizes sensory experiences as embodied class dispositions. I argue that baristas perform a kind of labor that I term “minimum-wage connoisseurship,” where they receive minimum wage (and tips) along with additional payment in cultural and social capital that elevates their status as well as manufacture’s consent for dedicating their time, in and outside of work, and their bodies to the organization.

Purpose – Within the context of widespread donor support for producer organizations, the purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of interventions aimed at rescuing a failed cooperative and improving performance and business linkages between grower-suppliers and international markets through enterprise development. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports a case study of a Nicaraguan coffee cooperative, Soppexcca, which received substantial donor support at the time of the international coffee crisis between 1999 and 2004. The study used a framework of organizational structure, strategy, empowerment, and performance to assess business performance and sustainability. Quantitative and qualitative data collection focussed on asset building and changes during the period 2005-2009. Findings – Soppexcca achieved major advances in asset building. External interventions played a pivotal role in building organizational capacity to respond to buyers’ demands and market-related shocks. Support was received not only from donors but also from supply chain partners and third-sector organizations. However, important gaps remain, and addressing these gaps requires changes in Soppexcca and sustained support. Research limitations/implications – As a case study, findings cannot be readily generalized but the implications will be of significance beyond the coffee sector in Nicaragua, wherever and in whatever sector building cooperative capacity is an important development objective. Social implications – Experience with Soppexcca shows that the creation of sustainable collective organizations is a long-term process, particularly in respect of building human capital. Originality/value – The paper examines enterprise development using concepts of capital asset formation and cooperative performance, and argues the significance of effective links between value chain stakeholders as well as internal cooperative performance.

COLHEITA DO CAFÉ DE QUALIDADE: CUSTO E RETORNO PARA OS PRODUTORES DA REGIÃO DE MANTIQUEIRA DE MINAS - MG LUCAS SILVEIRA1, MAURA SEIKO TSUTSUI ESPERANCINI2, FRANKLIN DE SOUZA BARBOSA3, ROGÉRIO PERES SORATTO4 1 Departamento de Engenharia Rural e Socioeconomia, Universidade Estadual Paulista ‘Júlio de Mesquita Filho’, Av. Universitária, 3780 – Altos do Paraíso, 18610-034, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brasil. silveiralucas@live.com 2 Departamento de Engenharia Rural e Socioeconomia, Universidade Estadual Paulista ‘Júlio de Mesquita Filho’, Av. Universitária, 3780 – Altos do Paraíso, 18610-034, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brasil. maura.seiko@unesp.br 3 Departamento de Engenharia Rural e Socioeconomia, Universidade Estadual Paulista ‘Júlio de Mesquita Filho’, Av. Universitária, 3780 – Altos do Paraíso, 18610-034, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brasil. franklin.barbosa@unesp.br 4 Departamento de Produção Vegetal, Universidade Estadual Paulista ‘Júlio de Mesquita Filho’, Av. Universitária, 3780 – Altos do Paraíso, 18610-034, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brasil. rogerio.soratto@unesp.br RESUMO: O segmento de cafés tornou-se um mercado bastante complexo no que tange gerenciamento das lavouras, gestão de custos de produção e comercialização das sacas de café produzidas. O objetivo deste estudo é verificar o impacto dos custos de diferentes métodos de colheita no preço final de venda, bem como verificar os ganhos monetários obtidos na produção de cafés especiais no município de Carmo de Minas (MG). Os dados deste estudo buscam subsidiar a tomada de decisão quanto ao tipo de colheita e aos retornos esperados em termos de preços de venda do produto. A metodologia adotada foi a de conversão das unidades de campo (balaios) para a unidade de comercialização do café (sacas de 60 kg). Os dados levantados permitem ao produtor desenvolver estratégias de manejo da lavoura de café para que atendam aos padrões do mercado, maximizando o retorno sobre os custos de colheita adotada. Dentre os métodos de colheita avaliados, a colheita manual selecionada tem maior potencial de retornos vantajosos para um sistema de produção de cafés especiais em Carmo de Minas (MG). Palavras-chaves: custo de colheita, cafés especiais, métodos de colheita. SPECIALTY COFFEE HARVEST: COST AND BENEFIT TO FARMERS IN THE MANTIQUEIRA DE MINAS AREA – MG ABSTRACT: Coffee market has become an overly complex market in terms of crop, cost, and sales management. The aim of this study was to verify the impact of different harvesting methods costs on sales price as well as to verify economic profits obtained by specialty coffees in Carmo de Minas (MG). The data addresses the decision-making regarding the picking system and the expected returns in terms of sales prices. The methodology foresees the conversion of field units (balaio) to coffee sales units (bags of 60 kg). The data collected allows the producer to develop coffee crop management strategies to come into the market standards, maximizing returns among the harvest costs. Amid the picking methods evaluated, the hand-picked coffee has the greatest potential for beneficial returns for a special coffee production system in Carmo de Minas (MG). Keywords: harvesting cost, specialty coffee, harvesting systems.

Tenom town is synonymous with coffee products for which it became one of Sabah's most popular agritourism destinations. However, the specialty of the Tenom coffee product that has attracted a lot of visitors is unknown. Therefore, research on the production characteristics and variation of these products based on coffee agritourism is relevant and worth investigating, in order to understand the specialties of the products and the types of products they offer. Specifically, this study aimed to identify the production characteristics and variation of coffee agritourism products in the Tenom district of Sabah. This study applied qualitative methods by interviewing factory supervisor in the Fatt Choi coffee industry. The theory of the definition of agritourism is applied to determine the definition of agritourism of Tenom coffee based on the attractions offered. The findings show that coffee production is based on the warm climate in the Tenom area. The Robusta and Arabica coffee varieties are coffee that suits the region. The coffee industry also produces a variety of coffee flavors. In addition to producing beverage products, Tenom coffee agro-tourism has created other attractions such as cafes, coffee farms, cabins, and cottages. In conclusion, Tenom coffee agritourism has the potential to grow to promote it as a competitive agritourism destination that can increase income while also benefiting the local community.

<em>Coffee is one of the flagship commodities in the international export market. Its function is important to the economy and encourages the development of world Agroindustries. The coffee beans physical and coffee flavor are the important components influenced by the genetic nature of plants, cultivation practices and growing environments and the interaction between these factors. The research aimed to detemine the beans physical quality and flavor of Gayo Arabica coffee Geographical Indications (GIs) based on the different altitudes. The research was conducted in Gayo Highlands, Aceh Tengah and Bener Meriah Districts. The stratified sampling method was conducted at an altitude of 1,000-1,500 masl (meter above sea level) and 1,500-1,750 masl, the land suitability classification included as S1 and S2 respectively. The variables observed were beans physical quality (weight of 100 Arabica coffee beans and value of defects) and flavor profile. Data were analyzed by independent sample t-test. The results showed that there were differences in the average weight of 100 Arabica coffee beans between S1 and S2 altitudes, but the defect value did not differ significantly. The other results showed that the coffee flavor profile of Arabica Gayo GIs in both districts and altitudes has a total score of 82.75-85.25 points and categorically as specialty coffee (excellent). In general, the S2 altitude of Gayo highland produces a physical quality of 100 Arabica coffee beans and flavor better than the S1 altitude.</em>

In this article, we analyze the waste and losses in the links of the cocoa value chain in the provinces of Cotopaxi and Pastaza. To this aim, information on the volumes of cocoa production in each province was described. Subsequently, the impact of the 2020 pandemic on cocoa production was analyzed. For this,the Student's t contrast was applied to this variable in the aforementioned provinces. Finally, a description was made of the intensity with which waste and losses are generated in the main links corresponding to the value chain of cocoa production. It was determined that the links of collection and extraction of grains, as well as that of grafting, were the most representative in the waste of the value chain. In the same way, considerable losses were evidenced in the handling of the product and the pruning of diseases or pests. Keywords: Art, cocoa, value chain, product losses, waste. 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This study attempted to examine upgrading opportunities and challenges for small coffee producers. The study followed a mixed-method approach, which combined qualitative and quantitative analysis. The study involved a survey of 214 coffee producers, in-depth interviews with several actors and stakeholders, and focus group discussions with two farmer groups. The study identified a growing demand for organic/specialty coffee, availability of farmer groups, promising rules and regulations as some of the opportunities for small coffee producers to diversify upgrading options. However, lack of investment capital, lower levels of farmers’ educational background, lack of continuous training, poor infrastructure and irrigation facilities, the high cost of machinery and processing materials, lack of technical knowledge to produce input and adopt new technologies were the major constraints for upgrading. The majority of producers have participated in product and process upgrading. A limited number of coffee growers have engaged in functional and channel upgrading. Vertical and horizontal coordination can play an important role in upgrading the chain to help farmers compete in wider markets. Therefore, a policy aimed to accelerate the coffee sector in the area could be successful if the opportunities and constraints are taken into consideration through horizontal and vertical coordination of actors.

Purpose The paper aims to understand the role of sensory quality scoring used at the competition auctions on pricing outcomes and how the auction process could be improved to increase sustainability in the specialty coffee market. Design/methodology/approach The authors build a conceptual model explaining the potential role of sensory quality scoring in generating inequitable outcomes in specialty coffee auctions. The authors' research is exploratory. The authors base the propositions on the findings of the extant literature and our analysis of data from 24 Best of Panama (BOP) Auctions that took place between 2017 and 2021. Findings A striking feature in recent BOP Auctions is a winner-takes-all (WTA) outcome. The authors also document the presence of significant price inversion. The authors attribute these outcomes to the interactions of information-poor producers, information-rich intermediaries and conspicuous consumers in competition auctions, where the product quality measurement is highly unreliable. Research limitations/implications Data need to be gathered more broadly to enable the operationalization of the current propositions into testable hypotheses. Social implications These strategies intend to provide guidelines for producers, consumers and other value chain participants on creating equitable solutions to a thriving industry where a WTA phenomenon occurs. Originality/value The current study is the first to argue that existing quality scoring practices, as well as conspicuous consumption, contribute to the inequities. Finally, the study proposes novel interventions to standardize the quality grading protocols and communicate them transparently to both producers and consumers.

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to assess the effects of quality coffee production on climate change adaptation using household surveys and interview data gathered from coffee farmers in Yirgacheffe, southern Ethiopia. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 352 households, stratified into conventional coffee farmers 232 (66%) and specialty coffee producers 120(34%), was used. The propensity score model for participating in quality coffee production was estimated using 14 covariates, and the impact of quality coffee production on adaptation to climate change adaptation was examined. The results are augmented with qualitative data collected through focus group discussions and key informant interviews held with randomly selected smallholder farmers. A telecoupling theoretical perspective was used to understand the link between coffee farmers’ adaptation practices and the demand for quality coffee, as coffee is a global commodity. Findings The PSM analysis reveals that quality coffee production positively influences climate change adaptation. This implies that conventional coffee producers would have performed better in adaptation to climate change if they had participated in quality coffee production. The results of group discussions also confirm the positive effects of quality coffee production on adaptation to climate change, which also suggests a positive spillover effects for sustainable coffee farm management. Practical implications This study suggests enhancing quality coffee production is essential if a more sustainable and climate change resilient coffee livelihood is envisioned. Originality/value Though many studies are available on adaptation to climate change in general, this study is one of the few studies focusing on the effects of quality coffee production on climate change adaptation by smallholders in one of the least developed countries, Ethiopia. This study provides a better understanding of the importance of adaptation strategies specific to coffee production, which in turn help develop a more resilient coffee sector, as coffee production is one of the most sensitive activity to climate change.

The coffee cultivation has historically had great importance in Rio de Janeiro's social-spatial organization, and it is once again in the spotlight of the state's economic scenario. The novelty is that the local production has been renewed, and, now, the state surpasses the old status of ‘low-quality coffee producer' and achieves the ‘specialty coffee' market which, in addition to quality, also values environmental, social and economic sustainabilities 1 . This change has caused a series of transformations in the social-spatial and economic realities of some municipalities in the state of Rio de Janeiro. This article analyses the possible sustainabilities existing in the production process of this new coffee profile, based on the reality of the municipality of Varre-Sai, located in the northwest of Rio de Janeiro state. The objective is to find out the main actors and to elucidate the political network involved in this process.

Mandheling coffee has been a well known specialty coffees for decades and the demand for this coffee is currently increasing. This coffee is characterised by low acidity, heavy-complex body, spicy-little earthy and fruity flavor. Mandheling coffee is produced by smallholder farmers in the highland surrounding Lake TobaNorth Sumatra in an unique way i.e. following de-pulping and 1–2 days sundrying, wet parchment is stored for varying periods up to a few weeks, the parchments are then de-hulled when still wet (40–45% moisture content) then the beans sundried. The handling procedure presumably contributes to the unique cup character of Mandheling coffee. On the other hand the storage of wet pachments may cause mould growth and mycotoxin contamination. This trial was designed to study the influence of storage of wet parchments prior to wet hulling on mould development, OTA contamination and cup Mandheling characteristic of the coffee product. The normal wet process, drying of parchment thoroughly to 12% moisture content was used as the control. Parchment coffees (6 lots) used for this trial were drawn from farmers and collectors in the region. The wet parchments (41.74–53.96% moisture content) were stored for 1 (D1), 7 (D7) and 14 (D14) days in PE sacks in a warehouse in the region. During the storage period, when there was visible mould growth, the parchments were spread on a plastic sheet inside the warehouse, as per common practice to suppress the mould growth. Following storage, the wet parchment was de-hulled and then sun-dried to a moisture content of 12% (MC12%) or dried to a moisture content of 17%, and held in storage for 3 weeks prior to final drying to 12% mc. The ‘normal wet process’ i.e. fresh-non stored parchments dried thoroughly to 12%, were used as the control. Parameters measured were visual evaluation, mould infestation, a w, moisture content (MC) on the stored parchment; while for dried beans mould infestation, OTA content and the Mandheling cup character evaluation (done by 4 panelists who were familiar to the coffee) were determined. Some mould species grew during the storage course, with black Aspergillus was the dominant species found in the beans, while A. ochraceusan OTA producer, was found in some samples with low infection rate (0–15.3%). Spreading of coffee inside the warehouse during the day could suppress moulds growth. OTA was found in only 5 samples out of 42 samples with range of 0.17–2.24 ppb, very less than European Union limit. There was no clear trend of storage period on the mould infection rates, OTA content, and the Mandheling cup characters. The high variability of the outcome was likely due to the inhomogenity of parchments used for this trial. The best Mandheling was found in the sample of D1-MC12%-coffee source of lot 1. Key words: Mandheling coffee, storage, wet parchment, mould, ochratoxin A.

In the 1980s, an extremely successful Nescafé Gold Blend coffee advertising campaign dared to posit, albeit subliminally, that a love relationship was inextricably linked to coffee. Over several years, an on-again off-again love affair appeared to unfold onscreen; its ups and downs narrated over shared cups of coffee. Although the association between the relationship and Gold Blend was loose at best, no direct link was required (O’Donohoe 62). The campaign’s success was its reprisal of the cultural myth prevalent in the West that coffee and love, coffee and relationships, indeed coffee and intimacy, are companionate items. And, the more stable lover, it would seem, is available on the supermarket shelf. Meeting for coffee, inviting a potential lover in for a late-night cup of coffee, or scheduling a business meeting in an espresso bar are clichés that refer to coffee consumption but have little to do with the actual product. After all, many a tea-drinker will invite friends or acquaintances “for coffee.” This is neatly acknowledged in a short romantic scene in the lauded feature film Good Will Hunting (1997) in which a potential lover’s suggestion of meeting for coffee is responded to smartly by the “genius” protagonist Will, “Maybe we could just get together and eat a bunch of caramels. [...] When you think about it, it’s just as arbitrary as drinking coffee.” It was a date, regardless. Many in the coffee industry will argue that coffee—rather than tea, or caramel—is legendary for its intrinsic capacity to foster and ignite new relationships and ideas. Coffee houses are repeatedly cited as the heady location for the beginnings of institutions from major insurance business Lloyd’s of London to the Boston Tea Party, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series of novels, and even Western Australian indie band Eskimo Joe. This narrative images the coffee house and café as a setting that supports ingenuity, success, and passion. It is tempting to suggest that something intrinsic in coffee renders it a Western social lubricant, economic powerhouse, and, perhaps, spiritual prosthesis. This paper will, however, argue that the social and cultural production of “coffee” cannot be dissociated from feeling. Feelings of care, love, inspiration, and desire constellate around “coffee” in a discourse of warm, fuzzy affect. I suggest that this blooming of affect is not superfluous but, instead, central to the way in which coffee is produced, represented and consumed in Western mass culture. By exploring the currently fashionable practice of “direct trade” between roasters and coffee growers as represented on the Websites of select Western roasting companies, the repetition of this discourse is abundantly clear. Here, the good feelings associated with cross-cultural friendship are figured as the condition and reward for the production of high quality coffee beans. Money, it seems, does not buy happiness—but good quality coffee can. Good (Colonial) Feelings Before exploring the discursive representation of friendship and good feeling among the global coffee community with regard to direct trade, it is important to account for the importance of feeling as a narrative strategy with political affects and effects. In her discussion of “happy objects,” cultural theorist of emotion Sara Ahmed argues that specific objects are associated with feelings of happiness. She gives the telling example of coffee as an object intimately tied with happy feeling within the family. So you make coffee for the family, and you know “just“ how much sugar to put in this cup and that. Failure to know this “just“ is often felt as a failure of care. Even if we do not experience the same objects as being pleasurable, sharing the family means sharing happy objects, both in the sense of sharing knowledge (of what makes others happy) and also in the sense of distributing the objects in the right way (Ahmed, Promise 47). This idea is derived from Ahmed’s careful consideration of affective economies. She suggests emotions neither belong to, or are manufactured by, discrete individuals. Rather, emotions are formed through social exchange. Relieved of imagining the individual as the author of affect, we can consider the ways in which affect circulates as a product in a broad, vitalising economy of feeling (Ahmed, Affective 121). In the example above, feelings of care and intimacy attached to coffee-making produce the happy family, or more precisely, the fleeting instant of the family-as-happy. The condition of this good feeling is not attributable to the coffee as product nor the family as fundamentally happy but rather the rippling of happy feeling through sharing of the object deemed happy. A little too much sugar and happiness is thwarted, affect wanes; the coffee is now bad(-feeling). If we return briefly to the Nescafé Gold Blend campaign and, indeed, Good Will Hunting, we can postulate following Ahmed that the coffee functions as a love object. Proximity to coffee is identified by its apparent causation of love-effects. In this sense, “doing coffee” means making a fleeting cultural space for feeling love, or feeling good. But what happens when we turn from the good feeling of consumption to the complex question of coffee production and trade? How might good feeling attach to the process of procuring coffee beans? In this case, the way in which good feeling seems to “stick to” coffee in mass culture needs to be augmented with consideration of its status as a global commodity traded across sociopolitical, economic, cultural and national borders. Links between coffee and colonialism are long established. From the Dutch East India Company to the feverish enthusiasm to purchase mass plantations by multinational corporations, coffee, colonialism and practices of slavery and indentured labour are intertwined (Lyons 18-19). As a globally traded commodity across a range of political regimes and national borders, tracing the postcolonial and neocolonial relations between multinational companies, small upscale boutique roasters, plantation owners, coffee bean co-ops, regulatory bodies, and workers is complex at best. In what may appear a tangential approach, it is nonetheless instructive to consider that colonial relations are constituted through affective components that support and fuel economic and political exchange (Stoler, Haunted). Again, Ahmed offers a useful context for the relationship between the imperative toward happiness and colonial representation. The civilizing mission can be redescribed as a happiness mission. For happiness to become a mission, the colonized other must be first deemed unhappy. The imperial archive can be described as an archive of unhappiness. Colonial knowledges constitute the other as not only an object of knowledge, a truth to be discovered, but as being unhappy, as lacking the qualities or attributes required for a happier state of existence (Ahmed, Promise 125). The colonising aspect of the relations Ahmed describes includes the “mission” to construct Others as unhappy. Understood as happiness detractors, colonial Others become objects that threaten the radiant appeal of happiness as part of an imperial moral economy. Hence, it is the happiness of the colonisers that is secured through the disavowal of the feelings of Others. Moreover, by documenting colonial unhappiness, colonising forces justify the sanctity of happiness-making through violence. As Ann Stoler affirms, “Colonial states had a strong interest in affective knowledge and a sophisticated understanding of affective politics” (Carnal 142). Colonising discourses, then, are inextricably linked to regimes of sense and feeling. Stoler also writes that European-ness was established through cultivation of an inner sense of self-worth associated with ethics, individuality and autonomy (Haunted 157). The development of a sense of belonging to Europe was hence executed through feeling good in both moral and affective senses of the word. Although Stoler argues her case in terms of the affective politics of colonial sexualities and desire, her work is highly instructive for its argument that emotion is crucial to structures of power in colonial regimes. Bringing Stoler’s work into closer proximity with Ahmed’s postulation of State happiness and its objects, I am now going to suggest that coffee is a palimpsestic cultural site at which to explore the ways in which the politics of good feeling obscure discomforting and complex questions of power, exploitation, and disadvantage in global economies of coffee production and consumption. Direct Trade In the so-called “third wave” specialty coffee market that is enjoying robust growth in Australia, America, and Europe, “direct trade” across the globe between roasters and plantation owners is consistently represented as friendly and intimate despite vast distances and cultural difference. The “third wave” is a descriptor that, as John Manzo describes in his sociological exploration of coffee connoisseurship in privileged Western online and urban fora, refers to coffee enthusiasts interested in brewing devices beyond high-end espresso machines such as the cold drip, siphon, or pour-over. Jillian Adams writes further that third wavers: Appreciate the flavour nuances of single estate coffee; that is coffee that is sourced from single estates, farms, or villages in coffee growing regions. When processed carefully, it will have a distinctive flavour and taste profile that reflects the region and the culture of the coffee production (2). This focus on single estate or “single origin” coffee refers to beans procured from sections of estates and plantations called micro-lots, which are harvested and processed in a controlled manner.The third wave trend toward single origin coffees coincides with the advent of direct trade. Direct trade refers to the growing practice of bypassing “middlemen” to source coffee beans from plantations without appeal to or restriction by regulatory bodies. Rather, as I will show below, relationships and partnerships between growers and importers are imagined as sites of goodwill and good feeling. This focus on interpersonal relationships and friendships cannot be disarticulated from the broader cross-cultural context at stake. The relationships associated with direct trade invariably take place across borders that are also marked by economic, cultural and political differences in which privileged Western buyers engage with non-Western growers on low incomes. Drawing from Ahmed’s concern that the politics of good feeling is tied to colonial nostalgia, it is compelling to suggest that direct trade is haunted by discourses of colonisation. At this point of intersection, I suggest that Western mass cultural associations of coffee with ease, intimacy and pure intentions invite consumers to join a neocolonial saga through partaking in imagined communities of global coffee friends. Particularly popular in Australia and America, direct trade is espoused by key third wave coffee roasters in Melbourne, Portland and Seattle. Melbourne Coffee Merchants are perhaps the most well-known importers of directly traded green bean in Australia. On their Web page they describe the importance of sharing good feelings about high quality coffee: “We aim to share, educate, and inspire, and get people as excited about quality coffee as we are.” A further page describing the Merchants’s mission explains, “Growers are treated as partners in the mission to get the worlds [sic] finest beans into the hands of discerning customers.” The quality of excitement that circulates through the procuring of green beans is related to the deemed partnership between Merchants and the growers. That is, it is not the fact of the apparent partnership or its banality that is important, but the treating of growers as partners that signifies Merchants’s mission to generate good feeling. This is a slight but crucial distinction. Treating the growers as partners participates in an affective economy of excitement and inspiration—how the growers feel is, presumably, in want of such partnership.Not dissimilarly, Five Senses Coffee, boutique roasters in Melbourne and Perth, offer an emotional bonus with the purchase of directly traded coffees. “So go on, select one of our Direct Trade products and bask in the warm glow you get knowing that the farmer who grew the beans that you’re enjoying is reaping the rewards too!” The rewards that the growers are deemed to be receiving are briefly explained in blog posts on the Five Senses news Web page. I am not suggesting that these friendships and projects are not legitimate. Rather, the willingness of Five Senses to negotiate rates with growers and provide the community with an English teacher, for example, fuels an economy of Westerners’s good feelings and implies conventional trading produces unhappiness. This obscures grounds for concern that the provision of an English teacher might indeed serve the interests of colonising discourses. Perhaps a useful entry point into this narrative form is founded in the recently self-published book Coffee Trails by Toby Smith, founder of boutique Australian roaster Toby’s Estate. The book is described on the Toby’s Estate Web page as follows:Filled with personal anecdotes and illustrating his relationships developed over years of visiting the farmers to source his coffee beans, Smith’s commentary of his travels, including a brush with Jamaican customs officials and a trip to a notoriously dangerous Ethiopian market, paints an authentic picture of the colourful countries that produce the second most traded product in the world. [...] Coffee Trails has been Smith’s labour of love over the past two years and the end product is a wonderfully personal account of a man fulfilling his lifelong dream and following his passion across the world. Again, the language of “passion” and “love” registers direct trade coffee as a happy object. Furthermore, despite the fact that coffee is also grown in Australia, the countries that are most vivid in the epic imagination are those associated with “exotic” locations such as Ethiopia and Jamaica. This is arguably registered through the sense that these locations were where Smith encountered danger. Having embarked on a version of the quintessential hero’s journey, Smith can be seen as devoted to, and inspired by, his love-object. His brushes with uncivilised authorities and locations carry the undertones of a colonial imaginary, in which it can be argued Smith’s Western-ness is established and secured as goodwill-invoking. After all, he locates and develops relationships with farmers and buys their coffee which, following the logic of happy objects, disperses and shares good feelings.Gloria Jean’s Coffees, which occupies a similar market position in Australia to the multinational “specialty” coffee company Starbucks (Lyons), also participates in the dispersal of coffee as a happy object despite its mass scale of production and lack of direct trade capability (not unexpectedly, Starbucks hosts a Relationships campaign aimed at supporting humanitarian initiatives and communities). Gloria Jean’s campaign With Heart allocates resources to humanitarian activities in local Australian communities and worldwide in coffee-growing regions. Their Web page states: “With Heart is woven throughout Gloria Jeans Coffee houses and operations by the active participation of Franchise Partners, support office and team members and championed across Australia, by our With Heart Ambassadors.“ The associative message is clear: Gloria Jean’s Coffees is a company indissociable from “heart,” or perhaps loving care, for community.By purchasing coffee, Gloria Jean’s customers can be seen to be supporting heartening community projects, and are perhaps unwittingly working as ambassadors for the affective economy in which proximity to the happy object—the heart-centred coffee company—indicates the procurement of happiness for someone, somewhere. The sale of good feeling enables specialty coffee companies such as Gloria Jean’s to bypass market opportunities associated with Fair Trade regulatory provisions, which, as Carl Obermiller et al. find in their study of Fair Trade buying patterns, also profit from consumers’ purchase of good feeling associated with ethically-produced objects. Instead, assuring consumers of its heart-centredness, Gloria Jean’s Coffees is represented as an embodiment not of fairness but kindness, and perhaps love, for others. The iconography and history of direct trade coffee is most closely linked to Intelligentsia Coffee of Chicago in the USA. Intelligentsia describes its third wave roasting and training business as the first to engage in direct trade in 2003. Its Web page includes an image of an airplane to which the following pop-up is linked: “Our focus is not just identifying quality coffee, but developing and rewarding it. To do this means preserving and developing strong relationships despite the considerable distance. At any given time, there is at least one Intelligentsia buyer at origin.” This text raises the question of what constitutes quality coffee. It would appear that “quality coffee” is knowledge that Intelligentsia owns, and which is rewarded financially when replicated to the satisfaction of Intelligentsia. The strength of the relationships in this interaction is closely linked to the meeting of clear conditions and expectations. Indeed, we are reassured that “at any time” an Intelligentsia buyer is applying these conditions to the product. Quality, then, is at least in part achieved by Intelligentsia through its commitment to travelling long distances to oversee the activities and practices of growers. This paternalistic structure is figured in terms of “strong relationships” rather than, perhaps, a rigorous and shrewd business model (which is assumedly the province of mass-market Others).Amid numerous examples found in even a cursory search on the Web, the overwhelming message of direct trade is of good feeling through care. Long term relationships, imagined as virtuous despite the opacity of the negotiation procedure in most cases, narrates the conviction that relationship in and of itself is a good in what might be called the colonial redramatisation staked by an affective coffee economy. Conclusion: Mourning CoffeeIn a paper on happiness, it might appear out of place to reference grief. Yet Jacques Derrida’s explication of friendship in his rousing collection The Work of Mourning is instructive. He writes that death is accommodated and acknowledged “in the undeniable anticipation of mourning that constitutes friendship” (159). Derrida maintains close attention to the productivity and intensity of Otherness in mourning. Thus, friendship is structurally dependent on impending loss, and it follows that there can be no loss without recognising the Otherness of the other, as it were. Given indifference to difference and, hence, loss, it is possible to interpret the friendships affirmed within direct trade practices as supported by a kind of mania. The exuberant dispersal of good feeling through directly traded coffee is narrated by emotional journeys to the primordial beginnings of the happy-making object. That is, fixation upon the object’s brief survival in “primitive” circumstances before its perfect demise in the cup of discerning Western clientele suggests a process of purification through colonising Western knowledges and care. If I may risk a misappropriation of Sara Ahmed’s words; so you make the trip to origin, and you know “just” what to pay for this bean and that. Failure to know this “just” is often felt as a failure of care. But, for whom?References Adams, Jillian. “Thoroughly Modern Coffee.” TEXT Rewriting the Menu: The Cultural Dynamics of Contemporary Food Choices. Eds. Adele Wessell and Donna Lee Brien. TEXT Special Issue 9 (2010). 27 Feb. 2012 ‹http://www.textjournal.com.au/speciss/issue9/content.htm›. Ahmed, Sara. “Affective Economies.” Social Text 79 22.2 (2004): 117-39 . -----. “The Politics of Good Feeling.” Australian Critical Race and Whiteness Studies Association E-Journal 5.1 (2008): 1-18. -----. The Promise of Happiness. Durham: Duke UP, 2010. Derrida, Jacques. The Work of Mourning. Eds. Pascale-Anne Brault and Michael Naas. Chicago; London: U Chicago P, 2003. Five Senses Coffee. “Coffee Affiliations.” 27 Feb. 2012 ‹http://www.fivesenses.com.au/coffee/affiliations/direct-trade›. Gloria Jean’s Coffees. “With Heart.” 27 Feb. 2012 ‹http://www.gloriajeanscoffees.com/au/Humanitarian/AboutUs.aspx›. Good Will Hunting. Dir. Gus Van Sant. Miramax, 1997. Intelligentsia Coffee. “Direct Trade.” 28 Feb. 2012 ‹http://directtradecoffee.com/›. Lyons, James. “Think Seattle, Act Globally: Specialty Coffee, Commodity Biographies and the Promotion of Place.” Cultural Studies 19.1 (2005): 14-34. Manzo, John. “Coffee, Connoisseurship, and an Ethnomethodologically-Informed Sociology of Taste.” Human Studies 33 (2010): 141-55. Melbourne Coffee Merchants. “About Us.” 27 Feb. 2012 ‹http://melbournecoffeemerchants.com.au/about.asp›. Obermiller, Carl, Chauncy Burke, Erin Tablott and Gareth P. Green. “’Taste Great or More Fulfilling’: The Effect of Brand Reputation on Consumer Social Responsibility Advertising for Fair Trade Coffee.” Corporate Reputation Review 12.2 (2009): 159-76. O’Donohoe, Stephanie. “Advertising Uses and Gratifications.” European Journal of Marketing 28.8/9 (1993): 52-75. Smith, Toby. Coffee Trails: A Social and Environment Journey with Toby’s Estate. Sydney: Toby Smith, 2011. Stoler, Ann Laura. Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power: Race and the Intimate in Colonial Rule. California: U California P, 2002. -----. Haunted by Empire: Geographies of Intimacy in North American History. Durham: Duke UP, 2006. Toby’s Estate. “Toby Smith’s Coffee Trails.” 27 Feb 2012 ‹http://www.tobysestate.com.au/index.php/toby-smith-book-coffee-trails.html›.

By the 12th century, coffee was extensively cultivated in Yemen, and qawha and cahveh, hot beverages made from roast and ground coffee beans, became popular in the Islamic world over the next 300 years. Commercial production of coffee outside Yemen started in Sri Lanka in the 1660s, Java in the 1700s, and Latin America in 1715, and this production has associations with histories of colonial expansion and slavery. Introduced to Europe in the 17th century, coffee was described by Robert Burton in the section of his 1628 Anatomy of Melancholy devoted to medicines as “an intoxicant, a euphoric, a social and physical stimulant, and a digestive aid” (quoted in Weinberg and Bealer xii). Today, more than 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed each year. Coffee is also an ingredient in a series of iconic dishes such as tiramisu and, with chocolate, makes up the classic mocha mix. Coffee production is widespread in tropical and sub-tropical countries and it is the second largest traded world commodity; second only to oil and petroleum. The World Bank estimates that more than 500 million people throughout the world depend on coffee for their livelihoods, and 25 million of these are coffee farmers. Unfortunately, these farmers typically live and work in substandard conditions and receive only a small percentage of the final price that their coffee is sold for. The majority of coffee farmers are women and they face additional challenges, frequently suffering from abuse, neglect, and poverty, and unable to gain economic, social, or political power in either their family’s coffee businesses or their communities. Some farm coffee under enslaved or indentured conditions, although Fair Trade regimes are offering some lessening of inequalities. At the opposite end of the scale, a small, but growing, number of high-end producers market gourmet sustainable coffee from small-scale, environmentally-aware farming operations. For many in the West today, however, coffee is not about the facts of its production; coffee is all about consumption, and is now interwoven into our contemporary cultural and social habits. Caffeine, found in the leaves, seeds, and fruit of the coffee tree, is an addictive psychoactive substance, but has overcome resistance and disapproval around the world and is now unregulated and freely available, without licence. Our gastronomic sophistication is reflected in which coffee, brewing method, and location of consumption is chosen; our fast-paced lifestyles in the range of coffee-to-go options we have; and our capitalist orientation in the business opportunities this popularity has offered to small entrepreneurs and multinational franchise chains alike. Cafés and the meeting, mingling, discussions, and relaxing that occur there while drinking coffee, are a contemporary topic of reflection and scholarship, as are the similarities and differences between the contemporary café and its earlier incarnations, including, of course, the Enlightenment coffee house. As may be expected from a commodity which has such a place in our lives, coffee is represented in many ways in the media—including in advertising, movies, novels, poetry, songs and, of course, in culinary writing, including cookbooks, magazines, and newspapers. There are specialist journals and popular serials dedicated to expounding and exploring the fine grain detail of its production and consumption, and food historians have written multiple biographies of coffee’s place in our world. So ubiquitous, indeed, is coffee, that as a named colour, it popularly features in fashion, interior design, home wares, and other products. This issue of M/C Journal invited contributors to consider coffee from any relevant angle that makes a contribution to our understanding of coffee and its place in culture and/or the media, and the result is a valuable array of illuminating articles from a diverse range of perspectives. It is for this reason that we chose an image of coffee cherries for the front cover of this issue. Co-editor Jill Adams has worked in the coffee industry for over ten years and has a superb collection of coffee images that ranges from farmers in Papua New Guinea to artfully shot compositions of antique coffee brewing equipment. In making our choice, however, we felt that Spencer Franks’s image of ripe coffee cherries at the Skybury Coffee Plantation in Far North Queensland, Australia, encapsulates the “fruitful” nature of the response to our call for articles for this issue. While most are familiar, moreover, with the dark, glossy appearance and other sensual qualities of roasted coffee beans, fewer have any occasion to contemplate just how lovely the coffee tree is as a plant. Each author has utilised the idea of “coffee” as a powerful springboard into a fascinating range of areas, showing just how inseparable coffee is from so many parts of our daily lives—even scholarly enquiry. In our first feature article, Susie Khamis profiles and interrogates the Nespresso brand, and how it points to the growing individualisation of coffee consumption, whereby the social aspect of cafés gives way to a more self-centred consumer experience. This feature valuably contrasts the way Starbucks has marketed itself as a social hub with the Nespresso boutique experience—which as Khamis explains—is not a café, but rather a club, a trademarked, branded space, predicated on highly knowledgeable and, therefore, privileged patrons. Coffee drinking is also associated with both sobriety and hangover cures, with cigarettes, late nights, and music. Our second feature, by Jon Stewart, looks at how coffee has become interwoven into our lives and imaginations through the music that we listen to—from jazz to blues to musical theatre numbers. It examines the influence of coffee as subject for performers and songwriters in three areas: coffee and courtship rituals, the stimulating effects of caffeine, and the politics of coffee consumption, claiming that coffee carries a cultural and musicological significance comparable to that of other drugs and ubiquitous consumer goods that are often more readily associated with popular music. Diana Noyce looks at the short-lived temperance movement in Australia, the opulent architecture of the coffee palaces built in that era, what was actually drunk in them, and their fates as the temperance movement passed into history. Emma Felton lyrically investigates how “going for a coffee” is less about coffee and more about how we connect with others in a mobile world, when flexible work hours are increasingly the norm and more people are living alone than any other period in history. Felton also introducess a theme that other writers also engage with: that the café also plays a role in the development of civil discourse and civility, and plays an important role in the development of cosmopolitan civil societies. Ireland-based Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire surveys Dublin—that tea drinking city—and both the history of coffee houses and the enduring coffee culture it possesses; a coffee culture that seems well assured through a remarkable win for Ireland in the 2008 World Barista Championships. China has also always been strongly associated with tea drinking but Adel Wang introduces readers to the emerging, and unique, café and coffee culture of that country, as well as some of the proprietors who are bringing about this cultural change. Australia, also once a significant consumer of tea, shifted to a preference for coffee over a twenty year period that began with the arrival of American Servicemen in Australia during World War II. Jill Adams looks at the rise of coffee during that time, and the efforts made by the tea industry to halt its market growth. These strong links between tea and coffee are reflected in Duncan Barnes, Danielle Fusco, and Lelia Green’s thought-provoking study of how coffee is marketed in Bangladesh, another tea drinking country. Ray Oldenberg’s influential concept of the “third place” is referred to by many authors in this collection, but Anthony McCosker and Rowan Wilken focus on this idea. By using a study of how Polish composer, Krzysztof Penderecki, worked in his local café from 9 in the morning to noon each day, this article explores the interrelationship of café space, communication, creativity, and materialism. Donna Lee Brien brings us back to the domestic space with her article on how the popular media of cookery books and magazines portray how coffee was used in Australian cooking at mid-century, in the process, tracing how tiramisu triumphed over the trifle. By exploring the currently fashionable practice of “direct trade” between roasters and coffee growers Sophie Sunderland offers a fresh perspective on coffee production by powerfully arguing that feeling (“affect”) is central to the way in which coffee is produced, represented and consumed in Western mass culture. Sunderland thus brings the issue full circle and back to Khamis’s discussion, for there is much feeling mobilised in the marketing of Nespresso. We would like to thank all the contributors and our generous and erudite peer reviewers for their work in the process of putting together this issue. We would also like to specially thank Spencer Franks for permission to use his image of coffee cherries as our cover image. We would lastly like to thank you the general editors of M/C Journal for selecting this theme for the journal this year.References Oldenburg, Ray, ed. Celebrating the Third Place: Inspiring Stories about the “Great Good Places” At the Heart of Our Communities. New York: Marlowe & Company 2001.Weinberg, Bennett Alan, and Bonnie K Bealer. The World of Caffeine. New York and London: Routledge, 2001.