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The Coffee Science Foundation (CSF) has released a Request for Proposals, seeking researchers to investigate how value is created in coffee and how it can be maximized. We encourage anyone with a background in proven record of accomplishment in economics, business, economic sociology, consumer science, anthropology or related disciplines to submit!
The Coffee Science Foundation (CSF) has released a Request for Proposals, seeking researchers to investigate the impacts of green coffee defects on sensory attributes of coffee. We encourage anyone with a background in coffee defects, agronomy, postharvest processing and sensory science to submit! The complete RFP is available here.
Coffee is an important agricultural commodity for many Latin American countries. In El Salvador and Honduras, the countries where we conducted this study, coffee is one of the leading agricultural export crops. Moreover, specialty coffee exports account for a substantial share of these exports. Despite the importance of coffee in these countries, multiple gaps in the literature remain with respect to the cost structure and profitability of specialty coffee production. Of particular interest is the cost of labor, which is expected to be higher. Moreover, little is known about workers’ perceptions of working conditions on specialty coffee farms. Therefore, this study had four objectives: 1) To document production practices, input use, and costs (including labor) in the production of specialty coffees; 2) to model and estimate the complete cost structure of producing specialty coffees; 3) to evaluate the profitability of the production of specialty coffees under different labor costs; and 4) to evaluate workers’ perceptions about labor practices used to produce specialty coffees.
Most coffee farmers are smallholders and about half of them live below the international poverty line of US$3.20 a day. These farmers are highly reliant on coffee as a source of primary income but face unique challenges in improving production and productivity. Several interventions and programs, aimed at enhancing productivity, profitability, and farmers’ income, have been rolled-out in agriculture, in general, and in the coffee sector, in particular. However, very few of these have been rigorously evaluated. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of the effects of different interventions, primarily from field experiments, and highlight under which conditions and where these have been most successful in improving coffee farmer productivity and income. The paper concludes with policy implications and some potential directions for future research.
Read the full article on SCA News and 25.
Professors CARLOS CARPIO, PhD and LUIS SANDOVAL, PhD worked with BRENDA MAMANI, MSc to ask: what are the living wages in El Salvador and Honduras, and how would current total costs and profitability of coffee production be affected if farmworkers were paid living wages?
Read the full article in the Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science.
In Honduras and El Salvador, coffee (Coffea arabica) is one of the leading agricultural exports, and the share of specialty coffee is growing each year. However, despite the importance of specialty coffee production and exports, there is a knowledge gap regarding its cost structure and profitability, particularly those associated with labor costs. The specific objectives of the study were to determine the cost structure of specialty coffee in Honduras and El Salvador and to estimate the costs and profitability of producing specialty coffee in these countries. A semi-structured survey instrument was administered to 14 farmers in Honduras and El Salvador selected as a convenience sample to represent different farm sizes, regions, and specialty-conventional and organic production systems. Specialty-conventional refers to high-quality coffee with or without certifications. Then,cost-profitability models were developed using an economic cost approach, which considered cash, noncash cost, and the opportunity costs of inputs. The results showed that although both countries are neighbors and economically and culturally similar, the cost structure of producing specialty coffee differed significantly. Costs were lower and profits were higher in Honduras than in El Salvador, and the specialty-conventional coffee production system was more profitable than the organic production system.
Read the full article on SCA News.
Coffee Science Foundation Executive Director PETER GIULIANO sat down with DR. MACKENZIE BATALI, lead author of a recent milestone study, “Sensory Analysis of Full Immersion Coffee: Cold Brew Is More Floral, and Less Bitter, Sour, and Rubbery Than Hot Brew,” of the Coffee Science Foundation’s project, “Towards a Deeper Understanding of Cold Brew” to learn more about the process and the results of the study.
Cold-brewed coffee has become a mainstay of the specialty coffee experience over the past decade. Along with the popularity of cold brew, however, has come questions: How does cold-brewed coffee differ from hot-brewed coffee? Are the differences chemical, or sensory, or both? And how can our industry develop guidelines and best practices for excellent cold-brewed coffee?