Bad news is coming from Central America where rust is affecting coffee plants. Especially Guatemala seems to be hit badly, with estimates of up to 40% of next year's crop which might be lost due to this disease. Not all coffee varieties are as susceptible to this fungus, and Catimor, the variety grown in Yunnan, should be resistant, so let's hope the situation won't get as dramatic in China as in Central America.
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It was already obvious for quite a few days that the Chinese Spring Festival was coming. The streets in town were getting emptier day by day and also at the office it became quieter each day, while each evening more and more fireworks were being lit. My eldest had gone really curious about the fireworks she could hear each night, but which were not visible from our apartment, so earlier this evening I went for a walk outside with my family. We went to the tea hill to have a view over the city and the sun had only just disappeared behind the hill tops, when the first fireworks were launched. Soon after more and more firecrackers and fireworks were lit and the sky was filled with bright lights and loud noises. My daughter hardly knew where to look first and enjoyed the colourful displays in the night sky, though she still isn't too fond of the noise. After watching a bit longer, we returned home and, to be really honest, I'm pretty amazed they manage to sleep with all the fireworks and firecrackers that go off all around the apartment. And surrounded by all the bright lights and whistling sounds, I would like to wish everybody a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous Year of the Snake!
It has been a while since my last post, and it all has to do with coffee. Since the first coffee deliveries started just before Christmas, we haven’t had a break. I hope that with CNY approaching, the deliveries will slow down a little so we too can enjoy the holidays and relax a little, as afterwards we will go on until the end of the season. I myself find this to be a great time. True, we have to work long hours and taste a lot of coffee in one day, but at the end of the day, seeing the farmers go home happily, makes it all worthwhile. These days, I like to start my day walking along the queue in the morning, greeting our regular suppliers, some of which have become old friends, and getting to know our new suppliers. Like the previous years, also this year we see a lot of newbies, especially small-scale farmers, and I like to take a moment to learn about them, their family, where they come from, their farm, etc. To me these personal contacts are an important part of the linkage of the farmers to our program, and I praise myself lucky I have a good memory for faces, so next time I meet one of our farmers, I know who they are and where they come from, which they think is great. During one of my morning walks last week, I saw a farmer with a kind of tractor I hadn’t seen before in Pu’er, making it obvious he was one of our new suppliers. Chatting with him, I learned that he and his family are living in a village about 20 km from the buying station. He drove about one hour with his bags of coffee so he could deliver them directly to us. However, this trip was nothing compared to the one he undertook when moving from their village in northern Yunnan, near Lijiang, to Pu’er to start growing coffee, as that journey took them a total of four whole days! He was there the day I started working in, back then still, Simao eight years ago and he has served me faithfully all those years that have passed since. Whenever and wherever we had to be, he was always ready to go. Together we went to the most distant regions, through the mountains, crossed rivers and narrow bridges, along roads, be it narrow, muddy, in good or bad condition. I could rely on him to get me safely where I had to be and the coffee farmers saw us coming from afar. But lately, he started showing more and more defects, his fuel consumption had become skyrocketing and he started to loose oil. After numerous trips to the garage for maintenance, sometimes with hardly any driving trips in between, it was time to face the fact: time to say goodbye to my trusty friend. With this little homage, I'd like to say thank you to my Jeep and I can only hope the new car will be as loyal and dependable as he was.
Last Thursday I attended The Gold Standard Awards Ceremony organised by Public Affairs Asia in Hong Kong. Nestlé China was shortlisted with its Agricultural Assistance Program in Yunnan and to my biggest surprise, we won the Gold Standard Award for Stakeholder Engagement! Once again this is a great honour for my team and me, as well as an aknowledgment for Nestlé China's efforts on rural development and Creating Shared Value. It's a long-standing annual tradition to have a family day in November. This year we combined this event with a team building activity for all staff members. We went to Mengla, close to Jinghong in Xishuangbanna. Mengla is home to New Bupan Aerial Skyway Park, a skyway that runs at around 50 meters above the ground through the canopy of the rainforest. A shaky walk, but one that gives a unique view of the forest. Last Thursday I attended the Guangzhou Coffee Expo 2012. This expo took place from the 22nd to the 25th and on the opening day a lot of attention went to the coffee development in Yunnan, and more specifically in Pu'er, as 97% of coffee in China is grown in Yunnan province, large part of which in Pu'er region. Hence Pu'er is becoming known not only as the City of Tea, but also the City of Chinese Coffee.
The other day, upon arriving at Pu'er airport after a business trip, I was taken by a huge surprise. Even though I knew there would be a new Nescafe signboard at the airport, I had no idea of the sheer size or the photo on it. Turned out I'm in it, and you can hardly miss it. Just see for yourself... Everybody likely has heard of climate change and that it’ll have a major effect on life as we know it today. But who would have thought that our daily cup of coffee might be at stake as well?
As it happens, people worldwide mostly drink Arabica coffee, a coffee variety which originates in the Ethiopian highlands. The cultivated Arabica depends on its wild relative for the production of new and stronger varieties. British researchers now say that extreme weather changes might pose a great threat to the survival of wild Arabica plants. If global warming continues, there will only be a small area left where wild Arabica can survive at the end of this century. And though there are a number of other external factors that influence the survival of wild Arabica, this just might be another good reason to take care of the planet we live on. |
AuthorI wouldn't be surprised to find out I was born with a passion for coffee. For the life of me, I can't remember not loving coffee. And by that, I don't just mean drinking it, but everything involved from its cultivation over the processing to the final product that is my loyal companion throughout the day. Archives
February 2014
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