The value chain of coffee 1/2
Coffee production before it reaches shipped to consumers
Although the beginning of this value chain is an important stage, for consumers, waste management and distribution are the areas offering the most scope for action. This article aims to summarise each stage of the value chain before coffee reaches consumers.
Cultivation (planting, growing, harvesting, pulping):
Growing coffee takes a lot of time and attention. To begin with, a tree called a coffee bush (from the species called Coffea) is planted and it takes 3 years before its first cherries are produced, marking the official start of production. The cherries are then pulped to remove the coffee beans. For each cherry, there are just 2 seeds, which explains why a coffee tree produces very little coffee over 1 year. A coffee tree produces around 2.5 kg of cherries, which yields between 400 g and 800 g of roasted coffee. This equates to only around 80 cups of coffee per tree per year. Agroforestry is a more environmentally friendly way of growing coffee in shady plantations, often favoured by local producers such as Catracha Coffee (https://www.catrachacoffee.com/) in Honduras.
Roasting:
After cultivation, the coffee is taken to a roaster to be roasted in order to bring out the coffee's aromas. This process includes several heating stages and some beans are eliminated by quality control at the roaster before and after roasting. Here's how resources are managed at each stage of the roasting process:
1. Pre-selection of beans: here, the beans are checked before being roasted and some are eliminated to prevent inferior quality from altering the taste.
2. Pre-heating: the machine called the roaster is preheated before adding the coffee beans.
3. Loading and roasting: the beans are loaded into the roaster drum, where they are constantly agitated for even roasting. The temperature and roasting time vary depending on the beans and the degree of roasting required.
4. Cooling and final quality control: after roasting, the beans are cooled and freed from the husk (the thin film that comes off the beans during roasting). Quality control is then carried out to eliminate any defective or burnt beans.
After roasting, the beans are sent in their raw state for packaging or conditioned for grinding or freeze-drying before dispatch.
Packaging:
Several ways of reducing packaging are being developed, such as eliminating aluminium, reducing the weight of packaging, packaging made from recycled materials and home compostable capsules.
The most common compostable materials are rice paper, craft paper and polylactic acid.
Another form of single use packaging that is often forgotten about is filters. The Keurig brand have developed a reusable coffee filter that is dishwasher friendly and BPA free.
Transport and distribution:
Originating in the inter-tropical zone, coffee undertakes a journey of thousands of kilometres before reaching the cups of consumers, many of whom live in the northern hemisphere. Exports, like traditional mass distribution, pose a huge challenge in terms of carbon emissions.
Initiatives are being put in place to encourage more environmentally-friendly transport of coffee, such as transport by sail or optimising transport routes to reduce the distances travelled.
Since 2022, J.J. Darboven has mainly opted for transport by boat, which has reduced its CO2 emissions by 167 tonnes per year. Café Méo's Koota brand also exports one of its coffee ranges from Colombia by sailboat.
In collaboration with 6 manufacturers, JDE Peet uses pooling to group orders for multiple companies. This practice is adapted to mass distribution and facilitates the pooling of storage infrastructures and logistics and transport resources.
Other methods used to reduce carbon emissions are the use of electric or hybrid vehicles, the choice of labelled carriers, the use of trains and the use of green fuel.
In sum,
the stages mentioned are the phases before a coffee is even in front of consumers. As illustrated, the emissions consumed to produce finished coffee are already very significant.
Cultivation (planting, growing, harvesting, pulping):
Growing coffee takes a lot of time and attention. To begin with, a tree called a coffee bush (from the species called Coffea) is planted and it takes 3 years before its first cherries are produced, marking the official start of production. The cherries are then pulped to remove the coffee beans. For each cherry, there are just 2 seeds, which explains why a coffee tree produces very little coffee over 1 year. A coffee tree produces around 2.5 kg of cherries, which yields between 400 g and 800 g of roasted coffee. This equates to only around 80 cups of coffee per tree per year. Agroforestry is a more environmentally friendly way of growing coffee in shady plantations, often favoured by local producers such as Catracha Coffee (https://www.catrachacoffee.com/) in Honduras.
Roasting:
After cultivation, the coffee is taken to a roaster to be roasted in order to bring out the coffee's aromas. This process includes several heating stages and some beans are eliminated by quality control at the roaster before and after roasting. Here's how resources are managed at each stage of the roasting process:
1. Pre-selection of beans: here, the beans are checked before being roasted and some are eliminated to prevent inferior quality from altering the taste.
2. Pre-heating: the machine called the roaster is preheated before adding the coffee beans.
3. Loading and roasting: the beans are loaded into the roaster drum, where they are constantly agitated for even roasting. The temperature and roasting time vary depending on the beans and the degree of roasting required.
4. Cooling and final quality control: after roasting, the beans are cooled and freed from the husk (the thin film that comes off the beans during roasting). Quality control is then carried out to eliminate any defective or burnt beans.
After roasting, the beans are sent in their raw state for packaging or conditioned for grinding or freeze-drying before dispatch.
Packaging:
Several ways of reducing packaging are being developed, such as eliminating aluminium, reducing the weight of packaging, packaging made from recycled materials and home compostable capsules.
The most common compostable materials are rice paper, craft paper and polylactic acid.
Another form of single use packaging that is often forgotten about is filters. The Keurig brand have developed a reusable coffee filter that is dishwasher friendly and BPA free.
Transport and distribution:
Originating in the inter-tropical zone, coffee undertakes a journey of thousands of kilometres before reaching the cups of consumers, many of whom live in the northern hemisphere. Exports, like traditional mass distribution, pose a huge challenge in terms of carbon emissions.
Initiatives are being put in place to encourage more environmentally-friendly transport of coffee, such as transport by sail or optimising transport routes to reduce the distances travelled.
Since 2022, J.J. Darboven has mainly opted for transport by boat, which has reduced its CO2 emissions by 167 tonnes per year. Café Méo's Koota brand also exports one of its coffee ranges from Colombia by sailboat.
In collaboration with 6 manufacturers, JDE Peet uses pooling to group orders for multiple companies. This practice is adapted to mass distribution and facilitates the pooling of storage infrastructures and logistics and transport resources.
Other methods used to reduce carbon emissions are the use of electric or hybrid vehicles, the choice of labelled carriers, the use of trains and the use of green fuel.
In sum,
the stages mentioned are the phases before a coffee is even in front of consumers. As illustrated, the emissions consumed to produce finished coffee are already very significant.
