Needless to say for a meeting of this caliber I had no idea what I sign my self to be a part of, and I want to give you all a small window as to what happen during this historic event through my experience.
65 Coffee Industry professionals and Scientist participated in this congress which was initiated by a smaller group of professionals such as Peter Giuliano and Tim Schilling to name a very few. The initiative evolved out of two major concerns in the International Market.
1. Coffee consumption is growing, coffee production is not.
2. Coffee quality.
This two main points are the main drivers of what all of us in this Industry recognize as major factors in the future of Coffee. We understand that unless there is a change on how we conduct our every day business with coffee in what ever capacity we play in this Industry such us grower, importer, roaster etc, we are heading for a very bumpy ride.
In order to bring a much needed order to the Coffee Industry in general we need the input of every one involved in the chain, and we must include the scientific community to help us prevent further loss of quality coffees in the world, future technology for the grower to implement healthy growth and also the rest of the chain to establish a universal language that we can use in determining quality in coffee. Not all coffee beans are the same, the problem is that we do not have a common measurement to classified all its characteristics we have so many protocols and they are all different, so what quality is for a grower, is very different then what quality is for a roaster or a scientist.
On top of that add the fact that we all negotiate for this commodity differently since we do not have a common language in classified coffee quality, the grower can not have a specific protocol in winch to grade their coffee for a better price.
This is a huge task for every one in this industry but we must take action or the consequence of not doing something are to grave, the challenge as I see it is to find that commune language in all of the chain of the industry, to unified and to learn to work as one. We all left mesmerized of the task at hand, and its enormity. We all have seen great projects that where put in place and very quickly diminish and not take effect, and now we find our selfs with a great proposal to make a difference and to be a part of something of such important magnitude to so many families.
And at the end of the day that is really the root. Coffee is a great product with an amazing number of consumers who have been misguided many times about thinking is jest a cup of coffee to wake you up. But is so much more then that, it represents stability and quality of life for millions around the world, it represents national security for all of us by securing livelihoods that other wise will change professions to other industries who will not have the best intent for our nations, it represents families staying together instead of the head of household migrating illegally to another country to make a better living. It insures that we have a great competitive and healthy industry that offers great quality coffee to the consumers.
Will this be and easy change, no, change is never easy is painful and uncomfortable, it requires digging and prowling in areas that are not easy to look at, it will required agreeing and disagreeing but allowing for the best to be chosen from the majority. Understanding that some times the best ideas come from the small guy and not from the big guy, as well as understanding the limitation that a small company has and allowing for the big one to facilitate an answer for the good of all of us.
There is much to do and at least 65 people who are willing to work at it. What about you, what ideas do you have to change the Industry? What do you think is need it for the quality of coffee to be improved? What kind of research would you like to see about coffee?.
It is important to have your input so please share we need your ideas as consumers, roaster, baristi, grower be a part of this.
