Introduction:
After a long chat with a customer recently, we were asked which decafs we offered that were fully traceable or ethically traded. Fantastic questions that required a somewhat long winded answer.
In the world of specialty coffee, transparency isn't just a buzzword—it's a commitment. But did you know that this concept applies to decaf coffee as well? In this blog, I'll try to answer these questions and discuss why traceability should be on your checklist when choosing a decaf coffee, and we highlight some selections that allow you to trace the bean right back to the farm.
As of writing this blog (04/09/2023) we have 9 options, of the 9, 6 are traceable back to the individual farm and the other 3 are traceable back to the local washing station of it's region.
What is Traceability in Coffee?
Traceability means knowing the origin of your coffee beans—right down to the specific region, farm, or even the specific lot where the coffee was grown, in some cases you may of heard the word Micro Lot, this is where a farmer will have a specific section of their land set out for experimental coffees or varietals where they are grown, picked, washed, dried, packed and delivered to us roasters with a report of what they specifically did to enhance that coffees flavours. It's about connecting the dots from the farm to your cup. Traceability ensures quality, ethical practices, and transparency in the supply chain, making it a win-win for both producers and consumers.
Why Traceability Matters in Decaf:
- Quality Assurance: Knowing where your coffee comes from allows you to be confident about its quality. It also allows us to know the true flavours of that particular coffee growing region, without the coffee being mixed off or sometimes cut with lower grade coffees to fill up an order.
- Fair Prices Paid: Farmers generally have 2 options, either sell their entire crop to a local mill for a standard market rate where they aren't rewarded for good quality coffees, these are the types of commercial coffees that land in huge chain coffee outlets. Option 2, the farmer partners up with a Green Bean buyer in Australia (Or around the world) and will commit their yearly crop for a pre arranged price and be rewarded for better tasting coffees with higher prices compared to selling to the mills, often the price is significantly higher than the coffee commodity price. In essence, the farmer is financially rewarded for taking care in their work.
- Enhanced Flavor: This extra work taken to grow and process the coffee can seriously enhance the flavour of the coffee they grow. Just by taking extra care and adhering to better farming practices the coffee can taste indistinguishably better than their commercial standard counterparts.
What this means for Decaf drinkers:
For us Decaf drinkers, traceability poses another problem. If we really wanted to support this cause we need to consider the fact that the coffee needs to be shipped across the world in some cases to get to a decaffeination facility like Swiss Water Process in Canada, Sugar Cane Process in Colombia or the Mountain Water Process in Mexico. (This is why we have quite a few options from Mexico or Colombia because they have their own local decaffeination facility so it's relatively cheap in terms of freight to have it done.)
In this extra travel, in some case traceability can become lost if it's not a priority for traders. We try our best to source traceable decafs but as we are already in a limited supply niche of Decaf it is incredibly challenging for us.
So in some sense we need to consider the fact that we may have some "Chinese Whispers" happening and the story of origin can definitely get lost.
Our Traceable Decafs:
-
Nicaragua - Selva Negra: Sourced from a single farm estate, this coffee connects us directly to the farmers.
-
Colombia - Santa Monica: With direct relationships to the smallholder farmers, each bean carries a story. This family are pioneers in their region.
-
Honduras - Monte Cristo: Again, sourced from a single farm estate, we have direct access to the amazing farmers of this coffee.
-
Papua New Guinea: This coffee is traceable to the co-operative level in the local region.
Conclusion:
When you choose a decaf coffee that is traceable, you're not just making a purchase—you're making a statement. You're saying that you care about quality, ethical practices, and transparency in your food chain. The reality is, if you as a customer continue to ask this question of us, we will continue to ask our importers this same question, they will contact their farmers and ask if they're interested in sending a portion of their crop to get decaffeinated and hence the food chain really begins with you.
So, the next time you reach for a bag of decaf, consider its journey. After all, every cup of coffee has a story to tell. Isn't it time you learned yours?
