Behind the cup: Brazilian coffee expert dives into new varieties, trends and overcoming climate challenges

12 Jan 2023 --- Coffee buyers and connoisseurs are celebrating the major strides that Brazil has made in terms of scaling new bean varieties and sensory properties, in addition to key sustainability moves.

The nation’s coffee value chain has been developing and implementing novel techniques to reduce the use of water and agricultural inputs, as well as systems to reuse water and solid residues from coffee processing and renewable energy such as solar panels.

Notably, specialty coffees have gained an increasing space in the global market. They can be found in grocery stores worldwide – something that did not occur five or ten years ago, according to the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA), a key player in producing fine coffees in Brazil. 

Speaking with FoodIngredientsFirst, BSCA’s executive director, Vinícius Estrela, discusses the evolving coffee culture. 

“In the past decade, with the growing specialty coffee wave, coffee shops have created a new concept in presenting their coffees, and the public has diversified, attracting more youth, increasing the consumption and interest in the beverage.”

Specialty coffees are gaining an increasing space in the market.According to Estrela, coffee is the second most widely consumed beverage in the world, after water. “It is primarily grown only in areas between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and shipped worldwide. The value of the global trade in green coffee beans is over US$30 billion per year.”

“It is crucial to protect coffee supply chains by ensuring fair income distribution to all links in the chain,” he underscores. 

Maximizing quality
According to Estrela, producing coffee involves many challenges, from selecting the best cultivar for a given terroir to managing investment in crop care, post-harvest processing and labor. 

However, he believes the biggest challenge is maintaining the maximum quality possible from harvest to delivery of green coffee at the destination. 

“There are countless steps involved in the coffee’s journey to the buyer, and each must be carried out carefully and properly; all of a producer’s hard work can be lost from a short lapse of attention.”

New coffee varieties are continually being developed. Estrela anticipates that drought and pest-resistant varieties will help ensure the supply of coffee in a world increasingly affected by climate change.

“Moreover, new varieties combining the productivity of one parent and the qualities of the other offer unique sensory experiences to more consumers,” he comments.

Nearly 20 years ago, BSCA launched quality and traceability seals. Buyers of certified lots could be certain that their coffee came from a given farm, certified for good agricultural practices. 

“Since then, traceability has become more and more widespread,” Estrela continues. “Nowadays, regional bodies also certify the origin of their coffees. The safety and security of our foods are intrinsically linked to the certainty of their origin, and today this is more important than ever.”

Demand grows for specialty coffee
Brazil began its history with coffee in 1727, and since then, the way of consuming it has changed. 

The country is the largest coffee producer globally. There are 34 producing regions, with more than 150 varieties, with a sensory profile beyond the traditional sensorial flavors and aromas often associated with Brazilian coffees such as chocolate, caramel and nuts. 

What started as a basic coffee with milk came a long way to the present day, in which specialty coffees are gaining more and more space in the market and as a lifestyle, with an increasing number of varieties.Coffee is the world’s second most widely consumed beverage, after water.

Driving such change is the global consumption of Brazilian specialty coffee, which has consistently grown at an annual rate of 10% to 15% over the past few years, according to BSCA. Specialty coffee represents around 20% of Brazilian coffee exports, and for the 2021/22 harvest, some 8 million 60 kg bags of specialty coffee were exported.

Coffee growers are keen to improve the traditional techniques of cultivation, harvesting and sustainability using well-tested methods and innovation. 

Other positive factors that improve consumer results include coffee growers’ dedication to quality and research into post-harvest processing methods, such as anaerobic fermentation. 

The latter has yielded rare and exotic flavors and aromas such as passion fruit, blueberry, wild strawberry preserves, brilliant acidity and velvety body, among others that are considered unique. 

In addition to intrinsic quality, specialty coffees must have certified traceability and respect environmental, economic and social sustainability criteria at all stages of production. These are all critically important to Brazilian specialty coffee growers, affirms BCSA. 

By Elizabeth Green