Know your coffee: what's in a label?

Ryan Godinho talks coffee labels and certifications, discussing some of the most common classifications from the ground up, while examining the challenges that these systems impose on the humble coffee grower and providing consumers with a broader perspective

Today’s global coffee consumer market is ridden with misconceptions surrounding coffee labelling such as ‘speciality’, ‘fair trade’, ‘Rainforest Alliance’, ‘organic’, ‘bird friendly’, and ‘4C’ to name a few.

In the UAE, these are titles that get printed on packaging, promoted in cafés and extrovertly consumed by coffee lovers across the country.

As producers of the UAE’s most prestigious national-level coffee championships (licensed by World Coffee Events) and in collaboration with the International Coffee & Tea Festival (ICTF), we recently conducted a local survey of 200 self-confessed coffee drinkers in the UAE, which revealed that most of them had been exposed to fair and ethically-traded coffee and many were persuaded to buy coffee that is either fair trade, specialty or organic.

More importantly, none of the surveyed candidates were able to demonstrate a clear understanding of these labels.

If we take a step back on the vertical chain and look at the source of some of these labels associated with our coffees and how, through the power of marketing, we are often buying into a concept that is perhaps not as helpful to the stakeholders it is intended to benefit, we come across a host of dichotomies and contradictions that are associated with coffee labels.

Let’s begin with the ‘speciality coffee’ classification. Coined in 1974, by Erna Knutsen, of Knutsen Coffee Ltd, the concept was quite simple: special geographic microclimates produce beans with unique flavor profiles, which were recognised as ‘speciality coffees’. Since the early 80s, the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) continues to define it in this context.

Today, coffee falls under the ‘speciality’ banner if it is deemed to be of a certain quality, scoring a minimum of 80 points by three certified graders. However, speciality coffee need not always qualify as fair trade or organic — as coffee that is grown organically or under the fair trade parameters may still be of very poor quality.

In speciality coffee, the deciding factors are aspects such as visual and gustatory sensors, and graders look for a distinct taste along with attributes that are a cut above the common coffee beverages in the market.

With ‘ethical trade’ and ‘fair trade’ certification, although both these titles share the commonality of promoting and empowering underprivileged coffee growers, each targets a different form of welfare.

The Fair trade movement emerged to protect farmers in the developing world from low international market prices of the coffee commodity, so that whatever the conventional going market rate, farmers who have abided by certain labour, environmental and production standards, were supported to receive fair terms of trade and justifiable prices for the product they are growing.

The ethical trade movement first came into the picture in the 1990s, when poor/harsh working conditions of workers involved in coffee growing and trading were exposed by the media and acknowledged by the public at large. This gave birth to the concept of ethical trade whereby greater pressures on multinationals were called for to take recognised steps in improving the working conditions of their staff throughout the supply chain.

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It is interesting to note, however, that ethical trade, being a slightly intangible concept soliciting action on the organisational level, has not yet received a distinct, recognisable label or certification, whereas, fair trade carries widespread consumer recognition and represents a formal certification.

Then there is the widely recognised ‘organic coffee’ label. Coffee grown with organic farming standards focuses on using organic fertilisers that are free from chemicals and more environmentally-conscious, at times produced with the discarded coffee pulp from previous harvests. However, from our surveyed results, we were surprised to learn that many opt in for organic-certified coffee, citing health benefits as a motivator.

When we consider that the actual coffee seed or “bean” is buried deep within the shell of the coffee fruit, and subjected to extremely high temperatures during the roasting process, brewed in hot water and then the grounds discarded, one would find it difficult to embrace the health implications of consuming this form of ‘organic’.

Herein lies the misunderstanding; through the aid of mainstream marketing, consumers misinterpret this organic movement as a personal benefit, when in actuality, this is a benefit on an environmental level with a focus on sustainability.

The current rust crisis in the organic coffee growing scene makes organic coffee extremely difficult for farmers to nurture in today’s climate, and some of the most exceptional farmers today have no choice but to spray to save their crops from extinction and in the process, end up losing their ‘organic seal of approval’.

Herein lays the irony — the status of the farmers who are perfectly capable of cultivating organic coffee by default (as they cannot afford to buy the fertilisers and pesticides for their crops) goes unnoticed and unacknowledged by certification authorities as these farmers cannot afford to approach them and fly their inspectors down to check their operations, nor pay the required fee to get certified. Hence, they lose out on the premium price points that they would have fetched.

Of late, coffee labels have increasingly come under fire for discriminating against poor farmers, most of whom are African, who have to struggle to pay the certification fees at the cost of their families’ wellbeing. A study by the University of Hohenheim in Germany monitored hundreds of Nicaraguan coffee farmers for a decade and released a compelling conclusion that organic and organic-fair trade farmers have actually become poorer compared to conventional producers.

This poses a great blow to the organic coffee community, and takes away from the motivation to grow organic.

The fair trade phenomenon too brings with it numerous complications. In order to pay for the fair trade certification, some farmers have to forgo critical developmental items such as schooling for their children or technological upgrades to their farms which may reap better returns. But are the premium prices paid by consumers for fair trade coffee actually being pocketed by the unprivileged farmers who deserve them, or are they being intercepted by the middlemen, coffee traders and retailers?

Furthermore, some argue that the quality of fair trade coffee as opposed to the regular, widely available coffee — the ‘commodity coffee’ is questionable and the model to judge such quality has become technologically outdated in today’s industry.

As speciality coffee is standardised at a higher grade than commodity coffee, it demands a higher price.

However, at times, because of an absence of its grade specification in fair trade coffee, the latter gets upgraded to speciality grade owing to its special production requirements, consequently fetching a higher price. But where is the concept of judging quality in all this?

What’s more, demand for fair trade coffee by fair trade organisations themselves is controlled and kept low to justify limited or controlled supply. Fair trade certified coffee is sold at least 20 cents per pound higher than non-speciality coffee. When demand is low, a farmer may not be able to sell fair trade coffee at an attractive price and may bump up his high grade coffee to fair trade coffee pricing, thereby misleading consumers.

With farms that carry official ‘certifications’ in the ethical arena requiring farmers to pay certain fees, in many cases these premiums are passed on to the customers. 

Furthermore, in order to make sure this is not exploited by the roaster or the café retailer, it seems prudent that a local authority is in place to moderate such instances. The ethical dilemma calls for coffee buyers, traders and roasters to act more diligently in supporting the farmer and their farms rather than a certification or a label. Whatever the case may be, it would be unwise to accept any company’s ‘ethical’ claims at face value.

It’s important to consider that the issuance of these certifications have somewhat led astray the motives behind the causes, in a bid by retailers to capture a market of ethical buyers. This, if not controlled at various stages, can lead to gross misinformation and even a jeopardised relationship with consumers, not to mention the added detrimental effect to an already complex yet permeable system of certification classifications and programs.

For many world renowned roasters, their ethical coffee business and trade, tends to go by unnoticed by the everyday consumer, as their genuine concerns and in some cases, direct support for the farmers, their well-being, their ecology and coffee sustainability, outweigh the need for any certification or extrovert label. Many strong coffee brands and roasters continue to trade ethically without the need for a mass promotion of the fact.

‘Direct trade’ proponents say their model of dealing directly with farms is the best because they build mutually beneficial and respectful relationships with individual producers or cooperatives in the coffee-producing countries. Some roasters do it because they are dissatisfied with third-party certification programs, while others want to have more control over aspects ranging from the quality of the coffee, to social issues, or environmental concerns.

Turning the coffee grading and evaluating microscope on the UAE specifically, local accredited certification granting and enforcement bodies lack presence in this region. This creates the groundwork for unfranchised, home-grown coffee companies, roasters and retailers to self-proclaim and mimic international certifications. Without a system in place to trace them back to any authenticated due diligence, it causes the market to remain uncertain on the relevance and uniformity of these certifications in the regional café market today.

Even the term ‘speciality’ often gets included in the mix and labeled against coffees that are, in actuality, far from the grade. Consequently, this may require one to rethink the whole concept of coffee labelling and demand an overhaul in the ‘business’ of certifications.

Ryan Godinho is the World Coffee Events (WCE) UAE National Championships Coordinator. He sits on the Educational & Instructional Design Subcommittee of the WCE and is point person for the SCAA as the education partner to the region.