your COLOMBIAN COFFEE BUYERS working for you

1. •
   

2. • tractable single source farms & estate coffee plantation
   

3. •Rainforest Certified Naturally Grown tm
   

4. •Colombian grown on Bird Friendly coffee plantations
   

5. •Shade Grown with environmental farming
   

6. •Micro Lots individual regional estate coffee
   

7. •Fair Trade pricing paid "directly to the farmer", Direct Trade tm, not brokers or importers
   

We live in Colombia, eat drink sleep "coffee" everyday, dealing with farmers, coop's , mills, to bring you the best coffee in the world, COLOMBIA ESTATE COFFEE'S.  The best we drink ourselves, then the rest we sell to you !

YOUR COLOMBIAN COFFEE connection

Volcano Coffee inc, brings you Colombia coffee grown "organic" style of farming certified by the Rainforest Certified Naturally Grown program,  Estate coffee's from selected regions of Colombia.

OUR OFFERINGS AVAILABLE FOB OUR WAREHOUSE 70 KG BAG Colombia Port by ocean container to any port in Europe, Eastern Europe and Russia.

offices  Medellin, Colombia  USA number Magic Jack 949-945-7124 rings in Medellin

office Irvine, California  USA 760-877-8139

office Sofia, Bulgaria 

office Moscow, Russia [7] 916-272-04-07 Moscow cell phone

our BRANDS

Our branding program is based on the creation of consistent flavor profiles for good Colombian core coffees to ensure that our customers have a quality, dependable product from season to season. Our staff has hours of cupping  into the original determination of each profile and hours more to ensure consistency from shipment to shipment. We trust your customers will enjoy "good cup of coffee" with our quality assurance the finest Colombian Estate Coffee available at fair prices.

         

Colombia Warbler Reserve Supremo                                                      

Colombia Volcano Coffee Supremo Hulia                                               

Colombia Volcano Coffee Supremo  Medellin 18 screen                      

Colombia Volcano Coffee Excelso Medellin                                           

Colombia Rainforest Certified Naturally Grown Excelso                       

Colombia Rainforest Certified Naturally Grown Supremo                    

Our Mission:

We travel Colombia for you purchasing directly from individual farmers, micro lots of the finest Colombia Coffee's available.  We buy coffee in parchment "dry" from the farm and then mill the coffee ourselves at our Colombia warehouse.   It is sorted by bean size to Colombia Coffee Federation standards, Supremo & Excelso.   Our Volcano Coffee label is just good Colombian Coffee. Shade Grown, Bird Friendly, Fair Trade prices paid directly to the "farmer" and grown with care to the sustainable farming environment.  We have signed with each farmer for the coffee to be grown in an "organic style" of farming supervised by the Rainforest Certified Naturally Grown program.  We give a part of every coffee purchase back to the community in support of the Rainforest Coffee Kids organization

COLOMBIA SUPREMO & EXCELSO GRADING SYSTEM:     A word on grading of Colombians. I am one who finds the Colombian grading system outdated. Other Central American and South American coffees grade mostly on altitude, cup quality and  not bean size.

Supremo and Excelso are screen sizes only, and that doesn't make sense because a larger bean does not mean better cup quality. 

Only bean size, Supremos are bigger than Excelos.  In fact, the presence of diverse bean sizes can (but not necessarily) result in better cup quality. Since we rate everything by the cup quality and all coffees are judged "blind", bean size is largely irrelevant, and doesn't enter into how we chose our Colombian coffee for our Volcano Coffee label.

Colombian coffee is highly marketed and widely available in the US. They have been largely successful at equating the name Colombian Coffee with "Good" Coffee. This is half-true. Colombian can be very balanced, with good body, brightness (acidity) and flavor. But much of it is a bit  well just boring, and most of it that you find in Supermarket bins etc. is simply a decent clean cup with almost no aftertaste. .

Where is the good Colombian coffee? WE TRAVEL ALL OF COLOMBIA to bring you the finest Colombia Coffee available, all year.   It just takes work to find it. Good Colombian is rarely sold simply as Supremo or Excelso. Colombian that has more "cup character" is usually pooled from  hundreds of farmers of one particular region and will have the regional name identifying it. Sold as a generic  for that region as Colombian and sometimes just happens to cup really nice, but that's rare, and it requires cupping each lot , each micro lot from selected individual farms we buy from to find that special one. Last year was poor in general  for buying from the Federation generic coffee program, you may get something different with each delivery from bag to bag, but the current Colombians we have are really outstanding, packed under our Volcano Coffee label, think of us as your in country Colombia  Specialty Coffee buyer.

Colombian coffee is widely known as one of the world's best coffees. However, as the world's 3rd largest exporter, a great deal of coffee must be scrutinized in order to find beans that truly live up to their national reputation. Our Colombia Supremo  packed under our VOLCANO COFFEE label  is exactly such a coffee. In the cup, it offers a classic profile: full aroma, medium body, and good acidity. Its pleasing fruit tones are balanced by an excellent caramel-like sweetness, and an overall "richness" that has made Colombian coffees famous and favored throughout the world.

For a number of years now, we had worked hard visiting many farms in Colombia to secure the finest Supremos available to sell under our "Volcano Coffee" brand.

We were continually agree that if we looked carefully, we could find some truly exceptional Excelsos. And...after many trials, we found a coffee that proved his point. We are now proud to offer Colombia Excelso packed under our Rainforest Certified Naturally Grown label.

Every year, we bring in a limited quantity of Excelsos that offer the combination of full aroma, ripe citrus top notes, creamy body and lingering sweet finish that characterize our Volcano Coffee best label.  The coffee is a great stand-alone Colombia, and with its mellow character and pleasing softness, also serves as an outstanding base for drip blends or espresso.

 

Colombia Huila

Monserrate is a community of 40 plus  families some two hours down a bumpy dirt road from La Plata. The town itself consists of a single street draped along the top of a gorgeous ridge with a commanding view of the lush green valleys on either side. At the highest point in town sits a brick-clad church and bell tower.

The coffee grown here is Caturra and Typica varietal. Each family has its own de-pulping and fermentation set up, along with raised drying screens protected from the rain by parabolic roofs of transparent plastic. The drying areas are set up on a slight incline, so that both ends of the tunnel can be opened to allow airflow across the coffee.

Since every family contributes coffee for export, each fermentation and drying process has to be done perfectly, or it could compromise the entire shipment. Happily, the whole community takes great pride in their work, and the results show very nicely in the cup--delicate floral tones balanced by jellied wine grape sweetness.

Colombia Huila Timana small-farmer 15+ Screen
Who cares about screen size? Give us cup quality any day. Remarkably clean and sweet. Grown in Timana (southern Huila, near San Agustin) by a group of 247 family farms.

Colombia Excelso Huila Pitalito 'Faisury Toro'
Faisury Toro is a small company that has mills in Pitalito (Huila) and Chinchina (Caldas). Aside from having a really cool name, they specialize in high-quality coffees from the veredas directly surrounding their mills. This one: sweet, good acidity, rich and very full-bodied.

Colombia Tierradentro Certified Organic
Sweet and bright with lovely apricot and lemon flavors. Grown in Cauca, at an elevation of 1700-2100 meters, by a group of indigenous farmers called Los Cabildos de Tierradentro.

Colombia more comments...

Colombian coffees are well balanced, medium bodied, and bright. They are also the most highly marketed coffees in the world. Everyone knows Juan Valdez. The Coffee Federation of Colombian has done an excellent job of connoting in the American public's mind that Colombian coffees are the "richest coffees in the world."

Does Colombian coffee deserve this praise? The answer is both yes and no.

Colombia has done a very nice job at bumping up the quality of its average beans and produces an above average grocery store or restaurant coffee. A lot of Colombian coffee, however, is not that truly special. On the other hand, a lot is praise-worthy. The task is to search out the exceptional among the merely decent cups.

Colombia is just starting to market and sell its coffee by region and finca, as opposed to just the "Colombian Mountain Grown" label. To be honest, I think that since Colombia was so successful at marketing the country as a whole, it was a latecomer to the micro-region vintage model of coffee marketing.

Overall, no reason to tell you to try Colombian coffees, since, if you drink coffee, you already have. But make sure not to discount Colombian coffee as the smiley face of the coffee world. Top-notch vintage coffees are there, just have to request them, instead of just saying, "Colombian coffee please" when you order coffee at your local coffee house.

A final note: Supreme and Excelso are bean size descriptions, not cupping profiles, growing altitudes, or anything else. Supremos are bigger than Excelos, but these names do not mean anything on cup, per se. Basically they are the names that the Coffee Federation came up with. Just something to keep in mind!

 

BIRD RIENDLY FARMING & SHADE GROWN

The Case of the Disappearing Warbler

 

The Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea) is a bird in trouble. It breeds in the eastern U.S. and winters in South America, and populations have been on the slide in recent decades -- faster than any other eastern warbler.  It is on the Audubon WatchList and is listed as vulnerable by BirdLife International.  Primary threats are loss of habitat both on the breeding grounds as well as their wintering areas in the tropics, where an estimated 64% of its habitat has vanished.  For more information on on the importance of coffee fincas to Cerulean Warblers and other migrants, read the excellent article from the National Wildlife Federation  called "The Case of the Disappearing Warbler."

The American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is partnering with the American Birding Association to help coffee growers preserve critical wintering habitat around the new 500-acre Cerulean Warbler Bird Reserve in the Rio Chucurí basin of Santander.

 The area, one of the last natural remnant forest fragments in the region, shelters high populations of wintering Cerulean Warblers. The reserve also contains three Critically Endangered bird species: the Gorgeted Wood-Quail, Colombian Mountain Grackle, and Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird, along with many other threatened and endemic birds.

Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, comments on what is Sustainable Coffee?

"Sustainable coffee is produced on a farm with high biological diversity and low chemical inputs. It conserves resources, protects the environment, produces efficiently, competes commercially and enhances the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole."

-- Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center.

More links on Bird Friendly & Shade Coffee  information

1. •Birds that use coffee plantations
   

2. •The Grind over Sun Coffee
   

3. •The Case of the Disappearing Warbler
   

4. •Bird-Friendly coffee slide show
   

5. •WWF: Coffee and habitat conversion
   

6. •Shade certification issues
   

7. •Why Birds Are Crazy for Shade Coffee
   

8. •Audubon Magazine shade coffee article
   

9. •"Bird-Friendly" certification standards
   

10. •"Bird-Friendly" certified farms
    

11. •Rainforest Alliance certification standards
    

 

“The checklist to the birds of Colombia 2008" just published by Fundación ProAves on line in its journal Conservación Colombiana reveals that Colombia has officially recorded 1,870 species, against official reports from Peru and Brazil, of 1,817 and 1,767 species respectively. After over ten years of compilation, fieldwork and detailed revisions by the authors, the report reveals that incredibly Colombia hosts almost one fifth of all birds known on earth, in an area eight times smaller than the USA.

 

 

A surge of interest in birds within Colombia followed the publication of “The field guide to the birds of Colombia” in 1986. The guide’s authors, Steven Hilty and William Brown, educated and enthused a new generation of birders and ornithologists in Colombia, who in turn have greatly expanded the country’s knowledge. Since the guide was published a further 172 species have been documented, including 22 species of bird new for science listed in the new checklist. In the same publication as the checklist, ProAves researchers document 16 bird species previously known from other countries but not recorded in Colombia. These were mostly from remote regions on the frontier with Ecuador and San Andres Island.

Worryingly, a total of 161 bird species in Colombia are at imminent risk of extinction, including 70% of the 73 endemic bird species restricted to the country, while two bird species have already gone extinct. Fundación ProAves has been working towards the protection of these species, including establishing 12 bird reserves as refuges for the most critically endangered species in recent years. However, threats have been mounting and bird populations have been plummeting, particularly the clearing of lowland tropical forest for conversion to African oil palm plantations for ethanol production (biofuels), and from the conversion of traditional shade coffee plantations , that provide excellent habitat for North American migrants, to coffee varieties that require no canopy shade.

Interestingly, significant improvements in the security situation in large parts of Colombia in recent years have led to a new phenomenon - birding tours by foreigners desperate to see Colombia’s stunning bird diversity. For almost three decades, Colombia has been extremely difficult to visit; so many birders in North America and Europe are now seizing the chance, such as through the Colombian company EcoTurs which specializes in birding tours in Colombia. With a sharp increase in avitourism and the continuing increase of Colombian birders, it is predicted that the Colombian bird list will continue to grow and highlight the region as key area for bird conservation.

RAINFOREST CERTIFIED NATURALLY GROWN TM  farming program

 

WHAT REALLY IS ORGANIC COFFEE?  Read what other say about the Organic Program.

USDA changed the rules in 2008, now every farm needs to be inspected "every year" not every third year, and more important is the fact of coop's, where only 10% of a coop was needed for inspections to be called Organic, now as of June 2008 every farm needs inspections, to keep the USDA NOP seal.  Inspections cost for a small farmer can be well over $5,000 a year, when many farmers make less than $15,000, getting the Organic seal for coffee, may be a thing of the past !!!

We have an another way to get YOUR COFFEE "ORGANIC" , with our Rainforest Certified Naturally Grown tm farmer program.

1. •Our Rainforest Certified, meets all the normal guidelines for growing "organic" Bird Friendly & Shade Grown
   

2. •Our farmers do not use pesticides
   

3. •Our farmers DO use organic mulch for fertilizer, coffee cherry pulp & composted mulch.
   

4. •Our farmers DO have shade trees, coffee grown on shade friendly coffee plantations
   

5. •Our farmers DO have bird friendly environments, providing habit for birds wintering in Colombia
   

6. •Our farmers DO sign a pledge to farm "organic style" protecting the environment
   

7. •Our farmers DO get PAID a fair price, "DIRECT TRADE" tm just like the Fair Trade prices "directly to the farmer" not to brokers-importers & middlemen or coop managers when the direct results are the farmer not getting any more for his coffee.
   

What the Rainforest Certified Naturally Grown tm seal means.

1. 1.We inspect every farm to make sure they meet our organic natural farming practices.  We base  our program  upon the accepted farming methods now used by USDA NOP program guidelines for organic farming, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird program for both bird friendly farming & shade grown specifications for tree canopy cover.
   

2. 2.We collect samples of leaf, soil & water at each farm, just like a Organic inspection, sending these to a national lab to make sure the farm is really  an "organic" farm. 
   

3. 3.The agreement contract we sign with each farmer is his personal pledge to assure he will follow the organic farming style on his farm, producing organic style of coffee for our clients.
   

4. 4.We charge the farmer not one penny for this certification, after all they are the one making us money by following the organic farming, we will make our money on the coffee, without the farmer paying inspectors a large sum to certify a farm.  The real organic seal from NOP system is broken, we aim to have an alternative inspection methods for our "organic clients".
   

5. 5.We teach the farmer about use of natural pesticide methods, organic mulch fertilization methods, sanitation & general organic farming with the help of our Spanish speaking "in country" team of native Colombian staff.
   

6. 6. Sustainable farming environment is our goal for every farm
   

7. 7.We donate part of our profit to help the Rainforest Coffee Kids origination providing sports equipment to local schools.
   

 

Organic mythology

Organic = No fertilizers, pesticides or other toxic chemicals and that means better quality, healthier and less impact on the environment.

Shade Grown = No chopping or burning down the Rain Forest to plant bigger crops of coffee. Coffee plants are grown where they grow naturally, under the canopy of trees.

Fair Trade = The coffee farmers are paid a fair amount for their crops. Something that most of the coffee bean brokers don't do.

 

Why do all this for what?  Read on...

Organically grown coffee does not necessarily offer any health benefits over non-organic coffee. Coffee beans are naturally protected from agro-chemicals within a thick, fleshy cherry. Any chemical residue that might be left on the bean after this cherry is removed is burned off during the roasting process.   Reprint from a national coffee magazine, un-named.  However the real truth is in the style of farming, most coffee farms are very small as we think of them, family owned & operated on a few acres, in fact in Colombia alone over 500,000 small farms make up the coffee growing farmers here. Important facts are they are folks who make a small living for their families raising coffee for you & me.  They can not really afford the "petro" chemicals of pesticides we think they may of used in the 

more from others in the Organic fight, read a short story from

Is this the end of organic coffee?

Thanks to a recent hush-hush USDA ruling, your clean-conscience, fair-trade, organic latte may soon be a thing of the past.

By Samuel Fromartz

April 3, 2007 | Enjoy your organic coffee now, while it's hot -- because it may not be around for long.

link reference http://www.salon.com/mwt/food/eat_drink/2007/04/03/coffee_organic/

Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture quietly released a ruling that alarmed organic certifiers and groups who work with third-world farmers. The decision tightens organic certification requirements to such a degree that it could sharply curtail the ability of small grower co-ops to produce organic coffee -- not to mention organic bananas, cocoa, sugar and even spices. Kimberly Easson, director of strategic relationships for TransFair USA, the fair trade certification group, puts it bluntly: "This ruling could wipe out the organic coffee market in the U.S."

TransFair USA is not the only organization sounding the alarm. In the past week, I spoke with nonprofits, businesses and organic certifiers, all of whom are concerned that the USDA ruling will catastrophically raise costs for small-scale producers of organic goods and likely push them back into conventional commodity markets.

The USDA's controversial ruling hinges on methods of organic certification -- a process in which inspectors visit farms and walk through fields, review growing methods, and see what measures the farmer is taking to avoid pests and weeds. If the methods comply with regulations, the inspector then makes a recommendation to a certification agency; and if the farm is approved, it is certified for one year and granted permission to carry the organic label on its products. The USDA National Organic Program has overseen this process since 2002, when a patchwork of state organic standards were codified under a national regime.

Until now, however, there has been a special provision for "grower groups" that made certification practical for farmer cooperatives in the Third World, whose memberships can reach into the thousands. Because of the immense logistical demands of inspecting every farm in a large co-op, a compromise was reached: An organic inspector would randomly visit only a portion of the group's farms each year, usually 20 percent. The grower groups would then self-police the remainder through a manager who made sure they followed the rules. The following year, an inspector would return and visit another 20 percent of the farms. After five years, all farms would be inspected.

But in the ruling made public this month, the National Organic Program overturned that system, saying every farm in a grower group must now be visited and inspected annually -- as has been the practice in the United States -- rather than only a percentage.

"[The previous system] was a mechanism for the low-resource global south to afford organic certification," said Michael Sligh of Rural Advancement Foundation International USA. He has worked with farm groups in the global south for years and in the 1990s helped craft the U.S. organic regulations. His e-mail in box is now bulging with questions about the ruling from non-governmental organizations across the world. "We're literally talking about hundreds of thousands of farmers who will be affected," Sligh explained. The staggered inspection method has been crucial for, say, coffee grower unions in Ethiopia, which have upward of 80,000 members. It was used by organic tea and spice farmers in India, organic sugar co-ops in Brazil, and organic cocoa farmers in Costa Rica, who would otherwise not be able to ship certified organic products to wealthier countries in the Northern Hemisphere.

The new USDA certification ruling arose out of a case involving an unnamed Mexican grower group that failed to detect a farmer using a prohibited insecticide and prevent empty fertilizer bags being used for crop storage -- both of which violate USDA organic regulations. NOP blamed the problem on inadequate internal controls of the self-policing system and decided to ban the practice everywhere. "The ... use of an internal inspection system as a proxy for mandatory on-site inspections of each production unit by the certifying agent is not permitted," the NOP stated. The agency informed organic certifiers of these revised standards in January, and in March published the ruling on its Web site.

In conversations over the past week, certifiers told me they knew of instances where the co-op inspection system had broken down, but thought that the NOP had taken an extreme stand, ending the possibility of group certification and ignoring the constraints of low-income producers. A more measured response would have been to punish the errant grower groups and then launch a public review of the certification system. "We need to have open comment on this and have a dialogue; we need to take a step back and look at the whole thing," said Patty Vincent, coffee product and certification manager at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, an organic and fair trade coffee company. The goal of certification should be to ensure the integrity of the organic product -- so consumers know what they are buying. But Vincent and others believe that integrity can be achieved without sacrificing the economic livelihood of farmers and the viability of the product itself.

If the ruling is unchallenged, certification costs will rise precipitously for co-ops in developing countries. Lebi Perez, training coordinator for Organic Crop Improvement Association International, a U.S. certification group active in Mexico and Central and South America, explained that it currently takes about 20 to 30 days to certify a grower group. "You have to go to the community by car, bus, mule or on foot, and access is difficult during the rainy season, because a stream might swell and you can't get across," he said. In the best of times, inspectors visit four or five farms a day. (Perez said OCIA certifies about 300 grower groups in the region, which average about 400 members each -- or more than 100,000 farmers.)

 

"We think it will now take up to a year to certify an entire group -- that's our calculation," Perez explained. And because OCIA charges $150 to $270 per day of inspection, the farmers' financial burden will increase dramatically. For small coffee and cocoa growers who earn about $2,000 a year, that burden may become too heavy; to survive, some will be forced to drop organic certification.

Indeed, the only farms likely to afford the new inspection program will be large-scale plantations. As an illustration, consider the case of one co-op of Peruvian banana farmers, for whom the USDA ruling is especially ironic: The 1,500 growers formerly worked as tenants on a single plantation, but with agrarian reforms in the 1960s each family got a plot of the landlord's land. Had that plantation been maintained, it could have had one visit a year from an inspector. But because the property is now split among 1,500 families, inspectors will need to visit each farm on the land.

"Our cost is going to be at least double, because we're going to rise from 40 inspection days a year to more than 100," said Luis Monge, regional certification manager with Dole, which buys organic bananas from the Peruvian co-op. If the market does not cover the extra cost of certification, Dole has another option. Instead of reaching out to small, community-based grower groups, it could buy exclusively from larger banana plantations in Colombia, Ecuador and Honduras that can afford to pay for their own certification. "It will present an opportunity for larger farmers to get in business," Monge agreed. "But that's against the roots of organic agriculture, isn't it?"

In the end, though, even the rise of plantations may not be enough to keep certified organic coffee in American mugs. The U.S. market for the brew is growing 40 percent a year, but organic coffee -- unlike bananas -- is impractical to farm on a large scale. It's too labor-intensive, because the plants grow under a shade canopy on steep hills and must be harvested and weeded by hand. So farmers seeking higher income may make the switch to non-organic methods, tearing out native shade trees and relying on herbicides and pesticides to boost bean yields. Growers who can't afford to make that jump may continue to farm organically and forgo certification, selling at the lower conventional price and hoping for the best.

Either way it's a bitter cup. But if the USDA ruling remains unchallenged, it's what we'll all be drinking.

 

US federal regulations on using the term "organic" is rapidly transforming a niche of the coffee industry and will cost consumers more, experts say.

"I think we're looking this year at sales growth of our double certified line in the region of 50-60 per cent as some of our larger customers distribute (organic coffees) to more mainstream channels," said Rick Peyser of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters based in Waterbury, Vermont.

Organic coffee is grown without prohibited synthetic substances.

At the same time as medium and larger roasters seize on a new area to capitalize on, smaller roasters, particularly in the East, will be pinched by higher costs and what appears to be mountains of paperwork.

"This will shake up the industry. Organic coffee is very much West Coast, so the impact will be even greater to the East Coast roasters because it is a smaller part of most people's businesses," said Donald Schoenholt, president of Gillies Coffee Co. in Brooklyn, New York.

Sources said the financial load per pound could be from 2 or 4 cents up toward 17 cents for a small roaster. It depends on how many pounds the roaster will be spreading his costs across, they explained.

"For smaller businesses, the regulations may be a challenge," said Peyser, pointing out that retailers will have to change their labels and identify their certifier.

One smaller roaster said: "The costs are running into the thousands. The new regulations require very strict, very detailed, careful record keeping, which only big corporations are good at."

Higher prices aside, the consumer of organic coffee should be better off with the new regulations.

"The customer will have a much higher level of security and confidence in knowing the products are organic. This will be great for the buyer," said Schoenholt.

"Come 21 October, anything that uses the term organic needs to be certified organic, unless your sales are less than $5,000. Anyone who produces or processes has to be certified if they use that term. You must meet the Federal rules," said Lynn Moorer, director of operations and general counsel for the Organic Crop Improvement Association International, of Lincoln, Nebraska.

The National Organic Program (NOP) is the name of the set of regulations that lays out what insiders call "The Rule." The regulations were originally passed in 1990, but took a while to become final and are only now going into full effect, Moorer explained.

The road to formal certification has taken so long because of the US government's inexperience with organic coffee. Also, roasters of organic blends are spread out and made up of widely divergent groups of individuals.

"The organic community can be a real challenge to work with," one source said diplomatically.

A certificate from the farmer is not enough. One small roaster complained that he had to complete a 140 page document.

"You have to demonstrate that you have an organic plan. Before there was no standard definition for organic. It is not just absence of prohibited substances, but also the proper use of the land," said Moorer.

There are 54 accredited certifiers to the NOP and roughly 50 are in the United States.

"I think the NOP raises the bar and puts us on the map. The standards are verifiable and this takes the guess work out of certification. In the long run, it gives us more legitimacy in the eye of the consumer," said Adam Tietelbaum, co-founder of The Organic Coffee Association.

The concept of independent certification tells the consumer that the products he or she purchased have been grown, handled and processed without any synthetic chemicals, and are in compliance with earth-friendly standards.

Earth-friendly is a way of saying that organic practices take into account long-term sustainable stewardship of resources like land and water, Moorer explained.

"More people will become compliant and others will see what happens. Consumers will now begin to demand proper certification paperwork," said Jim Cannell of Jim's Organic Coffees in Wareham, Massachusetts.

Larger coffee and food companies have either purchased an organic coffee line or are shopping for acquisitions.

Tietelbaum started Adam's Organic Coffees in 1992 in Oakland, California, and it was snapped up by Peerless Coffee Co. in 2001.

 

I'm sure once you examine the effects of the pesticides that are commonly used on coffee, you will agree that the workers, the environment, and the folks downstream are all better off if coffee is grown without pesticides.  Careful cultivation and biocontrol makes it possible to combat many common pests and grow coffee without these chemicals.  And you can support the farms that have taken these steps by purchasing organic coffee.

Organic coffee information
First, a few facts about organic coffee.

Certified organic coffee means that it has been produced under standardized conditions, which are verified by inspections. Farms or cooperatives pay for certification, including accommodating inspectors and paying for their travel. American consumers often see the label on the left certifying organic products, including coffee. This seal only indicates a product is at least 95% organic unless 100% organic is specified. Requirements for this seal include no use of prohibited substances on the land for at least three years.  This includes most synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. Other certification requirements include a buffer between the coffee and any other crop not grown organically, and a plan that demonstrates methods the prevent erosion and other sustainable methods.

The USDA also accredits other agencies to certify organic products using the same standards.  A common one for coffee is the OCIA. There are also various state agencies. The Eco-labels web site has much more information.

Many farms have never used any sort of chemical input on their coffee crops, often because chemicals are expensive and the farmers cannot afford to purchase them. The farms, or cooperatives they belong to, may not have the financial resources to pay to have their product certified organic even if they qualify, because it incurs various fees. These could be considered "passive organic."

Other farms may be missing an element which disqualifies them from certification.  While I believe all of the elements are important, I'd much prefer to buy coffee from, for example, a farm that judiciously applies small amounts of non-organic fertilizer and preserves 100 ha of native forest on its land than a certified organic farm that uses half its land for a cattle pasture.

That being said, if your coffee is not certified organic, it will take careful research to know if your coffee is sourced from farms that practice sustainable methods. Because a number of common coffee pests and pathogens are more difficult to control naturally when the coffee is grown in the sun, it's often a good bet that organic coffee is also grown under shade.  Certified organic coffee represents less than 1% of the market, an astonishingly low figure.  Therefore, buying organic coffee is nearly always good for the environment.

A final thought: it is abundantly true that Americans apply more frightening chemicals to their lawns than most coffee farmers do to their crops.  And specialty coffee (e.g., not produced by the big four) is still one one of the most rustically farmed crops in the world. I don't think that makes it hypocritical to encourage and support organic coffee farming. As my mom used to say, "Two wrongs don't make a right."

1. •Facts about organic coffee -- Organic Trade Association
   

2. •Why labeling coffee certified is different from other foods -- International Trade Centre
   

Pesticides birds, humans, and wildlife

1. •American Bird Conservancy's pesticide and birds campaign.  This information includes a section where you can easily look up many common pesticides used in the U.S. for lawns and gardens.
   

2. •When it comes to pesticides, birds are sitting ducks -- Smithsonian fact sheet.
   

3. •Eliminating the most hazardous pesticides in Latin America -- note that three of the 12 chemicals of most concern -- methyl parathion, endosulfan, and chlorpyrifos -- are commonly used on coffee.
   

4. •Dangerous pesticide use in Central America -- Pesticide Action Network article.
   

Coffee without chemicals

1. •Growing coffee using Integrated Pest Management (IPM) (PDF) -- includes section on problems with pesticides in coffee.
   

2. •Growing coffee without endosulfan.
   

3. •Natural fungal control of coffee borer -- abstract of research by USDA.
   

4. •Studies in Jamaica show that coffee pests are less numerous in farms which have high bird abundance, which in turn is fostered by shade.
   

5. •IPM bibliography -- focused on coffee pests and diseases.
   

6. •Report on IPM to control coffee stem borer in Malawi.
   

 

 Common pesticides

Even though many chemicals that have been found to be harmful to the environment have been banned or are strictly regulated in the U.S. or Europe, they remain legal to use in less-developed countries, including many countries that grow coffee.  This is troubling on many levels, beyond the fact that dangerous chemicals are being applied to crops. 

 

For instance, workers in these countries may be less likely to be well-informed about the dangers of the chemicals, less likely to be provided with protective gear, and less informed about proper application methods (see this abstract, for example).  These regions are also much higher in biodiversity and ecosystem complexity, increasing the risk to the environment.

Here are just some of the more common chemicals used on coffee farms to control major pests and pathogens (which were described in a previous post).  I've included the World Health Organization classification, based on human risk.  Click on the link for more information.

Endosulfan (brand name Thiodan) -- used against coffee cherry borer. Does not dissolve readily (but does degrade) in water and sticks to soil particles, so may take years to completely break down. Its breakdown products are more persistent than parent compounds. It is toxic to mammals, birds, and fish. Effects the central nervous system, and in animals causes kidney, testes, and liver damage. Class II (moderately hazardous).

Colombia has considered endosulfan worse than the coffee cherry borer.  In that country, more than 100 human poisonings and one death were attributed to endosulfan use in coffee during 1993; more than 100 poisonings and three deaths were reported in 1994.  Here is an article on endosulfan and another profile here.
 

Chlorpyrifos (brand name Dursban). A broad spectrum organophosphate used against coffee cherry borer and coffee leaf miner. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency banned most household uses in 2000.  It is a contact poison.  It has caused human deaths, and has been linked to birth defects. It is extremely toxic to birds, freshwater and marine organisms, bees, and other wildlife.  It can bioaccumulate and effect bird reproduction. Class II. A recent report on exposure and risks (especially to children) of chlorpyrifos from the Organic Center is here.

Diazinon (brand name Basudin). Used against coffee borer. Not very toxic to mammals unless inhaled, it is nonetheless highly toxic to wildlife and beneficial insects, and acutely toxic to birds.  In the U.S. where it is still commonly used on turfgrass, diazinon has caused the second largest number of total known incidents of bird mortality of any pesticide. Class II. Another profile here.

 Disulfoton. A systemic organophosphate insecticide used against leaf miner.  In the U.S., restricted use due to its high toxicity to mammals by all routes of exposure.  It is also highly toxic to birds and fish. Secondary exposure and poisoning occurs after birds feed on insects that have consumed residue-laden plants; these insects are impaired by the disulfoton and are easier for birds to capture, compounding the problem. High levels of toxins can be attained in this manner and has resulted in avian mortality in connection with disulfoton use. It is delivered in granular form, which poses the threat of runoff and contamination of other crops when applied on slopes, on which coffee is often grown. Degrades or is metabolized by plants into harmful compounds that are very persistent in the environment. Class 1a, extremely hazardous (highest toxicity). Another profile  here.

Methyl parathion (a.k.a. ethyl parathion, parathion). Organophosphate used against leaf miner. One of the most toxic pesticides, highly restricted in U.S. Very toxic to birds when ingested or through skin exposure.  Also highly toxic to animals and fish. Persistent in soil and will bioaccumulate.  Areas sprayed with this chemical should not be entered for 48 hours. It is banned in Indonesia and restricted in Colombia, but Pesticide Action Network reports that there is evidence that methyl parathion is not used safely in Central America and is regularly misused in developing countries. Class 1a, extremely hazardous.

Triadimefon (brand name Bayleton). Copper-based fungicide used to against coffee rust. Only slightly toxic to birds, little is known about its effect on humans, but it is a suspected that there is potential for reproductive problems with chronic exposure.  It has been found to induce hyperactivity in rats. The major concern is that long-term use of this and other copper-based fungicides is copper accumulation in soils, such as been found in coffee farms in Kenya and in Costa Rica.  Copper toxicity has been found in other crops grown in these soils, and copper impacts other biochemical and biological processes in soil, and little is known about long-term effects in tropical ecosystems. The primary metabolite of triadimefon is triadimenol, which is Class III (slightly hazardous). Another profile here.

Cypermethrin. A synthetic pyrethroid used against coffee cherry borer. Generally low direct toxicity to birds, but ingestion via contaminated insects causes mortality in young birds.  Extremely toxic to fish other aquatic organisms, and should not be applied any place where it may drift into water.  Class II.

Next in this series: Resources on organic coffee, and further reading.

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Pesticides used on coffee farms

 Coffee is an agricultural crop and like any other crop, when it is grown for commercial production at any large scale, farmers seek a way to maximize output.  Often this means via the use of chemicals. These can be categorized into three broad groups: non-organic fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides.  This is the introduction a three-part series on pesticides in coffee.

Testing of green coffee beans contracted by the Natural Resources Defense Council detected traces of many agricultural chemicals.  The high temperature of roasting reduces or eliminates many of these chemicals, but the primary concern regarding these toxins is how they effect the health of the coffee farmers who apply them, the surrounding communities, and their often severe impact on wildlife and ecosystems.

In this series, I will cover common pests and pathogens of coffee, the most common chemicals used on coffee crops for pest control and their effect on people and the environment, and finally information and resources on organic coffee and pesticides and birds.

Pesticides used on coffee farms, part 2: Common coffee pests

Coffee is equipped with an excellent defense against herbivory: caffeine. Caffeine is one of many alkaloids that evolved in various plants to prevent them from being eaten by insects.  Evolution doesn't stand still, however, and some insects have fought back. Coffee is attacked by several pests and diseases. Here are the most important, the ones that are most frequently combated with pesticides.

Coffee cherry/berry borer or "Broca" (Hypothenemus hampei). Native to Central Africa, but now found in many coffee-producing nations. The female of this tiny beetle (shown here on a green coffee bean) bores into the coffee cherry and lays about 15 eggs; the larvae feed on the developing bean. Usually, the cherry drops from the tree. The best defense is making sure there are no unpicked beans left on the trees or laying on the ground. Because they spend much of their life inside the cherry, controlling borers with insecticides can be difficult or downright ineffective. (Update: both Back to the Grinder and jimseven have nice photos of green beans with broca damage.)

Coffee leaf miner or "bicho mineiro" (Leucoptera coffeella). The leaf damage from the larvae of this small moth means less leaf surface is available for photosynthesis, resulting in stunted plants and reduction in yield. Native to Africa, but now found in many coffee-producing nations. This insect has developed resistance to insecticides in some areas.

Other insect pests include root nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.), green scale (Coccus viridis), and twig borers (Xylosandrus compactus).

Although not an insect, the next pathogen also prompts chemical onslaughts:

Coffee rust (Hemileia vastarix). A fungus that causes yellow spots on leaves, reduced photosynthetic ability, and eventually leaf drop. This causes a lack of nutrients going to growing shoots, and so can impact future growth of the plant. Spores require rain to germinate (high humidity is not adequate). Disease spreads more quickly in dense plantings and is less severe in shaded plantings, as the spores require a certain light intensity to germinate. Temperatures at farms at higher elevations are often too cool for the fungus.  Native to Africa, but now found in many coffee-producing nations. Some coffee cultivars have resistance, notably the catimor variety, and also catuai and mundo novo.

Coffee growing in Colombia

Some background
The marketing of Juan Valdez and "fine Colombian coffee" has been so pervasive for so long, if you ask the average consumer where coffee come from, and they may well say "Colombia." The country produces about 10% of the world's arabica coffee, second only to Brazil, with the current output around 12 million 60-kg bags. Ninety percent is exported.

Despite this large volume, coffee growing in Colombia is not characterized by huge plantations. Instead, there are well over a half million producers, and around two-thirds farm on small plots of less than 5 ha. Nearly all represented by the National Federation of Coffee Growers (Federacion Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia, or FNC), the creator of Juan Valdez. This organization is extremely strong, and has managed to organize these tens of thousands of small producers, get their beans to mills and central processing points, and deliver fairly uniform, though often mediocre, coffee in large volumes. This is what has made Colombian coffee so popular and ubiquitous with the large corporate roasters.

Therefore, this profusion of many small farms mixing all their crops together has made it difficult to find sustainably-grown Colombian coffee, or coffee of very high quality. This is now changing. The FNC has entered the specialty coffee market. Small roasters are developing direct relationships with individual farmers or small cooperatives, seeking out exceptional lots. Since 2005, Colombia has participated in the Cup of Excellence. These efforts have made it easier for consumers to find great examples of the very pleasing coffees this country can produce.

Shade coffee in Colombia
Various sources [1,2,3] indicate that the proportion of coffee grown under traditional shade ranges from 16 to 40%. That means the bulk of it is grown under full sun, or sparse sun interspersed with other crops such as plantains and bananas. To be fair, there are some high-altitude areas in the country where clouds provide the shade, and planting coffee under a tree canopy would be counter-productive. Some of these farms preserve important forest fragments outside their coffee plots.

Rainforest Alliance now certifies nearly 200 farms in Colombia. There are only three Bird-Friendly certified producers in Colombia; one is the widely available Mesa de los Santos. So it can still be a challenge to find eco-friendly, great-tasting Colombian coffee.

Birds and biodiversity in Colombia
A remarkable 1870 bird species are found in Colombia, a fifth of the world's species in a country eight times smaller than the U.S. and more documented species than any other country on earth. While many species of North American migrants winter closer to home in Central America, a number of species make the long trip to South America. One of the most important is the Cerulean Warbler, which has been discussed in a number of other posts. Other species include American Redstart, Blackburnian Warbler (shown top right), Canada Warbler, Mourning Warbler (bottom right) Swainson’s Thrush, Prothonotary Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, and Bay-breasted Warbler.

In fact, individuals of all those species have been found to return to the exact same wintering areas in Colombia on successive years -- including a Mourning Warbler and Swainson's Thrush to a shade coffee farm in Antioquia. I will add that a Swainson's Thrush banded at my study site in southern Michigan was found two months later near Bucaramanga, another coffee-growing region. This is amazing!

Birds are just an example of the enormous biodiversity of Colombia. There are 55,000 plant species (a third endemic), 697 amphibians (2nd most in the world), and 517 reptiles. Yet Colombian forests and rich diversity they contain are under threat. One major driver is the illegal farming of coca, the raw ingredient for cocaine. Colombia is the world's largest producer of coca.

Coca/cocaine and the coffee connection
Farmers grow coca because it provides more cash than any other crop. Since 2000, the U.S. has cooperated and helped fund a coca eradication program centered around aerial fumigation with the herbicide glysophate (RoundUp, made by Monsanto, the folks that gave us Agent Orange). This non-selective herbicide kills all plants, including native species and food crops. Not only does it destroy vegetation, but it has resulted in farmers moving into more remote areas to grow coca, clearing primary forest to do so. Many other adverse environmental and health effects result from this ineffective practice.

When coffee prices dropped in the 1990s, many farmers turned to coca. Encouraging specialty coffee, with its corresponding higher prices and good stewardship of the land, is one tool to help reduce coca production and the deforestation and loss of biodiversity that goes with it. In fact, a recent report noted,

"The head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is urging comprehensive, large-scale and ecologically-friendly agriculture and forestry schemes in coca growing areas, after a new survey shows a 'marked increase' in cultivation in the Andean region."

There are projects in Cauca and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta regions focused on replacing coca with coffee that have met with success. In future posts, we'll explore the development of specialty coffees in Colombia, and take a look at what's available and the roasters bringing these coffees to you.
 

[1] COLOMBIA: Working Toward a Sustainable Ecosystem. 2000.- "Ask Juan," Colombian Specialty Coffees, National Federation of Coffee Growers.

[2] Colombia Coffee Sector Study. 2002. Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo Económico (CEDE) de la Universidad de los Andes. Daniele Giovannucci with José Leibovich, Diego Pizano, Gonzalo Paredes, Santiago Montenegro, Hector Arévalo and Panos Varangis. PDF.

[3] Millenium Ecosystem Assessment. 2004. Colombia sub-global assessment report. Ecological function assessment in the Colombian Andean coffee region.

Photo of a Blackburnian Warbler by Gavan Watson; photo of Mourning Warbler by yours truly.