In the Grinder - Our Daily Coffee Weblog

Cafe Imports' Bolivia Trip, July 2010

     

Boliva for those who have been there is an amazing and diverse country.  It is actually more like 5 countries smashed into one, and once you feel you begin to grasp the complex local cultural customs and politics you move into a new area and then have to start learning them all over again.   It is at once, the richest country in the America's in natural resources and yet one of the poorest.  It has produced some truly exceptional coffees yet it has been incredibly difficult to get them to market in any volume or consistency.  This was my second trip to the coffee areas to try to get the best coffees for export and reward the producers for quality.   The 8 hour trip to the coffee country in Yungas along the "Death Road" is not for nervous people, as our driver told us.  Nervous people get people hurt out here.  There is truth in this as you drive the one and a half lane dirt highway skirting cliffs dropping of to the river 100 ft below with trucks flying around blind corners honking to tell you to get out of the way.  It is the only road in and the only way to get coffee out.

When we arrived in the frontier town of Caranavi, we found the police station had been recently burned down after some protests and that the government had cut off the gas supply to the town in return.  Caranavi was not under any law at the time and we had to buy gas at double the price off the black market to make sure we had enough to make all our visits. Just a taste of the difficulties coffee people face all the time.

We then headed off deeper into the coffee country and into the area where there are smaller towns called colonies.  This is where the government is building roads deeper into the jungle and mountains and inviting poor people from other areas to come and clear and settle the land.  These colonies are actually opening up new areas for coffee but also for coca, which is legally grown and farmers can earn 4 times more for coca than coffee.  Coca is also much easier to transport and harvest than coffee and is the main reason to the decline in coffee production where the two over lap. Luckily the best coffee areas are above where cocoa can grow and are dedicated mostly to coffee. These are the areas we headed into.

 

Our first stop was at the farm and micro mill of VICOPEX - Copacabana Estate.  1400-1600 meters. We carried their very nice coffee last year and have been developing a long term relationship with this organic farm.  Since it is a private micro mill they can not certify under the fair trade regulations.  This was my second trip there and they are making improvements to increase their quality, which we saw in the very nice cuppings of this harvest.

We went to the P-4 section of the farm, the highest part of the farm, where they have to send the coffee by a cable wire stretched over a valley to get the coffee out.  We even found a few fruits of a strange beach ball hybrid coffee. A cross between yellow catuai and a possibly a red caturra or typica.  They promised to plant them and see what coffee might taste like in 3 years.

 

The harvest was very low across Bolivia and exporters are scrambling to get good coffees.  So the local market prices are high and unfortunately the quality of coffee goes down since people are happy with the local price and do not pick as good. Next year is looking better.

We headed deeper into the jungle to visit the well known and COE winning CENAPROC mill.  This mill has had a great reputation over the years but has slipped lately.  We went to find out why and how we could help bring up the quality.  We were welcomed in grand style with music from pan flute and drums played by the farmers.  CENAPROC is actually off the grid and runs everything with a giant diesel generator and propane gas.  It is very expensive to get trucked into there area. After a meeting to speak with all the producers and explain to them about how Café Imports rewards quality and CENAPROCS potential we took a tour of the mill.  There are issues at all mills and we exchanged ideas and observations but saw nothing that was not easy to fix and would help increase quality.  Bolivia has no coffee extension service and most coffee groups are working in isolation doing their best under difficult circumstances to improve quality.  The long trip was worth it just to give advice and share technical knowledge on the spot with the people doing the day to day work.  Reminding them that quality depends on their actions and even though we may not see them hard at work all the time, we can taste it in the cup and we are happy to reward that with better prices.    

 

As we were meeting with top producers, many who had placed in the COE auctions, we heard the 2010 Bolivian COE had been cancelled.  We quickly let them know that we set up a micro lot program to pay producers great prices based on cup for those lots they had been saving for COE.  This is no substitute for the benefits of the COE but gives a stable alternative on short notice in the hopes of keeping farmers enthusiasm high on special lots.

We cupped many fantastic coffees and we selected out some great lots with more to come as the harvest advances.  Bolivia is not going to increase its volume of specialty coffee like Peru did, but there are those trying to select out the best of what is already there and keep it from getting mixed away.  The quality is there for sure so it is still just finding best way to get more of it out and with more traceability for the farmers.

 

Saludos!

-Tim O