Chris Eilers, CEO of Dunn Bros Coffee, and Scott Kee, Buyer, traveled to Colombia with UTZ to visit farms and hear firsthand how the UTZ certification has affected farmers and their families. Dunn Bros Coffee has partnered with UTZ and is working toward the goal of sourcing only UTZ certified coffees with the knowledge that UTZ certification means a better life for our farming partners. Below is a detailed account of their trip written by Scott Kee…
Admittedly, I was nervous to start this trip. Based on positive published reports, the executive team we interviewed, and the systematic educational approach to helping farmers achieve sustainability, Dunn Bros chose UTZ Kapeh as our sustainability partner this past summer, with a commitment to source 90-100% of our coffee from UTZ certified farms by the end of 2013. This trip would be the first time we would witness firsthand how effective the UTZ program has been to the UTZ certified farmers in Colombia. The UTZ system is built around a common sense Code of Conduct. The code includes elements such as standards for record keeping, minimized and documented use of agrochemicals for crop protection, protection of labor rights and access to health care and education for employees and their families. Farmers are certified initially and then yearly by trained approved UTZ agronomist, each year moving closer to the end goal of meeting all necessary certification requirements. The ongoing success of UTZ and supported farmers is rooted in the easy to follow, 4-year profitability road map that includes yearly goals and ongoing education to help them achieve these goals. More information about the UTZ program and Code of conduct is located at: www.Utzkapeh.com
Saturday, November 6th. Cartagena – Bogota-Pereira. Up at 4:00am to get the 6:00am flight to Bogotá. The flight from Bogotá to Manizales was delayed because of bad weather in Manizales. We arrived in Manizales at 10:00am and drove to Chinchina, then stopped at the Federation of National Co-ops (FNC) office to discussed the FNC and UTZ relationship, how they work together, and outcomes. The FNC is the Colombian government’s coffee farm support system. Key points in our discussion included: increased production levels within the Caldas region, pride by both the farmers and the migrant farmers that come to harvest coffee, pesticide containment, human rights issues, etc. UTZ has gained popularity in the Chinchina area and coffee farmer participation in this certification has been rapidly increasing over the past five years. Out of1500 farms, 253 are currently UTZ certified.
The highlight of the discussion was a visit by an 80-year-old farmer, Hernando Duque. He had been farming for 60 years and when asked what the most important event in his farming career was he said it was learning the UTZ system. He now takes care of his workers, which in turn fosters pride and keeps the workers coming back year after year. The professionalism that UTZ has brought to this farm has allowed him the opportunity to pass the farm on to his sons. Beaming with pride, he was genuine in his enthusiasm with UTZ.
We then traveled to Hacienda Venecia. Established in 1930, this beautiful 400 hectare (or 988 acre) mountainside coffee farm has 180 hectares (445 acres) of coffee under production and a river cutting directly through the middle of the farm’s valley. The Hacienda has a full wet and drying mill 100 feet from the main house. They use ecological pulpers and centrifuge machines to remove excess water from the pulped coffee cherries. Traditional fermentation tanks are used to ferment the beans between 12 and 24 hours. They are then moved to a glass-covered drying area with 4 20x40 foot sunken boxes that have been covered with heavy steel screens resting 18 inches from the top of the box. The wet coffee is placed in the open boxes and hot air from furnaces below blows through the bed of coffee. This drying process takes 24 hours and reduces the moisture content of the parchment (the film that surrounds the bean inside the cherry) to 25%. After this initial drying, the coffee is scooped down into the lower portion of the box and dried at 40C / 104 F until the moisture content is at 10%. From here the coffee is placed in storage and left to rest. The farm has UTZ approved dormitories with kitchens, sleeping areas, bathrooms, showers, etc.
After a full farm tour we cupped 6 coffees, all with slightly different processing and fermentation times. We determined the fully washed 30-hour fermentation process increased the nuances and acidity of the coffee. These coffees could work well in our Espresso blend and as a stand-alone retail bean offering that our customers are sure to enjoy.
The clear winner on the table however, was a newly developed honey-processed microlot. This is the first time they had produced the coffee with this style of processing and the cup was outstanding-peach, passion fruit, light delicate body with a juicy fruit, guava finish. They currently have 28 bags of this coffee available and will be working with us to develop the process on a larger scale. In addition, if the coffees cup as nicely at our lab here in the states, we will be the first U.S. roaster to import this farm’s coffee.
Monday November 8th-- Pereira – Bogotá – Neiva – Gigante- Garzon. We arrived in the southern city of Neiva, the heart of the Huila coffee-producing region on Sunday afternoon. We spent the afternoon with the representatives from the FNC and learned that 35 of the 37 municipalities within the state of Huila produce coffee. Coffee is grown between 3600 and 6500 feet on two of the three Andes mountain ranges. In the middle of the state is the zonal growing line that naturally dictates when the two growing zones will be harvesting the main and smaller Mitaca or fly crop. The regions north of the city of Pital harvest the main crop between May - June, and mitaca between October – December. South of Pital the crop’s production is flipped, October – December is the main and May- June is the Mitaca. Other facts learned during the discussion include:
- Huila has 68,000 farmers cultivating 86,000 physical farms.
- Farmers wash and dry their coffee on the farm and deliver the coffee in parchment to one of two co-ops in the region: Coocentral or Caféfihuila. These two co-ops are central to the success of the farmer as they provide financing for farm projects, equipment, life and health insurance programs and cupping results. They also pay in cash for delivered parchment, and help the farmers receive premiums for their coffees when the quality is above standard grade. Both co-ops are part of the Federation of National Co-ops (FNC).
- Currently there are 442 UTZ certified farms in the Huila region with more then 700 waiting to receive certification.
We set out early Monday morning to meet with 4 of the farms that are currently UTZ certified. After an hour and half car ride to the city of Garzon, we wound are way up the Eastern range of the Andes Mountains and arrived at Fernando Rodriguez’s coffee farm. Fernando’s coffee placed 2nd in last years Specialty Coffee Associate of America (SCAA) UTZ cupping. After a beautiful breakfast, we toured his farm taking notice again of the UTZ approved and required workers’ bathrooms, dormitories, kitchen facilities, pesticide control, etc. While walking his farm, Fernando explained the detailed record keeping he uses to keep track of his coffee trees’ 30 year life cycle and how much this, and the UTZ system, have helped him run a successful sustainable farm. We have great video of this visit, Q&A of the UTZ system and what it has meant to Fernando. These things will be posted in the coming weeks.
We then stopped by a large school developed as a joint venture between UTZ and the FNC. Part of the UTZ Code of Conduct states that there must be adequate schools available within a certain range of an UTZ certified farm. In addition to standard curriculum, the school has a large UTZ certified test plot of coffee, processing equipment, etc. where the kids practice and learn what it takes to run a successful farm.
After an interview with the school’s principal, we set off for two other small shareholders’ farms. These visits were again, a great way to meet the UTZ farmers, hear firsthand what the UTZ program has meant to the farmers and their families.
Our last farm visit brought us to Villa Sandra, a large rolling parcel of land that was so hilly the farmers had to build a rudimentary chairlift-like device to move cherries, supplies, and people from the washing station area to the bottom of the farm’s valley. Chris and I jumped at the chance to ride down, and captured some great treetop video of the experience.
All of the farmers we met on this trip reinforced our decision to use the UTZ certification for our franchise system. The education, organization, increased production goals, and basic humanitarian needs taught and delivered by the UTZ organization combine as one of the strongest steps we will take to keep our supply of high quality, certified coffees that guarantee fair farming practices delivered to our customers for years to come.
Recent Comments