Coffee Days | Agroforestry and Sustainable Coffees

A word from Christophe Servell, Vice-President of the Collectif Café

The Collectif Café, the representative body of independent coffee roasters, is fully aware of its role in putting these next "Coffee Days" under the sign of agroforestry and sustainable coffee.

At a time of great "green washing" by the giants of the agri-food industry and their large globalized coffee brands, it is becoming urgent to make the general public aware of what sustainable coffee really is, and to provide keys to disentangle the false from the true and to enlighten the act of purchasing.

And what better way than to pass on this knowledge in the 400 sales outlets of Collectif Café's roasting members in France?

Information

Let's talk about our coffee industry. What about the producers? How are they coping with global warming and climate change? What is the impact on them of inflation, which is rising much faster than market prices?

Judging by the average age of producers, which is 59, and by the following generations who prefer to leave coffee farming, the sector is in a bad way. Why take over farms that have to be completely regenerated to cope with the rise in temperatures, for a selling price per kilo that barely covers the cost of production?

Small producers are disappearing, even though they represent 85% of world production.

Photo credit : Fabrice Leseigneur

This year, for the first time in history, world demand exceeds production.

Have we reached the limits of an intensive agricultural system? Yes, we are witnessing the beginning of the end of this industry based on quantity and low prices.

We favour forest coffees, the more complex agroforestry agriculture, which were our first coffee purchases in 2009.

It is therefore more than urgent to tell our customers that sustainability is based on three pillars, which complement each other and are interdependent, and are therefore subject to a sustainability strategy on the part of the producer, which no label covers entirely.

• An economic pillar : production of sufficient quality (at least specialty coffee standard) to be rewarded by a high purchase price, at least 20% above the market and the "fair trade" minimum.
• An environmental pillar : soil protection, protection of trees, water and biodiversity, regeneration strategy if needed.
• A social pillar : permanent workers on the farms, social protection, facilities for seasonal workers during the harvest period...

Quality remains the prerequisite for any sustainability strategy, because sustainability has a cost. And this cost is of course reflected in the taste of the coffee, but also and logically in its price.

Cherries | Photo credit : Fabrice Leseigneur

Moreover, shouldn't we change our coffee consumption habits, drink less coffee but better quality, and from a truly sustainable sector? Without a doubt.

Agroforestry coffees are the first representatives of sustainable coffee farming because trees, or better still, forests, regulate temperatures, trap carbon, nourish the soil and encourage the return or development of biodiversity, and slow down the ripening of coffee fruits for a better quality cup.

The forest protects the coffee trees, and coffee becomes an effective tool against deforestation.

At Terres de Café, we favour forest coffees, the more complex agroforestry agriculture, which were our first coffee purchases in 2009.

Christophe Servell.

President ofTerres de Café et Vice President of Collectif Café.

Special Coffee Days feature

We will welcome you during the Coffee Days in all our shops to answer all your questions on the subject, to guide you towards a more qualitative and virtuous consumption, and to offer these coffees at a promotional price. Forest coffees will be available as coffee of the day in all Terres de Café shops, at the price of the espresso of the day, even on the great vintages!

Coffee Days programme

Discover the press release of the Collectif Café on https://collectifcafe.fr/presse/

The Terres de Café team will be present on 2 May from 10am to 7pm in Pavilion 3 of the Paris Fair, which will be an opportunity to discuss the challenges of sustainable coffee production.

Many other events to discover on https://collectifcafe.fr/les-journees-du-cafe/