Coffee Analysts in Costa Rica, Nov 2012
Spencer Turer, the Director of Coffee Operations at Coffee Analysts, traveled to Costa Rica in early November 2012 to attend the Sintercafe International Coffee Conference and tour coffee farms.
The Sintercafe trip started in San Jose, Costa Rica with over 325 attendees from 23 nations. While attending the event, Spencer met with coffee producers, traders and roasters from around the word discussing coffee quality and expectations for the upcoming harvest. The conference presentations included topics such as:
- Global coffee supply issues – David Neumann, Neumann Kaffee Gruppe
- Coffee in Ethiopia – Majka Burhardt
- Costa Rico Coffee Farming Issue – Luis Eduardo Campos, Café Altura de San Ramon Especial
- Brazilian Coffee Situation – Carlos Brando, P&A International Marketing
- Colombia Coffee Issues – Juan Esteban Orduz, Colombian Coffee Federations
- The Future of Specialty Coffee -Ric Rhinehart, Specialty Coffee Association of America
- The ICE Futures market, including financial tools for hedging -Albert Scalla, INTL FCStone
Michela Stama from Lavazza and Doug Welsh from Peet’s presented company profiles, and Miguel Zamore from FairTrade USA conducted a seminar on their current activities and programs for farmers and cooperatives.
While attending seminars and business meetings regarding the global coffee industry is exciting and rewarding, the most fun was had touring Hacienda LaMinita in the Tarrazu valley. The area where the farm is located is called Los Santos with elevations between 3,750 and 5,000 ft. The plantation has been owned by the McAlpin family since 1967 and has been developed and maintained to produce top quality coffee that is in demand by specialty and premium coffee buyers. Spencer toured the coffee farm, nursery and milling operations with Mr. Sergio Cruz, the Director of Quality Assurance and Alberto Ponce from Cadexsa in Honduras. During the tour they concentrated on inspection of coffee cherry development and the health of the coffee trees.
