TCMBA #13 - The Middle Ground of Coffee
Last week we talked about the consumer-focus of the Re:co event. And today, we’ll talk about both Re:co Symposium and SCA Expo.
As a reminder, here were my top three take-aways from the events in Portland. (If you missed my email last week, you can find it here.)
Consumer-Focus
The Middle-Ground of Coffee
Automation
So let’s discuss the Middle-Ground of Coffee…
If we’re talking about scoring coffee, then I would call scores around 82-85+ the “Middle Ground.” Many of us don’t often cup coffees that score 90 points. So, we’ll ignore the fact that this isn’t the technical “middle” of the 80-100 point specialty scale.
As an industry, we’ve been obsessed with micro-lots and super-specialty quality for way too long. That’s my opinion (I suppose that’s why you’re here), but there has been really interesting dialogue on the topic for many years.
Let’s be really clear.
I’m not under the impression that most roasters only buy these types of lots. What I’m talking about here is what we celebrate as an industry.
And I’m starting to see the tide change. Hallelujah.
At the end of the day, from a business perspective, it’s all about risk.
How much risk are actors in the supply chain taking?
Are they comfortable with that level of risk?
Is the largest share of the risk falling on a single actor?
If so, are they the most rewarded member of the value chain, relatively speaking?
Who gets to decide the level of that reward?
These are the types of questions that are important to ask when buying experimental lots or very limited high quality lots.
But I’m preaching to the choir, right?
So back to Re:co Symposium and SCA Expo…
At Re:co’s Seminar Sessions on Day Two, I sat in on a lively discussion about Value. It was moderated by the wonderful Prof. Ted Fischer and Jeanine Niyonzima-Aroian.
But where the conversation turned was fascinating.
Instead of discussing (ad nauseam) the questions posed above about the producer, we started talking about the consumer!
Turns out, there may be a wonderful intersection between what works for many coffee producers and what works for many consumers.
Not everyone agreed with this, but my thoughts about Keurig and Nestlé entered the conversation.
There were a couple of feathers ruffled, but many of us agreed on the following…
A coffee roaster’s responsibility is to act according to their values while sharing coffees their target consumers will be sure to love.
Very few farmers can afford the care and inputs necessary to pull off experimental lots of coffee. Likewise, very few consumers enjoy those lots of coffee.
So where should we be focusing?
You guessed it! The Middle Ground of Coffee.
There were also hints of the importance of The Middle Ground on the Expo show floor. An abundance of pods, automation, and conversations about price.
The funny thing was, geshas were everywhere. I mean, we like to show off for our friends, right? ;)
And these coffees and their producers should be celebrated. But we need to start being honest that:
Not everyone is comfortable with that risk.
Not everyone enjoys those coffees.
Next time, we’ll talk about automation!
See you there,
Miranda
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