By Pierre E. Leblache

Published in Tea & Coffee Asia, July 2003

The concept of “Gourmet Coffees” it is commonly admitted, was born around 1985, at a time when the American public considered coffee to be a generic, homogenous commodity, a dark brew to be consumed at breakfast, with meals or in offices, out of habit more than to satisfy one’s tastebuds, one of two means, with tea, to drink something warm. If One wanted a different taste, cream and sugar were the regular condiments, and no particular pleasure was expected. Just the way you brushed your teeth in the morning, you drank coffee several times a day, and what One wanted of a coffee break was the break, not the coffee. Dullness was the norm.

For decades before, however, a few discriminating amateurs, immigrants from Europe, people used to travel, enlightened aficionados, had been carefully choosing their beans and their origins. Prices were higher, but not much, a firm but limited demand existed, and the matter remained confidential until the mid 1980s. Those “special coffees” mostly came from Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya, with very few origins such as Colombia and Jamaica playing second fiddle. Then the Gourmet phenomenon exploded, and Africa completely missed the coach. Ethiopia drowned itself in a brutal civil war, Kenya production decreased both in quantity and quality, and, for a decade or more, the continent found itself unable to compete against high quality types produced by many others. Less than 20 years ago, Africa was home to over 50% of the world’s robusta production, including some of the finest washed, and almost 10% of the global arabica output, among which the most prized names. Today, those market shares have slumped by two thirds and 30 % respectively, and African Gourmet coffees represent 10 %, at most, of the total supply. The decline provides a good illustration that, in a fast evolving world, standing still amounts to regressing, and that there is no such thing as an acquired market. As positions come and go, it requires fighting to maintain One’s own, plus careful planning in order to advance.

This is exactly what is about to happen, as Africa looks back on its ancient and happy coffee tradition and as policy makers in its economy realize the potential that lies ahead and the urgency to catch up with lost time: With its vast expanses of fertile grounds at medium to high altitudes and its warm humid climate with plenty of irrigation, sub-saharan Africa is ideally suited to grow top quality coffees. More countries than in any other world region are able to enter the Gourmet market, and their processing ability is second to none. That the world’s two largest coffee mills outside Brazil are African is no coincidence…

Strangely enough, the renaissance initiative involved the smaller origins at first: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Burundi and Rwanda each started to implement improvement programs financed by the World Bank and other donors, and they achieved commendable success, only mitigated by the effect of political turmoil. Burundi’s Fully Washed, Zambica Estates and specific Zimbawean farm types all show marked improvements, and their premiums would no doubt be steadier if shipment reliability and consistency could be guaranteed.

The traditional exporters of special coffees in the region, Ethiopia and Kenya, both follow their own course, with Ethiopia trying very hard to shed a cumbersome bureaucracy and red tape without which it would have become another Costa Rica long ago. If and when the Ethiopian sales system is reformed in such a way that long term supply contracts of specific types can be signed with a guarantee of receiving exactly what the buyer expects, premiums will explode and producers will reap a windfall. Many voices are speaking to that effect, both inside the country and abroad, and they will eventually be heard. Under the auspices of USAID, a pilot program is in place, allowing high quality producers to bypass the auction system and to sell directly overseas, against samples. The system is presently limited to cooperatives, but it will be extended. As it goes through a total overhaul of its coffee chain, Kenya faces the tough question of retaining or not its auctions. One of the more interesting suggestions directly addresses the specialty factor and recommends a “short circuit” for premium coffees with the prospect of quicker payment, therefore encouraging quality processing.

Uganda (and Tanzania to a minor extent) presents an interesting case. Africa’s second producer exports both arabicas and robustas, and has a long history of marketing top quality washed robustas. Up to the early 1990s, those sold at a large premium. Their production, which declined in the last few years for lack of a dedicated market, could easily rebound as washed robustas take their place among specialty robusta coffees, in a move orchestrated by the World Alliance of Gourmet Robustas.

Alongside those positive news, the largest development potential lies with O.A.M.CAF, the African and Malagasy Coffee Organization, a pillar of the coffee world up to the late 1980s, which nows stages a massive comeback on the quality coffee scene: O.A.M.CAF, headquartered in Paris, is the common structure of 9 French speaking origins located on the continent and on Madagascar island, 5 of which are significant exporters: Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Madagascar, Togo and the Central African Republic. They produce mostly robustas, with Cameroon and Madagascar also growing and exporting milds. As Africa’s main exporter and driving force, O.A.M.CAF shared its woes and its relative decline during the 1990s, with serious consequences such as the total loss of its North American market and increased competition in Europe.

The organization already has some important trump cards in planning its return to the front of the stage, such as its “Niaouli” coffee, produced in Togo, Madagascar’s “Kouillou”, not to mention Ivory Coast’s “Gros Grain” and Cameroon’s “Grade 1” which up to a decade ago were at the top of the US roasters’ “Primary Robusta” list. On the arabica front, Cameroon washed milds from Bafoussam or Foumbot, with famous names such as UCCAO or Vacalopoulos Estates are every bit as good as 20 years ago, and they will prove their value now that the need for marketing and recognition has been factored in.

“This is where the Specialty Coffee factor helps us…” mentioned a local exporter. “Without it, 15 years ago our best coffees were confidential, priced below their value and delivered to our ordinary clients who could not sell them at a premium. A well prepared washed arabica with a cup on par with Guatemala‘s estate coffees sold at a 20 % discount to European importers who had no specific use for it, and our washed coffees’ price was only 10 cents over naturals, a paltry 6 % of the terminal market value”.

As O.A.M.CAF’s production is over 90 % robustas, there was little incentive, up to now, for them to join a Gourmet crowd exclusively dedicated to arabica coffees: Any investment benefiting only the cream of less than 10% of the output would have been unjustified and too heavy to bear. However, with new trends favorizing the inclusion of a few selected robustas among preferred types, their evolution towards the status of Gourmet producers becomes feasible and logical. The organization has therefore joined the World Alliance of Gourmet Robustas as a Charter Member, and it exhibited promising types at the SCAA convention in Boston this April. This yielded considerable marks of interest and requests for information. The Organization’s motto, “OAMCAF is Back !… L’OAMCAF Revient” drew welcoming smiles from coffee buyers over 30 years old, and questioning eyebrows from those younger.

These are the main changes affecting African coffee these days, and very few origins are bypassed. Africa had been asleep and outside the world trend, which does not mean it was to be permanently discounted. As one of the oldest coffee regions with Latin America, it has a lot of tradition and resources for a comeback, and far more experience than newcomers with exponential production capacity but little else to dwell upon. However late it may have come, the re-awakening of Africa has quickly focused on indispensable restructuring, on quality, on marketing and on premium prices. The lion is back in the hunt and must be reckoned with…