If you’ve had a coffee today, ask yourself this: where did it come from? If your answer is “the cafe on the corner”, then you’re not paying attention.
“I really love drinking coffee and making new things [with it], says Jayde Anyos, cafe manager at Tall Timber in Prahran. “You’re learning new things all the time.”
That of course covers the basics of nailing temperature, consistency and the avalanche of orders customers come up with on a whim. But part of that education process is also learning where our beloved caffeinated drink derives from.
“It’s important to understand where the coffee comes from,” says Anyos. “And also whether the beans are sourced sustainably, to ensure coffee growers are supported and environmental impacts are minimised.”
Clear packaging is the most basic way of tracking such provenance. But for people in the supply chain like Anyos, it means having – and keeping – an ongoing dialogue about it.
“When you speak to suppliers they should be able to give you more information,” says Anyos. “It’s about asking the right questions to know and teach. [Things like, what are the] coffee blends, the regions, where is the coffee is grown and [what are] its sustainability credentials? From that we can recognise flavours from the origin of the beans. [Having that] transparency and [recognising] the environment does make a difference.”
It sounds like backroom admin, but that knowledge makes it to your cup – through people like Anyos.
Tall Timber serves La Reserva de Tierra Colombia, a 100 per cent Colombian and Rainforest Alliance-certified coffee blend roasted locally in Melbourne, which through the Lavazza Foundation supports more than 100 farming families in Colombia’s Meta coffee-growing region. As well as keeping an eye on sustainable credentials, it also has to taste good.
“At Tall Timber we prefer a smoother coffee, so trying the coffee is needed,” says Anyos. “We have to teach all our baristas about the provenance in the coffee. We tend to use Arabica from Columbia and I find that the taste is just a lot nicer. The Columbian coffee is very good.”
At the other end of the coffee-industry spectrum are people like Mimmo Orlando, the Asia-Pacific marketing director of Lavazza. He says part of the responsibility of respecting the provenance of coffee is to also support the people behind it.
“Understanding provenance allows you to recognise flavour profiles of that origin,” says Orlando. “For example, our coffee is 100 per cent Arabica from Colombia, which is considered some of the highest quality Arabica in the world. But coffee provenance also applies to the people in that region – specifically, the coffee farmers. Our coffee is from the Meta region of Columbia. Armed conflict interrupted coffee growing [there] for a long time. [Now Lavazza’s] foundation supports more than 100 farming families to restore plantations which can improve the coffee quality and productivity.”
Away from the dialogue concerning people like Anyos and Orlando, what are the basic cheat notes to keep in mind when considering the provenance of your cup? We break it down.
What is provenance?
Single-origin coffee has been a cafe staple for a while now, and refers to coffee that has been grown in just one country, such as Kenya or Colombia. This contrasts with unlabelled blends, which might contain a mix of coffee from different countries, often not listed specifically. This information – where the coffee comes from – is its provenance. It can get even more specific, too, from regions within countries (such as Meta in Colombia), and right down to single sites.
Flavour
In wine circles you’ll often hear the term “terroir”, which refers to the impact of a region on a wine’s flavours. Variables like soil, altitude and climate all impact how a wine tastes, and the same is true of coffee. The more you know about where a coffee comes from, the more you can tell about bean quality and how it might taste in the cup. Some varieties of coffee are best suited to equatorial locations while others produce best in high-altitude sites. Just like wine, the flavours you get from coffee – fruity, chocolatey, floral – owe much to where it was grown.
Sustainability
Like other large-scale agricultural crops, coffee growing can impact the environment, and factors such as water use, fertilisers and deforestation are all very real concerns. For consumers, knowing the provenance of coffee means the ability to make an informed choice and support producers that favour sustainable practices. Looking for certifications such as the Rainforest Alliance can be a good place to start. Coffee drinkers have a role to play in creating demand for sustainable coffee, and this starts by being well-informed.
Social impact
The majority of the world’s coffee is produced by five developing nations: Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia and Ethiopia. By understanding where coffee comes from and supporting the right producers, you can ensure that farmers in these and other nations are supported rather than exploited. Producers such as Lavazza reinvest into farmer education, land rehabilitation and support for war-affected communities to help lift farming communities and create a positive social impact that can be traced to the coffee in your cup.
How you can use this info and find out more
When you grab a quick latte at the cafe or stock up on coffee beans from your local store, take a moment to understand where it’s from. The more information you can glean about where it comes from, the more you’ll be able to understand about how it tastes, how the grower is impacting the environment and how the farmer is being supported.
This story is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Lavazza.
