In the new Apple TV series Omnivore, Noma’s René Redzepi unravels the stories of some of the world’s most essential ingredients. In good company with salt, rice and corn is coffee, the bean that powers the mornings of roughly a billion people – and whose global consumption is expected to double by 2050.
At the heart of Omnivore’s exposé is a question that’s been percolating in Western discourse for some 20 years: what impact does our daily ritual have on the world’s coffee-growing communities, and on the environment? Issues like the systemic underpayment of farmers in the developing world, as well as labour rights, deforestation and the carbon cost of shipping, are well-documented. In Rwanda, there is even a relationship between the ballooning global coffee industry and the genocide of 1994.
As much as we love coffee, Australians aren’t even among the top 10 biggest consumers of it. But Australian coffee roasters, such as Canberra’s Ona, are world leaders when it comes to building a more sustainable industry.
“It starts at the farm level,” says Devin Loong, manager at Ona Melbourne. “We’re losing a lot of farmers at origin because the younger generations don’t want to take over from their parents. It’s hard work, the money isn’t there, and they’re changing to different kinds of agriculture.”
To empower the farming communities Ona works with, founder Saša Šestić set up Project Origin, Ona’s coffee-buying arm, which invests in local projects and collaborates with its partners on more sustainable agricultural and business practices. And because direct relationships with farmers mean cutting out intermediaries, Project Origin can pay their suppliers up to four times the market price for green coffee beans.
“As much as it’s about working directly with farmers to increase things like quality and yield, at the end of the day it’s about increasing how much they can earn,” explains Loong.
He says farmers might see an even bigger uplift as the industry ventures beyond arabica coffee, the variety favoured by most cafes around the world. “It’s like apples, right? There are many different varieties, and all of them taste slightly different. It’s the same with coffee: there are a lot of other varieties that not only taste different, they’re also high-yielding.”
Of the world’s 120-plus coffee species, the hardy robusta variety – long considered inferior to arabica, for reasons some consider spurious – is predicted to play a much bigger role in the industry’s future. Ditto for developing countries such as Indonesia and China, where local coffee industries are still emerging.
“They’re actually really hungry to not just take on the culture of specialty coffee, but also put their own spin on it,” Loong says. “They’re starting to grow their own coffee to cater for the big demand. They’re learning from developed countries like Australia and America about what works, what doesn’t work, and developing things for themselves. Things in Asia move extremely fast.”
Further down the supply chain, Ona is also reducing its environmental impact. The roaster is about to launch “a reimagined keep cup” made with ceramic and stainless steel, and runs most of its Australian venues on solar power and rainwater. It also works exclusively with eco-friendly brands and packaging.
“We’re partnering with companies like Vitasoy that have the same ethos. So we’re still after flavour and what tastes best. But we also have one foot in sustainability, as well.”
This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Barista's Choice by Vitasoy.