Advantages and disadvantages of organic coffee. Will organic coffee beans be better?

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People's views on organic coffee are very polarized. for those in favor of organic coffee, organic production is more helpful to the environment, while for those who are against organic, it may be mentioned that organic planting is inefficient and the certification process is expensive. and chemical residues can be burned during baking.

Compared with non-organic coffee, organic coffee production may be more labor-intensive and more expensive to produce. Then why did you choose organic? Let's take a closer look at how organic coffee comes from.

How does organic certification work?

There is no uniform international standard for organic coffee certification. In the case of the United States, the standard for organic coffee is set by the National Organic Program (NOP) of the United States Department of Agriculture. The EU definition of organic coffee is: "all producers, processors or traders who wish to sell food under the organic name need to be registered with the relevant institutions." The operators responsible for verification in these institutions are required to abide by organic rules. Each EU country can decide whether the certification body is public or private, but the relevant authorities will check whether these institutions comply with the EU organic production rules. "many other countries outside the EU have similar standards.

The certification of organic farms is handled by relevant agencies, which usually operate in several producing countries and obtain multiple standard certifications to serve different markets.

For example, agents headquartered in the United States will pass the NOP certification of the United States Department of Agriculture, and the certified products are organic products in the United States market. If the farm they work with wants to sell organically certified coffee in Japan, the agency needs to be approved by JAS (Japanese Agricultural Standards).

Procedures for organic certification

Certifying a farm as an organic farm can be costly and time-consuming, and before obtaining certification, the farm needs to be converted for three years without the use of chemically synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. During and after this period, you must demonstrate your ability to meet the specific requirements of the market for organic standards. To this end, it is necessary to formulate and implement an approved organic land management plan.

The plan should cover weed and pest management, specify what fertilizers are used and, if possible, how to protect and supplement soil health by covering crop systems. If farms grow both organic and non-organic coffee, buffers must be established to prevent contamination by chemical synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.

All inputs and management options need to be recorded so that the auditor of the certification body can check that the certification is carried out as planned.

Harvest and post-harvest procedures must also follow organic principles. This means that harvesting workers cannot use the same bags to transport non-organic and organic coffee fruits and must thoroughly clean the equipment between batches.

If the same machine is used to remove the pulp of both organic and non-organic coffee, the machine should first be used to wash a small amount of organic coffee, which cannot be sold as organic coffee.

When coffee is shipped out of farmland, it needs to be sent directly to an organic certification body, and if this organization also has non-organic coffee, proper procedures are needed to prevent batches from mixing with each other. Such careful separation needs to be done until it is reached by the baker, whose procedures must be organically certified before organic labels can be applied to the packaging.

How does the production of organic coffee work?

Organic coffee is in sharp contrast to "traditional coffee", which was in the 1960s and 1970s, when producers began to plant new, high-capacity varieties with heavy use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. But organic production is neither low-tech nor old-fashioned, but an agricultural tradition that can be traced back thousands of years.

The goal of "Open Coffee planting Technology" is basically to improve the productivity of the land, while the goal and challenge of organic production is to create a natural climate for coffee trees to grow, while maintaining productivity in the face of diseases, pests and climate change. Open cultivation makes coffee beans grow as widely as American wheat or soybeans, which is completely different from the traditional way of growing coffee beans in the shade of forest trees. Although it can increase production capacity, it needs more water to irrigate and cannot spread the risk for coffee farmers. It will do harm to the economy of coffee-producing countries.

Juan Vargas, director of coffee at Fazendas Klem in Minas Luisburgo, Brazil, said that the coffee here is all organic and "it is very important to create soil and a suitable ecosystem," he said.

"the more nutrients a plant absorbs from the soil, the more resistant it is to any pest or disease. The core of plants is to use the effects of available food, microorganisms and ecosystems as the source of nutrition. "

There are many ways to fertilize and protect coffee without using chemicals. One of the most obvious is the use of compost made from coffee pulp rich in nitrogen and potassium.

Organic production usually results in lower yields, but this is not always the case. "because we are managing the design of the process, we allow organic to achieve the same output as traditional production," says Juan. "

However, labor costs can be higher than traditional non-organic production: organic cultivation requires mixing organic compost, then transporting it to the fields, and weeding by hand, a process that is more laborious than directly spraying synthetic herbicides or fertilizers.

The coffee grown by some small farmers is also organic. Due to the complicated paperwork and certification fees for organic certification, small farmers cannot afford the certification process, and chemical fertilizers and pesticides are too expensive, so even without certification, it can also be proved that they grow organic coffee, including most small farmers in Ethiopia.

Challenges of Organic cultivation and Certification

So far, the biggest obstacle for farmers to organic certification is the cost. The expenses to be borne include the inspection fee, the travel and accommodation expenses of the certification auditor, and the annual fee after the certification is passed. These costs prevent most small farmers from obtaining organic certification unless they join cooperatives. If it is a cooperative, the members can share the costs together.

It is easy to understand why organic coffee costs more than coffee of the same quality without organic certification. In addition to the cost of certification, there is additional labor and extra effort to maintain the traceability of certification.

Juan said: "it is reasonable that there is a price difference between organic coffee and regular coffee, because the cost of producing organic coffee is higher than traditional coffee, and all procedures are to ensure the traceability and quality of coffee to avoid any pollution. "

In addition to certification costs and additional labour in organic agriculture, organic production faces other challenges.

Organic farms may be healthier and more flexible in the long run than coffee farms with "open-ended coffee farming technology", but this assessment is difficult to quantify. When comparing organic and non-organic farms, non-organic farms may look more successful in this evaluation because the project only assesses easily measurable factors, such as yield and production costs.

Certification requirements are also inflexible and may not be suitable for coffee cultivation. For example, a farmer on an ecological but fully shaded farm will also be disqualified from organic certification by applying the right amount of fertilizer several times a year. But another farmer who grows coffee in the sun and pollutes local water sources with waste water from coffee treatment may be eligible for certification.

Consumers are less likely to be told of these minor differences and may simply think that organic certification is more environmentally friendly.

Pests and diseases are also a challenge, and the focus of organic coffee production must be on prevention. Proper shading, drainage and soil health can minimize the infestation of pests and plant diseases.

If there is an unfortunate outbreak of diseases and insect pests, the first step is usually to physically remove infected plants and use manual traps to catch pests. Both methods are more labor-intensive than non-organic farming, but are manageable.

However, in the event of a sudden outbreak of serious outbreaks, such as severe coffee leaf rust, farmers may have to choose between losing whole crops or directly spraying chemicals and losing certification. As mentioned earlier, organic certification involves time-consuming processes and costs, as well as the loss of customers who promise to buy organic beans, so this is not an easy choice.

Why grow organic coffee?

If growing organic coffee has these disadvantages, why grow it? Two main reasons: business interests and environmental factors.

The selling price of organic coffee is higher than that of non-organic coffee, and these premiums can offset the cost of certification, but it is also a moderate strategy that allows coffee farmers to make more profits when the price is low during the coffee season. Coffee sold on Fairtrade terms will automatically receive a premium of 30 cents per pound if it is also organically certified.

The market prospect of organic coffee is difficult to measure. Certified organic coffee is not sold centrally, so it is difficult to track the situation after sale. According to the United States Organic Trade data report from 2011 to 2016, the import and price of organic coffee in the United States are basically stable, but have gradually decreased in recent years. However, the 2018 report on sustainable markets indicates that the global area of land dedicated to organic production is increasing.

In the final analysis, farmers have to decide whether organic certification is worth investing in the property part, understand the content of the certification, the actual cost, and consider whether it is possible to cooperate with cooperatives to lighten the burden of certification.

For many people, the decision to carry out organic certification is not just a realistic economic consideration. Juan said that the Brazilian coffee growing areas mentioned earlier in the article are willing to get rid of "traditional coffee and unstable New York futures trading", and the first choice for change is organic planting, which is in line with the local philosophy of life, that is, sustainable production in micro-climate areas.

In the era of climate change, farmers and consumers are increasingly aware of the impact of the use of non-organic methods. Organic agriculture has a series of positive effects on soil health and ecosystems, including carbon storage.

And, as highlighted in the 2016 SCA article, while consumers don't need to worry about pesticides in a cup of coffee, they attract the attention of farm workers. The article points out: "incorrect storage of pesticides, inadequate personal protection of drug users, and lack of training for pesticide handlers are not uncommon in developing countries, leading to direct exposure of farm workers to toxins. "

For bean bakers, moral, ethical and economic aspects are also the main factors to be considered. If the organic certification body allows you to sell organic coffee in the store, then the front-end certification will require more effort.

Growing organic coffee can be a challenging and risky decision, and the cost of certification can be a heavy burden on producers. However, if you prefer sustainable agriculture, the environmental and health benefits of organic farming may be attractive to you. It may also make it easier for you to sell in the market because you have a certified quality product.

Building a complete supply chain for organic coffee is not an easy task. Every part of the supply chain must be taken into account, and surprisingly, consumers end up buying organic coffee at a low price per pound.

Note: before implementing the recommendations of this article, the author suggests consulting local technical experts, as differences in climate, soil types, coffee varieties, treatments, etc., will affect best practices in organic production and treatment.

Translated from Perfect Daily Grind.

Translated by Cheng Zhen Coffee

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