Does Robusta match count as 100% Arabica? Manufacturer: "two varieties of half-parents"

Seattle Gourmet Coffee, a famous chain coffee brand in Taiwan, was revealed by the local catering industry media "strength foodNext" in mid-October 2019 that a number of prepackaged coffee beans labeled "100% Arabica" had been mixed with Robusta coffee beans and sold to the outside world, suspected of selling adulterated and counterfeit food.

Until January 22, 2020, after the crime was confirmed, the prosecutor indicted Liu Zengxiang, the founder and legal person of the brand (hereinafter referred to as Liu), and Li, the head of the baking factory, and other relevant responsible persons in accordance with the crime of adulteration and counterfeiting in the local food safety law. until recently, new progress has been made in the case.

Seattle Gourmet Coffee, founded in 1997, is Taiwan's more established local coffee chain. Originally, the brand only does store business, and the supply of bakery is not sold to the outside world. Until 2001, a wind disaster caused some baking factories and some stores to be flooded, resulting in a total loss of more than ten thousand yuan of RMB100, both in terms of store turnover and factory materials and equipment. In the same year, one of the shareholders of the brand also tried to empty the company, affecting the share price of the brand.

In the face of financial crisis, Liu decided in 2002 to industrialize the production of coffee and transfer it to the field of prepackaged coffee products, so that the brand can continue to this day. However, the old coffee shop, which had won the trust of local consumers, was exposed by the media in October 2019 that a number of prepackaged coffee beans labeled "100% Arabica" were sold with 13% and 26% mixed with Robusta coffee beans, respectively. The counterfeiting period is about 22 months (starting from January 1, 2018).

The media also pointed out that the price difference between Arabica beans and Robusta beans was about RMB10 yuan per kilogram, and the illegal profit was about RMB103,000 yuan per month, until the media exposed that the illegal profit of the brand was about 2.262 million yuan.

In the exposed article, Feast said that from August to September 2019, it bought 12 brands from major coffee chains, supermarkets, etc., and sent 22 packaged coffee beans to Germany's "Tengde QSI Laboratory" for testing. The results showed that the content of "16muro-methyl caffeol" in 4 products of Seattle gourmet coffee was between 223~552ppm and 600~1800ppm, compared with 100% Robusta bean products. It is doubtful that the proportion of other coffee beans mixed in is not low.

In response, Seattle Gourmet Coffee solemnly declared that "16murO-methyl caffeine" also exists in Arabica coffee beans, so it is biased to test that it is mixed with Robusta coffee beans.

As for the announcement of the brand, some coffee researchers immediately said: "even if there is, it can not be so high!" . The brand immediately said: we used Tim / Timor coffee beans, this variety is a hybrid of Arabica and Robusta, so "16muro O-methyl coffee alcohol" will also be on the high side.

Is that the truth? Obviously not, most coffee researchers disagree with the idea of Seattle gourmet coffee.

In the face of the explanation given by the industry, Liu said when he went to court for the first time in 2020 that Arabica coffee beans and Robusta coffee beans are both food, are half-parents of each other, different from gutter oil, and are not black-hearted food.

As for why robusta beans appeared in prepackaged coffee beans labeled "100% Arabica", he explained that he thought the past several Arabica beans were sour, so he verbally confessed that Li, head of the coffee bean baking plant, joined Robbota beans to enhance the mellow and solid feeling of coffee.

But the administrator neglected to change the label, so the product package still says 100% Arabica coffee beans, but the company's products no longer use robusta coffee beans.

At the same time, the hospital also provided the coffee bean inspection report of October 2019, but the test samples were not the three products submitted by "eating power". And told the court: Seattle gourmet coffee beans are 100% Arabica beans, asked the media to withdraw the report.

At the same time, Liu said that he apologized to the public consumers in the name of the company (Fuyu Industrial Co., Ltd.), and the company would actively cooperate with the investigation and conduct follow-up recovery and exchange to show his honesty and repentance.

Are Robusta and Arabica really half-mothers? Actually, it's not. Although the two varieties belong to Rubiaceae, Arabica is a small-grain coffee variety mixed with Eugene Niodes and Anthony varieties, while Robusta coffee is a medium-grain coffee variety derived from large leaf species. Therefore, there is no half-parent relationship between the two.

But for Liu to apologize to the public in court and there will be recycling and exchange, it is a different version. The company's apology announcement at that time said that foreign employees mixed non-Arabica coffee beans into the product when they pulled the goods, and only accepted the goods "purchased before September 30, 2019" for replacement.

Not only that, after the matter was exposed, in addition to the removal of its products from Carrefour supermarket, people from other channels were selling related problem products, and their packaging was changed from "100% Arabica coffee beans" to "100% coffee beans". Local media believe that this is an attempt to evade the legal responsibility of "mixing other coffee beans".

For Liu's plea of not guilty in court at that time and the subsequent company's handling of the matter, the court did not close the case, and the prosecutor still appealed to Liu. Until recently, new progress has been made in the case, and Liu has a new view of the incident.

Liu said he admitted that there were false marks on the goods, but denied that it was an adulteration and counterfeiting act in the Food Safety Law, believing that it was just a simple issue of commodity labeling. The court calculated that the proceeds of the company's crime was about RMB4.07 million yuan, of which the cost and other expenses were not proposed to be deducted, and was willing to pay the Community chest settlement compensation with the plaintiff.

Liu said that over the past three years after the incident, the epidemic has seriously affected the food industry. The company insists that there will be no layoffs, no pay cuts, and no changes in benefits. Please consider in court that the business environment is difficult and it is not easy for local brands to start a business. They will calculate the proceeds of crime as informed by the court, state and report the proceeds of crime, and pay about RMB452,000 yuan to the public treasury as a public welfare fund to seek probation.

The trial of the case will be held on an appointed date. 100% Arabica is a common word, and adding Robusta to the commonly used Italian blend to increase the alcohol thickness of coffee is also a common practice in the industry. The biggest controversy in this case is whether the substances that are not truthfully labeled in the food production process belong to the adulteration and counterfeiting behavior stipulated in the local food safety law. In other words, there is no problem with Canada, but it is misleading for consumers to emphasize 100% Arabica while matching Robusta at the same time.

Photo source: online eating power

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