The world has turned upside down in a short time. The COVID-19 virus has changed the lives of just about everyone, everywhere. Coffee growers included.
There’s no doubt about it – the fear of COVID-19 hit Colombia hard. I live in Bogota, where we’ve been in lockdown since mid-March. For weeks, the streets were empty. It seemed life had been canceled. I never saw my neighbors, even on my regular walks with my dog, Cappuccino.
Recently, restrictions have lifted a bit, but much of the population is still staying at home except for emergency runs to the supermarket, pharmacy, or banks. Thanks to those restrictions, the virus got off to a slow start in Colombia (unlike some neighboring countries). However, as life has returned to “normal” for some workers, the amount of cases has increased.
How has this affected coffee growers and everyone else in the coffee chain?
These weeks of lockdown mean that coffee shops and restaurants throughout the world have been closed, and many of them are still closed or selling just take-away coffee. It’s no surprise that coffee sales have been affected. Fewer consumers means fewer sales, which means roasters purchase less. After all, roasters can’t afford to have extra stock of a product that goes stale fast.
Most Colombian coffee farmers depend on exporting coffee to other countries. When farmers can’t sell their coffee for export, they may have to sell it at reduced prices for consumption in Colombia.
That means they might not meet their financial obligations and will find it difficult to continue to invest in the necessary processes to produce high-quality coffee – or any kind of coffee at all.
In an industry that’s already hard hit by low prices and a slew of other challenges, this is bad news.
Colombian Coffee and COVID-19 harvesting challenge
Besides sales, another complication for farmers is labor. Colombia harvests coffee throughout the year, rather than in just one main harvest like many other countries. And one of the things that makes Colombian coffee so great is that it’s harvested by hand, not machines.
Generally, coffee in Colombia is harvested by migrant workers who travel up and down the length of the country as the harvest season reaches each area. However, in an effort to minimize the spread of COVID-19, migrant workers can’t migrate. Who’s going to harvest the coffee? The lack of labor is a crucial challenge to Colombian coffee growers.
Some small-scale farmers can get the job done with help from their families and neighbors. For larger farms, though, outside help is needed. But bringing people onto the farms to harvest coffee can pose a health risk.
The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation has established some guidelines to combat the spread of COVID-19 in camps for migrant workers; the camps should be planned to leave adequate spacing, and work hours should be scheduled to discourage large groups of people together.
But it’s not surprising that coffee production in Colombia fell 28% in April.
How can you help?
While the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation and the Colombian government consider how to help coffee growers, there is something simple that all of us can do, no matter where we live in the world.
As individuals, we don’t have control over climate change, we can’t improve transportation in coffee-producing countries, and we can’t protect farms from diseases that affect coffee plants.
But we can control our purchases. We can continue to purchase coffee, although stay-at-home regulations might change where we drink it. Our purchases are a small contribution to a complex problem.
What coffee should you purchase?
That doesn’t mean, however, that you should purchase any type of coffee. After all, when you pay US$2.99 for a can of coffee, how much did the producer get paid?
Buy coffee from roasters who are paying coffee growers fair prices for their coffee. Your local coffee shop or roaster might be the best place to purchase coffee, as long as they’re sourcing coffee at fair prices. How do you know if they are?
Ask them. If they answer you directly with solid facts and figures, that gives you a good idea of their philosophy towards supporting sustainability. If they hum and haw for a while and answer in vague terms, look elsewhere for your coffee.
While your coffee consumption habits might change because of stay at home regulations where you live and work, please keep drinking high-quality coffee.
People all along the coffee chain depend on your purchase.
Where can you buy Colombian coffee?
People often ask me how they can buy coffee directly from a farmer or roaster here in Colombia. I’ll be honest with you – it’s a bit complicated. Shipping costs from Colombia are a bit high, which means that purchasing just one or two bags of coffee isn’t practical.
Also, they have to have an export license to ship coffee out of the country, which not all growers/roasters/shops have.
