Indiana Jones and the search for the perfect bean
Specialty Coffee Association of America
Tim Schilling recorded GPS data.
BOMA, Sudan - Tim Schilling trudges barefoot with a tribe called Nyameron through Africa. He is in search of wild varieties of the Arabica coffee plant from which are made all over the world, lattes and cappuccinos. The agricultural scientists at Texas A & M University, is director of the nonprofit organization World Coffee Research provided by large companies such as Folgers Coffee and Peet's Coffee & funded Tea. He is the Indiana Jones of the coffee industry.
The goal is to expand the tiny gene pool of the global coffee plantations. But in the four days on the plateau west of Ethiopia, the 15 members of Schilling's expedition, no new specimens have been found. They had hoped for help from Nyameron, an expert on wild varieties of coffee, they have taken by a tribal chief of Murle.
Companies have expanded their search for new varieties in order to secure its supply in the future. The production has remained the same. But the demand for coffee has increased. That is why the coffee prices have quadrupled since 2001.
The yield has been declining since 2005
Last year have been consumed in the world 17.6 billion pounds of coffee beans. 1982 there were 2.6 billion, reports the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, production in Colombia, where they come from ten percent of the world's Arabica beans has dropped by 36 percent since 2005. The yield of the largest producers of arabica Brazil varies considerably in recent years.
Are the problems in coffee growing, there are many reasons, experts say: Among climate changes in the growing areas and the population growth in Central America, so many coffee plantations were turned into construction sites.
Coffee historians believe that most of the world's Arabica beans, genetically speaking at two plants from the 18 Century decline: one that was brought from Indonesia to Europe and another from Yemen, which has been cultivated in Brazil.
Therefore, some experts want to expand the varieties of the coffee industry and cross in order to strengthen them. "The Holy Grail is a heat-resistant variety that produces good coffee," says Patrick Criteser, CEO of Coffee Bean International, a member of the World Coffee Research. "If we could grow this would solve many problems."
World Coffee Research aims to bring together competitors in order to solve common problems. But some of the largest corporations pursue their own research projects, to increase the gene pool of the coffees. Nestle explore in a project called Nescafé Plan, the Robusta variety, says a spokeswoman. To support Starbucks maintains support centers with agricultural scientists, local farmers, says a spokeswoman for the company.
Specialty Coffee Association of America
An expedition in search of wild coffee plants in the Upper Boma mountains in Southern Sudan ..
Often there are conflicts with national research institutions that want to protect local interests. Especially in the supposed birthplace of green Arabica plants in Ethiopia, there is often a quarrel between the government and foreign coffee merchants.
Starbucks concluded a treaty with Ethiopia in 2007 after the country wanted to protect its most famous coffee beans under trademark law. Ethiopia wanted to get a U.S. patent for the names of the three best coffee growing regions, Yirgacheffe, Sidamo and Harrar, while Starbucks wanted to apply for a patent for a coffee, had the Sidamo behalf.
Some believe that projects like this can not succeed without the cooperation of shillings from Ethiopia. "In Ethiopia, the coffee started, and there are by far the highest concentration of genetic material," said Andrea Illy, chief of the Italian espresso illycaffè seller, who has recently joined World Coffee Research.
"Coffee is the second most important commodity in the world after oil," says Schilling. "But he has been less explored than peanuts or kumquats."
From peanuts to unroasted coffee bean
Schilling was formerly an expert on peanut cultivation, until he stopped the U.S. Agency for International Development to revitalize agriculture in Rwanda after the civil war. He was soon clear that peanuts would not be the solution, but coffee, and so he got up to the small coffee farmers to help with scientific methods. The special flavor of the region were now stronger, and Rwandan coffee sold at specialty roasters at higher prices.
Schilling's last goal of the Boma plateau, was an unusual place to find coffee. But he had found a kind of treasure map: a report of the botanist AS Thomas, who wrote about how he had found coffee in 1942, the "growing wild and spreading without human help."
The coffee experts emigrated from a mission station, about ten miles up a narrow path. "We are looking for genes that can improve the taste and color," and plants with good drought resistance, says botanist Sarada Krishnan, Director of Horticulture at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
They were quick to note that a large part of the rainforest, where coffee trees were growing earlier, had been cleared for maize and banana plantations and cattle pastures. The rest of the forest was bone dry due to several periods of drought.
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"We really thought that we would have only a narrow window of time to collect these specimens," says Lindsey Bolger, Director of Green Mountain Coffee Company. "I do not want to exaggerate, but are only just come in time."
Healthy Coffee Arabica plants are about three to four meters high and have dark green leaves, white flowers and red or purple beans. But the plants, the researchers found, were too thin to bloom and bear fruit.
On the last day of the expedition, the researchers met Nyameron that took them deep into the forest to the largest collection of specimens, which they had previously seen. As the group walked back to camp, saw the English systematists Aaron Davis, a little coffee plant that looked different from the rest. The leaves were narrow, waxy and thick, they seemed to be able to save the moisture better.
The researchers took a few leaves in her collection of about 75 wild species of coffee, which she pressed between wooden boards, to preserve them for genetic analysis.
Now, researchers are beginning to examine the specimens. You want to determine whether the expedition has really brought a forgotten Arabica variety. In the meantime, Schilling plans another expedition to Boma to discover more secrets of the coffee.
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