Comments on: Guatemalan Coffee Trivia

By: Guy

Guy — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:37:40 +0000

I saw a Spanish TV programme a couple of years ago in which a Starbucks employee claimed that ‘Guatemala Antigua’ came from Antigua Guatemala…but this cannot be the case, at least not all of it, because Antigua simply doesn’t produce enough coffee annually to supply all of the branches over the world with this Guatemala own-brand coffee. This is one of the reasons that the authorities here wish to set up a ‘DOC’ style denomination system to protect the identity of specific coffee-growing regions in Guatemala.

By: Anya Kisel

Anya Kisel — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:52:36 +0000

And the sort of coffee called Guatemala Antigua in Coffee Bean in Moscow costs 6 USD per 100 gram

By: Anya Kisel

Anya Kisel — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:40:59 +0000

You lucky! It is 10 dollars per cup in Moscow!

By: Rudy Girón

Rudy Girón — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:09:50 +0000

@Guy, thanks for all the wonderful information regarding coffee. I learnt a lot today!

By: Guy

Guy — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:33:22 +0000

Hi Rudy, here’s a few more for you…

- As a private cultivator of coffee I could NEVER earn Fairtrade certification even if I paid my workers more than I paid myself. Only cooperatives qualify.
- Fairtrade coffee is mainly ‘C’ (commodity) grade coffee, the kind whose price would otherwise be set by the London and New York markets. Guatemala produces very little C grade coffee as is evidenced by the average price in your first bullet.
- Gourmet coffee usually attracts a higher price than Fairtrade, so many certified cooperatives in Central America sell as much as they can at the gourmet price and then bag up all the rubbish that’s left as ‘Fairtrade’. This is called hedging.
- Others use the premium paid by Fairtrade to develop land that is at best marginal for coffee production and often thereby contribute to environmental damage.
- I wonder whether the wages Fernando pays are as high RELATIVE to the price he can get for his coffee compared to those paid by Faitrade cooperatives. However, as I’ve said these are nearly irrelevant in Guatemala and I suspect that all consumer labelling which only takes into account the ethical dimension and not also the quality dimension is highly misleading.

By: Manolo

Manolo — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:48:03 +0000

Now it worked… (the facebook button).
“Inhale” “quality stuff” the google police might bust this joint soon (sorry, did I write “joint”?).

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:57:03 +0000

Rudy, where did you get the price per pound for the premium quality stuff?

Thanks!

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:53:59 +0000

@Rudy, I keep trying to inhale my computer screen. Stop this at once ! Ja-ja-ja-ja
@ Kathy – usually, I stuff my backpack with coffee that I pick up in person from Santiago Atitlan (and, of course, Fernando). On the sad day that I run out, I order from Dean’s Beans here in the US – they have a blend of coffee (Birdwatchers’ blend, I think they call it) that is half from Santiago Atitlan, half from Chiapas, Mexico. They have a good website, and I think they pay a little more than the ‘fair trade’ price. I met Dean years ago, he is quite the character, and very sincere in his multitudinous efforts to help small farmers and their families. I have also just discovered sanlucasmission.org, and they appear to be consistent in their efforts at fair prices, too, although I haven’t ordered anything from them yet.
Anyone else have any ideas ? Anywhere better to order from ?
Can Fernando send that delicious-looking cup to Boston, ahorita ?

By: leif hagen

leif hagen — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:35:35 +0000

Delicious photo! I want some yummy coffee, too!

By: Kathy

Kathy — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:53:46 +0000

Any advice on good places to buy real Fair Trade Guatemalan coffee in the US? Or any websites?

By: Arturo Godoy

Arturo Godoy — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:25:03 +0000

Most interesting information!!! Love the picture too!!! Ok, craving coffee now, ;O) ;O) ;O)

By: Rudy Girón

Rudy Girón — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:06:32 +0000

Fernando pays $2/lb or a little over that directly to the coffee farmer; that’s higher than the “Fair” Trade price.

By: Laura McNamara

Laura McNamara — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:36:07 +0000

Excellent info!! So wait, Kaffee Fernando’s pays $2 more per pound of coffee? Yet another reason to love my fav coffee shop in LAG!!