Another reason to drink coffee....

As if coffee lovers need another reason to partake in a morning cup of coffee, a long-term study of more than 83,000 women finds that coffee might modestly reduce the risk of stroke. Compared to drinking less than a cup a month, drinking four or more cups a day is linked to a 20 percent reduction in risk. Drinking two to three cups a day is associated with a 19 percent reduction.

Coffee, like tea, comes from a plant, so antioxidants may account for some of its benefits. It seems that one of these, methylpryridinium, may help protect against colon cancer. Another one, Chlorogenic acid, improves glucose metabolism to help prevent diabetes. Still other antioxidants in coffee may lower the risk of cardiovascular disease by improving blood vessel function, fighting inflammation, and protecting LDL's from oxidation. Consider this, some of the same antioxidants found in red wine are actually found in higher concentrations in coffee.

Now if all of this doesn't have you drinking more coffee, consider this...coffee may even benefit the brain. Studies link daily coffee consumption to less decline in memory and verbal recall.

Now no one is suggestion a pot of coffee twice a day would be a healthy choice, just like a bottle of wine a night doesn't amplify the protective nature of grape juice. But in moderation, coffee does seem to have beneficial health effects.

FOR THOSE SENSITIVE TO CAFFEINE...you'll be happy to know decaf retains many antioxidants found in regular coffee. Don't think decafs have flavor? Try a water processed decaf blend (like Slack Tide Decaf). You won't believe your taste buds.

(Selected sources: "Coffee Comes of Age, with a New Look at Java's Many Health Perks" by Linda Antinoro, Environmental Nutrition 3/09 ; "Coffee Consuption and Risk of Stroke in Women" by E. Lopez-Garcia, Circulation, 2/09)

Clean Water Grant Application Completed and Submitted

Hello.

Dave, Paula, Celeste, and myself are working hard to get E3 Collaborative up and rolling. We submitted a Clean Water Grant Application this week in hopes of securing funds to drive an Educational Awareness program we've developed. The program would be specific to the Chesapeake Bay watershed and boaters, but could be replicated in other areas around the U.S. with minor adjustments. There is no point in disclosing anything else until we hear word of grant awards in March. Keep your fingers crossed.

If you know of any existing grants that would drive our efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay and her watershed, please let me know.

If you are a business interested in contributing a tax deductible donation or a percentage of your profits to the cause, we are interested in talking to you. If we can get businesses to lock arms and drive change locally, we can increase the cumulative impact of every other Bay focused organization.

If you are someone who is interested in getting involved, please reach out as well. We will be looking for volunteers who are as passionate about this cause as we are.

All my best,

Jo

Financial Crisis, Climate Change, Weather Impacting Coffee

Because all coffee is grown between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, it's easy for Americans to lose sight of the agricultural nature of coffee beans. The only state and territory we have in coffee growing country are Hawaii and Puerto Rico respectfully. So we'll continue to post information about coffee crops around the world to increase knowledge and appreciation for our java juice of choice.

It appears that Guatemala is the latest country to report lower yield levels due to a heavy rainy season, increased operational costs, and climate change.

"Bi-cyclical factors have taken a toll on the crop, especially in the area of Atitlan (Sololá), Antigua (Sacatepequez) and Santa Rosa," it said. In addition, climate change has led to a flowering out of season. Chilly winds during the first quarter of 2008 also burned some coffee trees, hence hindering the coming crop.
The main affected areas are Santa Rosa, Antigua (Sacatepequez), Atitlan (Sololá) and Huehuetenango. A prolonged and extremely heavy rainy season has affected the trees in terms of fungal diseases, it added. Guatemala is the largest coffee producer and exporter in Central America; coffee is the main agricultural export, and key to employment in rural areas.
Edited by Marvin G. Perez CoffeeNetwork.com

Mobjack Bay Coffee Roasters currently offers coffee from Huehuetenango, and we hope to continue to do so. An interesting note is that operational costs for farmers have increased with rising prices of fertilizer and insecticides, both items organic farmers don't have to deal with. It is unclear how the fungal diseases will impact organic farms, but as more information is released we'll pass it along.

From an economic standpoint, the financial crisis is also impacting coffee exporters/importers. The most important point to take from the Reuters report below is that the financial crisis is causing bottle necks that jam normal operating procedures. From delayed shipments to fluctuating commodity pricing, US importers are struggling to get their arms around issues they can't control. March futures are currently up, but there is no real way to confidently predict pricing. Furthermore, Organic prices have remained relatively stable. It's uncertain if this is an anomaly or a function of fair trade practices, but one thing is for certain, nothing can continue to remain immune to the current financial global crisis.

SINGAPORE/JAKARTA, Nov 17 (Reuters) - An Indonesian coffee exporter is believed to have defaulted on the shipment of around 30,000 tonnes of beans, while another 40,000 tonnes may not be shipped due to falling prices and liquidity problems, industry sources said on Monday.
Talk of defaults by Indonesian exporters resurfaced in Europe late last week, and some dealers said they had refrained from doing business with the world's second-largest robusta producer after Vietnam due to uncertainties in shipments.

A lawyer representing PT Tripanca Group, a major exporter in Indonesia's growing province of Lampung on the island of Sumatra, said two banks had seized beans kept in the company's warehouses due to a problem with loan repayment.
"Some beans belong to suppliers but they have not been paid yet. Some suppliers have also kept their beans at Tripanca's warehouses, waiting for the price to recover," said Albert Tiensa.

"Tripanca owes about 304 billion rupiah ($26 million) to suppliers. It used the beans as a collateral to pay for the loan," told Reuters by telephone.
London coffee prices tumbled to a 17-month low of $1,581 a tonne in late October as fears of global recession spurred selling in soft commodities complex, including coffee, sugar and cocoa.
"We can say there are about 70,000 tonnes of beans at Tripanca's warehouses, and at least 30,000 tonnes have been defaulted," said a senior industry official.
In Indonesia, coffee exporters normally agree on export commitments but delay decisions on prices until after beans have been delivered. Sumatran bean prices track London robusta futures.
Dealers in Lampung said the defaults only affected PT Tripanca and other exporters were struggling to fulfil their contracts despite a drop in coffee prices.
"There's a real default of 30,000 tonnes of beans by Tripanca. The company is suffering from big losses because of sharp drop in coffee prices," said a regional dealer. "There are delays from other exporters but I think the amount is not that much," he said.
Many exporters bought beans from farmers when local prices hovered around 18,000 rupiah a kg ($1.54) in August. The price has since dropped more than 20 percent to 14,000 rupiah, meaning exporters would suffer losses if they shipped out the beans now.
The provinces of Lampung, South Sumatra and Bengkulu account for 75 percent of Indonesia's coffee output. Coffee bean exports from Sumatra nearly doubled in the first 10 months of 2008 supported by bumper harvests, but overseas sales are likely to slow until the end of the year as the main harvest has ended, data showed on Monday. [COF/ID]
The main robusta harvest in Sumatra normally starts from March and peaks in August. Robusta accounts for 85 percent of Indonesia's coffee bean output, while aromatic, higher-value arabica makes up the rest. ($1=11,700 rupiah)

Weather impacting Coffee in Colombia

Hello Java Junkies.

The news on the wire isn't really good for Colombian Coffee. Take a look at the report below:

Outlook Grim for Colombia's Antioquia Main Coffee Harvest - Growers Outlook Grim for Colombia's Antioquia Main Coffee Harvest - Growers (CoffeeNetwork) Antioquia, an important coffee producing region in Colombia has started harvest of what's locally know as the main or principal crop, and the outlook looks grim for production, according to top sector representatives. According to Iván Arango Arcila, a director of the local coffee committee of the National Federation of Coffee Growers says that the harvest will sharply reduced if not altogether "poor". The crop will be picked from October to January. According to Mr. Arango Arcila, data gathered from growers point to a harvest of 1.5 million 60-kilo bags, which would be sharply down from the 2.5 million bags expected initially. Some regions, in particular in higher altitudes, show declines between 40-50%, he told daily El Colombiano. The estimates come amid traders' talk that Colombia's differentials remain very high for this time of year and coffee slows unusually sparse, which has raised concerns about the overall supply this time of year. Juan Francisco Suárez Moreno, producer and also a Committee representative, agrees that some areas in the region may see a decline of up 50%, mainly affected by a severe rainy season, which soaked plantings. In addition, receiving stations at cooperatives have seen little coffee flowing, plus many producers in areas around Andes, Ciudad Bolivar and Salgar have said they had no big need for labor as they have in recent years. "It's probable that the harvest will fall a bit, but I don't know what will be the size of the drop," said Luis Fernando Botero Franco, executive director at the local Federation Committee, according to the report. He said that the rains have wreaked havoc across the region and that the renovation program led by the Federation is also having an effect on the overall production as many new plants are not in production yet. The Federation is renovating 10,000 hectares per year in the area, as part of an overall effort to take the national output to 17 million bags over the next few years, which would be up from 12.6 million bags in 2007-08. The Antioquia region has about 129,000 hectares planted with coffee, harvested by 88,000 families. Annually, the committee invests 15 billion pesos in community projects. As reported, the Federation said this week that it expects the 2008-09 crop around 12 million bags, down almost 5% on year from 12.6 million bags, in part hurt by excessive rains and also by the renovation program. In MY 2007-08 (Oct-Sep) Colombia exported 11,522,000 bags, up 3% on year from 11,177,000 bags shipped a year earlier. Production in the first nine months of 2008 summed 8,501,000 bags, down 1% versus 8,593,000 bags harvested a year earlier. The 12-month production from Oct. 2007 to Sep. 2008 stood now at 12,515,000 bags, up almost 3% from 12,153,000 bags a year ago. Colombia is the world's largest producer and exporter of Washed-Arabica coffee. Edited by Marvin G. Perez Tuesday, October 28 2008, 09:38

What does this mean?
Well it's too early to tell, but coffee is a commodity. If the supply is low, prices generally trend upwards.

Will this impact coffee markets around the globe?
Generally speaking I'd say no. However, because Colombia is the worlds largest producer of Arabica Coffee, I would expect some lateral price inflation in the gourmet (Arabica) market.

Is weather the only thing that impacts coffee prices?
Interestingly enough the answer is no. Anything that impacts the availability of beans to the market impacts pricing. For instance, Ethiopian coffee's are pricing very high right now. The weather isn't a factor, but rather, farmers are growing high yield narcotics that return more for the effort. The supply of Ethiopian beans on the market is decreasing, causing prices to rise.

I'll be keeping my eyes open for high cupping coffees from other regions of the world. There are farms that meet my fair trade and environmental requirements experiencing exceptional growing seasons....I'll let you know when my new lots comes in.

Pour another cup....

Jo

Updates on the non-profit and coffee

Hello. I wanted to post the latest and greatest details about E3 Trust. Well, Dave and I had to change the name. It appears that you can not use TRUST in your Virginia based company name unless you are an actual trust or financial institution. We have therefore officially changed the name of the non-profit to E3 Collaborative. The E's stand for Environment, Education, and Energy. That's all I can really say about the company right now. We are currently crossing our T's and dotting our I's. I'll post more info when appropriate.

With regards to Coffee.....We are officially providing coffee for Twister Ice Cream and Coffee Shop at Gloucester Point and Tuscany's Coffee House in Yorktown. Tuscany's will be opened before November 1. Once I get a confirmed date I'll pass along the news.

Lastly, I've received many emails requesting information about purchasing our coffee. Thank you for the interest! Our online store will be operational soon, but until then you can send me an email order and I'll ship out your beans. If you're located in Eastern VA, look for our coffee at your local Independent Grocery Store or farmers market.

Here's to coming home from a weekend away, sleeping in your own bed, reading to your little one, and drinking fresh roasted coffee.....Cheers