It is so easy to take coffee’s long journey from farm to cup for granted. Not everyone is aware that a coffee bean is the seed of a fruit, or that it needs to be roasted before it can be ground and brewed. An increasing number of cafés treat coffee as the fresh, seasonal product that it is, and promote it as an ingredient and a drink that takes skill to grow and prepare. They highlight and celebrate the vast range of unique flavours out there, helping to reveal the provenance and human story behind the beans.
Thanks to specialty cafés, coffee lovers are becoming aware of the complexities of production, trade and preparation. The challenges growers face – with low prices and a treacherous commodity market – have spurred an increasing demand for sustainably traded coffees. The concept that “quality costs more” has long been acceptable when it comes to food and wine, and rapidly consumers are realizing that the same rule should apply to coffee.
While the balance between supply, demand, cost, and ecology is one that remains challenging and unpredictable, specialty coffee companies lead with a focus on quality, transparency, and sustainability. With such an increasing cultural shift that focuses on coffee cultivation and preparation, specialty cafés are more important than ever. (Moldvaer, A 2014, Coffee Obsession, p.9, DK, London)
