Some of you may not remember (OK most of you) but last year I did a blog post here prediciting the last twelve months for Has Bean (or really setting an agenda for what I wanted to do) so time to see if I did what I planned

http://www.hasblog.co.uk/the-next-twelve-months

In My Mug

So I said

I see in my mug as a really important part of what we do. I plan over the next twelve months to do much more out the roastery shoots, and continue to find the amazing coffees we have in the past. I also hope with the help of Aiden to develop the app, and get more people able to use it (as desk top and an android and windows 7 version all planned)

The desk top app went live, and in my mug has been in Colombia, Ireland, Cardiff, York, Ethiopia, Norwich, Bristol, Google Offices Dublin, Nantwich all off the top of my head.

I think the way its moved and kept changing has been good and I think the same will happen in the new year, lots more ideas to implement.

So this one changed a little but I think that In My Mug has gone from strength to strength. I think a PASS

Blog posting

So I said

I want to try and be more focused on my blog postings. I’d appreciate if you can let me know what kind of thing you would like me to focus on. My varietal posts are something I want to personally do some more with and collate in some way, but thats a personal indulgence. Do let me know but the blog will be more used.

So I’d say this one has not been so successful. The highlights have been the audioboo’s, I have enjoyed them, and ethiopia seemed to go down very well.

Direct Trade

So I said

the very end of 2010 saw us bring in our first ever container from Brazil. At the time of writing our second has landed and were awaiting the first delivery from Bolivia. This is going to be an ongoing theme of 2011 for me doing direct trade, but also finding out much more about the farms.

More on this the beginning of January 2012 but we did direct trades in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Bolivia with a deal done for Colombia and Bolivia that will arrive very early this year. Direct trade has become a foundation stone we have begun building on, and something were going to formalise a little more in 2012, but I think this has been a resounding pass and will continue to get better

Has Bean App

So I said

We have already started this one with Nigel but an ipad version is planned of the app and we will continue to develop this. Let us know what you want need and we will make sure we keep making it better

Ipad version (TICK) increased app sales (TICK) more downloads than ever(TICK) pass. If you want more from the app let me know were keen to keep improving

Blends

I said

The blends will continue to develop and change (even if the names don’t) I have some ideas for a killer filter blend for 2011 and I also want to keep looking at how we can do better with some guest type blends.

I think I am very very happy with our espresso blends, we have a range that covers many bases for many people. I think Blake has been the biggest success, whilst Jailbreak was a 2010 thing, I still think it rocks. I have some more plans for this in 2012 but thats to come another time.

Trips

I said

I have a trip planned in February to central america where I will be looking to cement some already built relationships and look to find some more exciting coffees for 2011-12 I’m also have some plans afoot to get to Africa this year if I can. Africa is somewhere I think I can do better, and will continue to try to do so.

Trips have been more than ever this year. Started with El Salvador then Costa Rica, then Colombia and most importantly Ethiopia. I said I wanted to do Afrcia better, and this was the first step.

Africa and Asia

I said

As I said in the trips section we need to do better here, and I want to make sure we do exactly that. Africa we have three coffees at the time of writing and asia we have six. I want this to be more, so the cupping table will be overflowing.

We had more Africans this year than ever. Ethiopia we got much better at, Rwandas we had two brilliant coffee,s Kenya we had four (thats right count them four) amazing coffees. Did we do Africa better ? Yes, can we continue to improve 100%. Asia needs some more work, and I vow this year, that will happen. Kind of pass.

Barista Competition

I said

I announced in April last year I wasn’t going to do any more competition blends for barista competition. I think looking back at the past year, I’d have a big hole if I did this, so I expect to continue to work with great baristas, and continue to learn from them, as and where we can.

PASS lets move on

Brew Guides

Is Said

I have loved the brew guides so far, the last one of 2010 eva solo was one that not so many people use, but the first of 2011 will be a very popular brew method, and the plan is to build up a large library of these, tackling some of the difficult ones, like espresso, milk steaming etc that will take lots of work to get right.

There are some other ideas I have for 2011 but things need to be lined up before then and thought through but I see it as a very exciting year ahead.

Brew guides have rocked. We did the cupping and the french press ones. We have more for 2012, but two is not bad I reckon. I have three booked in for this year, with a whole heap more ideas too. Not quite a pass.

A mixed year in my goals, but I’m happy with them.

But in other way’s my stuff I wasn’t expecting it was amazing. I shall look back at 2011 with a great deal of fondness, a new roastery, a great year for stunning coffees, some great additions to the Has Bean team, and some AMAZING wholesale customers who are doing great things with our lovely coffee.

If 2012 is half as good its going to be a special year.

I’ve got a bit rubbish at blogging, I think the world has got a bit rubbish at it.

But in an attempt to put up some deck chairs on the titanic I’m booing. Booing is an audioboo short pod cast thing that I’ve done in the past. If you don’t know check here

You can download it in itunes too by clicking here

Anyway I hope you like

You may have read or heard in the press about coffee prices. There’s a lot of noise at the moment as markets are on fire and prices are at a 13 and a half year high in the commodity market.

I write this while on an aeroplane on my way to El Salvador to meet buyers of old and to meet some buyers of the future, so this is a very interesting time for me with the markets at unprecedented highs.

So before I dive into my dilemmas I’ll try and give you an idea of what the C price is, and its relationship to what is paid for coffee in the commercial markets, in the fair trade / certified coffee markets and in the specialty / direct trade markets.

So what is the C price ? The C price is the price paid for traded commodity coffees at the New York financial exchange. This is a two-fold market of current prices and also a futures market for purchase of contracts for coffee for a later date.

The prices are dictated by a few things, but in a stable market these main things are weather conditions at origin which will have an effect on yield for that year. There is a saying if Brazil sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold, and this stems from this kind of thing. Markets are heavily influenced by statements from coffee-producing countries’ organisations, regarding dropping yields or a lack of supply of coffee in the market. Like anything supply and demand are very important factors.

In recent years demand has been outstripping production, but huge stocks have been balancing that deficit. Now they are kind of depleted, forcing this price rise. China and Brazil are two big forces in growing this demand, with a new culture of enjoying coffee emerging.

There is also a country differential. This is an amount that the country’s coffee will fetch. For instance Brazil and Peru, Ecuador coffees will fetch lower than the c price than a Colombian, El Salvador or Costa Rica which will fetch more.

So a scenario today: the market is at $2.54 (which at time of writing it is). I want to buy a contract for coffee today then I will pay $2.54. But should I want to protect myself against what I think is a rising market I can buy coffee for a premium to the market, for this case we will say 7 cents. That will cover the costs of insurance and keeping it in the warehouse so paying $2.61.

If the market drops I get left with a coffee contract costing $2.61, but have protected myself against swings so can offer a stable price to customers. But should the market rise, I can either use that contract still or sell it and make a profit.

So what happens is that bankers and financial institutions can use this as a way of speculating what the markets will do. Normally commodities are not the chosen playground of these kinds of organisations, but in these volatile times of share markets and currencies it seems to have become more popular and one of the reasons for the new high price.

Added to this new speculation is a shortage of supply, and there have been some weather alerts, increased demand, and with things like leaf rust: the market is on fire with volatility everywhere.

The certified coffee carries a premium on top of the commodity price, so organic tends to be between 5 – 10 cents but can be as much as the buyer wants. That’s what the C price is – it’s the base level for anything always more can be paid (but rarely is).

Fair trade has a base price of $1.31. This is the lowest price that can be paid, but more can be paid. At times like this the market price is the norm, with small differentials against the market to reward the certification, but it becomes less attractive for a producer in these times of high market, and many contracts are not honoured.

OK enough markets.

So how will all these complicated numbers effect my trip to El Salvador and Costa Rica? Well this is the interesting part. A very rough in the dark cost of production of coffee ranges somewhere between $1.00 and $1.30 a lb depending on where it is and variable costs of living / special circumstances. So everything thereafter is for the benefit of the producer and quite rightly so. The producer can then invest this in doing extra with the harvest, so selective picking, better separation, more time with processing, and this is a sliding scale of costs depending on what the producer wants / is able. Good coffee needs effort, and attention and that costs.

So the prices we have paid in the past would have started at around the $2.80 a lb mark (a tiny 35 cent premium at the moment they could get with no work at all compared to what used to be a 100% increase on commodity coffees) up to much more in some special cases, as high as $5 – $6 a lbs.

But has the cost of production gone up ? Have other costs gone up? Have we ever looked at dropping costs when the market has dropped? You see if prices are to go up then it has to become a two way street and low markets see drops, and I don’t really want to pay less for my coffee at anytime.

But of course effort has to be rewarded, but I’m thinking does the premium have to be as high when the market is adding in some of that reward?

All rhetorical questions I guess, as when it comes to buying coffee it comes down to tasting and theprice the farmer wants, and then I decide. If I want a coffee I’ll make sure I secure it, regardless of price. But high prices mean we can take one bag two bags where as a more competitive price means we can take lots of it .

Talking to one producer since being here in El Salvador, the prices we have agreed for this year are virtually the same as they were last year, when the market was at around $1.40 a lb. What we are paying is still way up and above the high point the C Price is at today ($2.54) and way above the average for any El Salvador coffee.

Where I do see issues for is is with new partners, and where the negotiations begin for new coffees we’re looking to secure. Also with importers and when not-direct trades are done, I fully expect increases here, because of increased costs in financing and shipping and generally being in business costs more money this year than it did last.

Leading on from this I think something that is a far more real issue regarding the price you pay for coffee, is increases in raw materials such as gas for roasting (a 30% increase for us this year in cost of bottled gas), packaging, shipping and the increases in VAT, and cost of living increases, putting pressure on employees of all our suppliers and our staff, which means increased cost of employment, which will all end up being passed down the chain.

But amongst all this, coffee is the best value treat food item out there. Where else can you enjoy something that is so special, prestigious and unique for so little cost. To do the same in any specialty food will cost you many times the cost of a great cup of coffee.

The people these price rises will affect are the commodity coffee buyers, whose cost of product will get much closer to specialty. So the choice of if you want good coffee or rubbish coffee will be easier. But then that will give us all a whole new pricing problem so let’s not go in to that one just yet.

For now I am enjoying the market being high, and I think we should all revel in the fact that producers are finally getting what their coffee is worth. For too long they have not.

I get asked quite a lot how I “learnt to taste” and how I taste and evaluate coffee. Its a tough one to answer in a blog post. So I decided to do two audio boos on them.

For those who don’t know, audioboo is a method of audio bloging. I have a whole heap of them some on the side bar of the blog, or at the link here . You can also subscribe like a podcast on itunes here where they will down load to itunes and you can listen on your ipod/ iphone / ipad or on your computer.

Any way back to tasting, I hope you enjoy these and I hope to maybe build on it in the future.