Andrew Willis - Why Coffee Prices Are Rising: The Impact of Climate and Supply Challenges
In recent months, many of you may have noticed that green coffee prices have reached an all-time high, with costs soaring over 100% in the past year alone.
So, what's behind this steep increase? We contacted Andrew Willis from our local Sligo Coffee Roastery at Beltra. “The primary factor is unfavorable weather conditions affecting coffee crops in key producing countries like Brazil and Vietnam.” writes Andrew. “ Severe droughts and flooding have created concerns about a smaller-than-expected coffee harvest this year. As a result, prices are climbing as roasters and traders scramble to secure their stock. Simply put, while demand for coffee continues to rise in places like Ireland, climate change is making it more difficult to grow.”
How does Andrew deal with that situation? “Despite the challenges posed by rising prices, we are committed to our partnership with the team behind our Serra do Cigano coffee from Brazil. They place a strong emphasis on environmental sustainability and responsible production practices. However, the rising costs of green coffee have led to a modest increase in the price of our Serra do Cigano beans.”
Below is the background story of Carrow Coffee Roasters as told in a previous blog post.
Sligo’s First Artisan and Organic Coffee Roasterie
Carrow Coffee Roasters is a start-up roastery based on a family farm in the West of Ireland, perched on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and circled by ancient forests and Neolithic sites.
Andrew Willis is passionate about coffee and together with his partner Paola roasts superb coffee in an award winning wooden shed in Beltra, Co. Sligo. Andrew’s background is journalism with over a decade’s experience working throughout Europe, South America and Africa, including four years covering coffee for Bloomberg News in Colombia.
While there he developed numerous contacts with coffee growers, exporters and industry experts and started roasting coffee on his Huky 500 in the attic of our apartment in Bogota. He is now a certified Q Grader (coffee cupper), and has taken courses in Roasting and Barista Skills from the Specialty Coffee Association.
A taste-bud-opening visit to Carrow
When we first met Andrew and Paola, we could sense the energy and enthusiasm for their business. Paola and Andrew are concentrating on roasting single origin coffee beans from small-scale farmers. They do compare themselves to winemakers and speak of the terroir of their coffee depending on the soil, the country and the climate the coffee is grown in. Beans are stored green, a state in which they can be kept without loss of quality or taste for about a year.
And like the farmer who influences the coffee’s flavour through their choice of variety, harvesting and processing methods, coffee roasters like Andrew work with temperature, airflow and drum speed to create their own signature taste.
Roasting brings out the aroma and flavour that is locked inside the green coffee beans and Andrew tells us that he prefers light-to-medium roasts to create the best flavour. Although he uses his laptop to monitor the roasting process, he still uses the trier, a small device on the roasting machine, that he pulls out for manual inspection. He tells us that freshly roasted beans still emanate Co2 in the first 7 days, that can lead to a bitter taste and recommends using the coffee beans only a week after the roasting date. That date is in his opinion more important for the consumer than a best before date, as coffee should ideally be drunk within a few months of its roasting date.
“We favour light to medium roasts.”
We ask what is there ethos: “We constantly strive to source the best sustainably-grown beans from small-scale farmers, and then use our roasting expertise to maximize their flavour in the cup. What do they want to achieve inntheir roasting process? “We favour light to medium roasts that allow a bean’s intrinsic flavour to shine through.”
Finally what is their message to us consumers? “As well as quality and craftsmanship we value our community. This is why we want our roastery to be a place for our ‘specialty coffee' community to meet and cup amazing coffees. A space to discuss coffee but also the need to preserve the omnipresent nature around us that so strongly defines the place that we live and work.”
Many cafes and restaurants in Sligo and further afield and more recently coffee carts use Carrow coffee as their house coffee..
