The global coffee market has evolved into a $20 billion dollar industry today. With so much variety, innovations, and new techniques coming up, it’s hard to keep track of all the new developments that are trending. One upcoming movement, however, is making ripples slowly but surely—the demand for organic coffee.
The market for this particular coffee is currently a niche one. Specialty coffee roasters mainly want to offer organic coffee as an “add-on” or “bonus” to their craft, although some also work exclusively with organic coffee. No matter their preference, more and more roasters, and coffee drinkers are being won over to the organic side.
What is organic coffee in the first place? And how do growers, handlers, and roasters make sure that their coffee is really organic?
Certifying bodies all over the world have different standards to what ‘organic’ coffee really is. A common misconception is that there are absolutely no fertilizers or pesticides used when farming these organic coffee beans. In reality, however, natural inputs are used all the time. Fertilizers such as animal waste and byproducts or compost are acceptable as well as natural pesticides for chemical-free insect control. In other words, organic coffee does receive some form of ‘treatment’.
In processing organic coffee, handlers must ensure that all materials they are using are clear of these chemical contaminants that may get to the beans. In the wet process, the water should be pure or else, batches and batches could be deemed inorganic. The dry process, on the other hand, is easier in producing organic coffee, as handlers just need to make sure that none of those artificial chemicals are mixed into the beans themselves.
During the storage and transport, the organic coffee beans need to be protected not only from contaminants, but also from elements that could damage them—moisture, oxidation, and insect infestation. All these can drastically affect the quality of coffee which can, in turn, affect price and profitability. Even quantity is affected when producers and traders are forced to remove damaged beans from their harvest.
Quality-wise, organic coffee is not necessarily superior to non-organic coffee. However, organic coffee is seen to be the healthier choice and has virtually zero risks of delivering harmful substances to those who partake it.
Post-harvest hermetic solutions are a great way to guarantee that organic coffee remains organic. When it comes to drying coffee beans, a drying rack or case can protect beans from contaminants. Storage in airtight and moisture-tight containers or units safeguard the beans from being exposed to unwanted chemicals during handling and transit. One such solution is the GrainPro Hermetic Bag, which comes with a zipper to conveniently open or close it for easy access.
GrainPro’s Ultra Hermetic technology is perfect for organic coffee. Made from materials with superior air and moisture barrier properties so no chemicals would contaminate the coffee beans from the outside. Equally important is the ability of such solutions to preserve the quality of the coffee in terms of aroma, taste, and color. No unwanted taste from jute bags, no re-absorption of moisture, and no loss of quality will affect the beans with the use of GrainPro solutions.
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