The journey of coffee toward new countries of consumption

In contrast to what is widely believed, the qualities of the different coffee varieties do not reside solely in the characteristics of each species or in the techniques used to extract and select the bean. In fact, the stages of packaging and transportation to the countries where it is marketed are equally crucial in preserving and enhancing the organoleptic properties of a cultivar until the moment of extraction in the cup. The beans must be protected from moisture since their harvest, storing them in environments with a humidity level of less than 50 percent to avoid their deterioration, and therefore to prevent a negative alteration of the taste of the final product. Green coffee beans are usually harvested inside 60kg jute sacks, a hygroscopic material that is capable of absorbing and retaining the surrounding moisture, therefore shielding the beans from humidity, and keeping them at an ideal moisture level of 11 to 12%. The protection from external agents such as sunlight, humidity and heat, result in beans that keep longer and better, enabling the resulting beverage to fully convey the qualities of the original crop. If these precautions are not taken, the beans will go through oxidation and aging (fading). Today, some types of coffee are packaged using sacks made of jute and sisal (another textile fiber derived from an agave) in combination with plastic bags to be placed inside the woven ones, for an extra degree of protection.    

Jute sacks have been connected to coffee since the early 1900s: the standard size of 60 kg stems from the constraints imposed by the means of transport used at the time, namely the mule. Mules, in fact, can generally carry two 60 kg sacks on each side their back by employing a pack saddle; this atypical measurement, however, has always been maintained over time, and the coffee trade sector still uses it to this day. In the early 1900s, the coffee market was dominated by Brazil, which, in the first decade of the last century, came to control 80 percent of all world production. Mules were used to transport coffee to ports of departure until the advent of the railroad, which was quickly developed for connecting the ports to the inland growing areas.

The port of Santos was the hub at the center of all of the Paulist production, and achieved a complete monopoly on exports, even managing to drive and control prices using special “conservation plans.” The ports of arrival, besides those in the United States, were mainly those in northern Europe, such as Hamburg and Le Havre, and those in the Mediterranean such as Marseille, Genoa, and Trieste.  Sacks of coffee were loaded onto the same ships used to ferry emigrants in third-class cabins to Brazil. After disembarking the passengers who had survived the Atlantic crossing in extreme conditions, the same accommodations became holds in which the sacks of green coffee were crammed, often paying little attention to ventilation and humidity. The coffee arrived at its destination in a precarious state of preservation, often with the presence of mold and some degree of fermentation. Brazilian coffee, at that time, was certainly not recognized as a quality coffee. However, as its cultivation, processing, and transportation practices improves and as attention to quality becomes increasingly central throughout the Brazilian supply chain, Brazilian coffee is also changing for the better.