Negros Rainforest coffee launched

Organically-grown Negros Rainforest Coffee is now for sale.

It was launched through the Negros Island Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (NISARD) Foundation, Inc.

Rainforest Coffee is produced without any fertilizers and selectively-handpicked, sorted, dried, packed and stored on-site by three farming communities in the mountains of Negros Island, said NISARD Consultant Robert Gasparillo. These communities follow NISARD's quality control standards, he added.

The farmers from coffee plantations of Brgy. Sag-ang, La Castellana, Brgy. Yubo, La Carlota City and Brgy. Canlusong, E.B. Magalona came to launch their coffee last April 29, 2008 at a seminar of the 3rd Negros Island Organic Famers' Festival at the Social Hall of the Provincial Capitol Building in Bacolod City.

This agri-business began when farmers brought green robusta beans to NISARD for processing in the Filipino version of a computerized roaster that could custom-blend coffee.

NISARD helps pack and market the coffee product locally and eventually abroad. Negros Forest Coffee - traceable from farm to cup - is available at the NISARD Office in 250-gram foil packs at P100 for regular blend and P125 for special blend in dark roast, medium dark and medium roast variants.

With every cup of Negros Rainforest that you drink, you are helping improve the lives of people in these farming communities.

Source : http://www.thenewstoday.info

DJ Arabica Demand Growth To Outstrip Robusta - Morgan Stanley

While coffee prices are projected to be on an uptrend over the next three years, demand for Arab ica beans is expected to grow at a faster pace than for robusta, according to a recent Morgan Stanley report.

"We recommend going long Arabica and short robusta. In particular, we see Arabica demand growth outstripping robusta as quality is demanded while production lags, compared to robusta, owing to appreciating producer country currencies," said the report.

The two largest Arabica producers, Brazil and Columbia, have seen their currencies appreciate significantly against the U.S. dollar, resulting in lower coffee prices in domestic currencies. This is likely to lower production incentives for Arabica producers.

On the other hand, the world's largest robusta producer, Vietnam, has been able to reap the full benefits of coffee's price rally as its currency has remained relatively stable against the dollar; the country is likely to increase supply side growth and hence pressure future price levels.

The move by companies such as McDonald's, Maxwell House and Dunkin Doughnuts to use only Arabica beans for their coffee is indicative of a reversal in the trend towards cheaper robusta coffee from traditional Arabica varieties, which started in the 1990s, said the report.

Arabica coffee on the Intercontinental Exchange is projected to average $1.25 per pound in the current marketing year ending September, and rise to $1.31/lb the following year, reaching $1.50/lb in 2011.

Source : http://www.tradingmarkets.com

Brazil Coffee Company to Plant 3.5 Million Robusta Coffee Bushes - Report (DJ)

Sao Paulo, May 5 - Brazilian green coffee exporter Atlantica intends to plant 3.5 million robusta coffee bushes in Minas Gerais state, reported local daily financial newspaper Valor Economico on Monday.

Our project is to plant from 800 to 1,000 hectares of robusta coffee," Valor reported Rogerio Schiavo, one of Atlantica's, owners as saying. Atlantica, which exported around 350,000 60-kilogram bags of green coffee last year, aims to ship between 400,000 and 450,000 bags in 2008, the report said. Although Brazil mainly produces the higher-quality arabica coffee, robusta coffee has been gaining popularity among Brazil's coffee producers for its higher profitability and lower production costs, Valor reported. Minas Gerais state is the leading arabica coffee producer while Brazil is the world's No. 1 coffee producer and exporter.

Survival Perk; Inventor hopes to put an end to bad campsite coffee

DEEP BIGHT — It won’t be long before people start lining up on the highway outside of Butter Pot Park to try and get a campsite for Victoria Day weekend.

It was around this time last year that avid camper and coffee enthusiast Bernard Cook decided it was time to take the leap and become something he was destined to be — an inventor.

“My biggest cringe of camping has always been in the morning facing that stove-top coffee perk and having to wait the 15 minutes to get a coffee and ending up with ... not a very good cup of coffee,” says Cook from his home in Deep Bight, Trinity Bay. “You’re spitting out coffee grounds all the time.”

So, Cook started a company called Demand Innovation to design, develop and manufacture a backwoods coffee perk.

By July of last year, he had a prototype of what is now the Survival Perk.

Cook spent six months doing market research, getting a patent and testing the product on friends and family.

“One Sunday after church services here in Deep Bight, I had people come up to the house afterwards and try the coffee and watch how the Survival Perk worked,” he says.
Afterward he asked his guests to fill out anonymous questionnaires.

“The results were fantastic,” says Cook. “(I) had 100 per cent of them (tell me they) were totally in awe over the quality of the coffee and how quickly I was able to make the coffee.”

The Survival Perk was officially launched the first week in December and sells for less than $20.

How it works

The thing that makes the Survival Perk unique — and the part Cook has a patent pending on — is called pressure infusion, which extracts higher levels of coffee sap and coffee oil from the grounds.

The invention looks like a large water bottle than you might take to the gym, or see hockey players squirt in their faces during games.

Once you add boiling water to the grounds and replace the filter and cap, you turn the Survival Perk upside down and squeeze the coffee out into a cup. The length of the squeeze determines the strength of the coffee.

The four components of the gadget are assembled in Deep Bight and the packaging was designed and made in Mount Pearl.

Cook hired a handful of part-time workers to assemble the first batch of 1,500, which have all gone to market.

“We had one store that sold out 17 of them in their first month having them,” says Cook.
“The rate at which it took off sort of took me by surprise.”

According to Cook’s research, if he could capture five per cent of the North American market for portable coffee perks he would need to hire 100 people full-time to assemble the perks.

More than 120 stores on the island are selling the perk, Cook says.

Outside the province, it’s only available online, but Cook says several chain stores across Canada and in the United States are interested in carrying the perk.

An idea is born

One of Cook’s inspirations for the Survival Perk came from watching “Newfoundland Sportsman” on TV.

“I watch that program and certainly if not every show, every other show Dwight (Blackwood) and Gord (Follett) are always there, and when they’re doing their boil-up, they’re saying, ‘I wish someone would invent a coffee maker for in the woods.’”

Cook approached Blackwood and Follett with his invention and showed them how it worked.

“Looking at the product, you wouldn’t think it could work but he gave us a demonstration,” says Blackwood, the president and publisher of the Sportsman magazine.

“He gave us a taste test and it was amazing. It was just as good or better than what you buy at Tim Hortons or other coffee shops.”

The Sportsman staff liked the perk so much, they started selling it on their website.
“We’re big coffee drinkers,” says Blackwood. “When you get in the woods, there’s nothing better than putting up a fire and boiling the kettle and when you can get perked coffee like you can get out of the Survival Perk, it makes it a whole lot easier for fellas that have a craving for coffee in the mornings.”

“It’s dynamite,” adds Follett,

Source : http://www.thewesternstar.com