New Coffee Varieties Will Help Poor Exporting Countries – CoffeeTalk

World Coffee Research (WCR), a U.S.-based global organization dedicated to agricultural innovation for coffee supply, has called for more new varieties of coffee beans to ensure that bean farmers and producers concentrated in developing countries can make more profits and the global coffee market doesn’t get monopolized by a few coffee-producing countries or roasters that offer limited choices. WCR CEO Jennifer “Vern” Long sees this calling as a worldwide campaign concerning national governments, coffee companies, and consumers, stressing the mission needs all their efforts to raise awareness and execute the goal that entails scientific research for new coffee varieties.

At this year’s Seoul Cafe Show at COEX, Long said the G7 nations had reached an agreement to provide financial support to coffee bean-exporting countries. This funding will help these nations conduct research on new coffee varieties, with the goal of introducing them by 2030. Long believes that coffee bean farmers in countries in Central and South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia are not benefiting enough from the global coffee retail market. With the current coffee bean varieties numbering less than 120 (over 90 Arabica varieties and the others Robusta varieties), significantly lower than apple varieties which number over 5,000, according to Long. Introducing more coffee varieties will bolster more coffee farmers around the world and allow retailers to more differentiate their products.

Diversity of coffee origins brings unique flavors, sensory experiences, and compelling narratives about the communities that produce coffee products. It also allows a wider array of coffee products in varying formats including ready-to-drink, hot or iced, espresso or pour-over, instant or brewed. Coffee consumers will have more choices if more coffee bean varieties are researched and delivered to coffee retailers worldwide, according to the CEO of WCR.

While most coffee consumers rarely imagine what new varieties of coffee there might be and instead keep purchasing their familiar choices, Long views it as a sign of a reduced, restricted market that deprives consumers of more choices for coffee and prevents coffee bean farmers from making more sales. She wishes to see new varieties of coffee beans harvested from a broader region of the world so that the global coffee market’s supply chain doesn’t revolve around only a few top exporting countries.

The G7’s latest commitment is only the latest of WCR’s global initiatives pooling support and funds from national governments and private coffee companies to increase coffee varieties. The organization’s 190 medium-sized and large company members in 30 countries have contributed more than $30 million to WCR for the project. In 2022, the organization started accepting fees from member companies based on their size instead of voluntary amounts to ensure equity in all contributions.

New coffee varieties have already begun to blossom, with WCR’s first generation of four Arabica varieties being developed. Starbucks and Blue Bottle Coffee, both WCR member companies, have implemented these new varieties in their operations to test their performance. WCR will release the second generation of Arabica varieties in 2030 and the first generation of Robusta varieties in 2033.

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