About the Coffee Picking Process
November 04, 2008
I would like to share some data related
to the coffee picking process. Sometimes little attention is paid to the
manpower needed in coffee countries to collect the harvest. The manpower
still available in many producers’ countries, however better
opportunities in urban areas force many to move from the coffee production
region to more populated regions.
This is a short article that recognizes that millions of men and women help to collect each year the raw material used to produce millions of cups of coffee drank all over the world. Each season hard workers (or pickers) wake up early to spend most of their day in the coffee fields collecting berries that end up in your cup of coffee.
The labor cost of producing one pound of green coffee represents 60% to 70% of the total cost at the farm stage. In Colombia, 800,000 people are employed each year during the coffee harvest season; most of these workers migrate from one region to another searching for farms where the harvest is still in progress. The most skillful pickers are able to collect up to 550 pounds of ripe berries per day making around $30 US dollars.
Most coffee producing countries have workers collect the coffee berries by hand; just few countries, such as Brazil, use heavy machinery to perform the harvest. The reasons to employ people instead of machines in Colombia and many other producer countries are challenges such as steep slopes where the coffee is grown making it unfeasible to implement a mechanical system.
I would like to add that there are two basic techniques to collect berries from the coffee tree. One is called picking, which is mainly done for washed Arabica coffee – the worker selectively chooses only the ripe berries to harvest. The second technique is called stripping and consists of removing unselectively all the berries on the branch. The reason to use the stripping technique is scarce or expensive manpower combined with a large and flat farm where a mechanical harvest is cost-effective to implement. The problem with the stripping procedure is that unripe berries could account for 15% to 38% of the harvested beans. The technique could not only negatively affect the quality of the cup but also the healthiness of the plant.
Over the past 160 years, pickers have used their hands and a basket to
collect the coffee harvest in Colombia. Few improvements have been made at
this stage; however I would like to introduce one example that shows a
small change that increases the effectiveness of the pickers’ job.
The picture at right shows a traditional receptacle for holding ripe
cherries, below shows a new system that weighs no more than 7 ounces at
the ring section. This kind of technology represents a leap ahead in this
area. The institute that is developing this system has released its
results showing a 30% increase of pickers’ effectiveness. Another
positive outcome of using this technology is decreasing the amount of
berries that fall to the ground, which is generally between 2.5% and 7% of
those picked (Source: National Coffee Research Institute of Colombia).
Finally, I would
like to share the following link regarding coffee pickers called the
Coffee Nomads (Los Nómadas del café). I found it few weeks
ago, it is in Spanish however with an extensive photo library you do not
need to speak Spanish to understand how the picking process that takes
place in producing countries is a culture in itself.
http://www.eltiempo.com/media/produccion/nomadasDelCafe/
You will find the following options (among others) on the website:
Retratos de recolectores (“Pictures from coffee pickers”), Un día con los andariegos “One day with the travelers”), Almuerzo a la carrera (“Fast Food”), Luis y Arancy, amor entre los cafetales (“Luis and Arancy, love story within the coffee farm”).
-- Andres Castro
This is a short article that recognizes that millions of men and women help to collect each year the raw material used to produce millions of cups of coffee drank all over the world. Each season hard workers (or pickers) wake up early to spend most of their day in the coffee fields collecting berries that end up in your cup of coffee.
The labor cost of producing one pound of green coffee represents 60% to 70% of the total cost at the farm stage. In Colombia, 800,000 people are employed each year during the coffee harvest season; most of these workers migrate from one region to another searching for farms where the harvest is still in progress. The most skillful pickers are able to collect up to 550 pounds of ripe berries per day making around $30 US dollars.
Most coffee producing countries have workers collect the coffee berries by hand; just few countries, such as Brazil, use heavy machinery to perform the harvest. The reasons to employ people instead of machines in Colombia and many other producer countries are challenges such as steep slopes where the coffee is grown making it unfeasible to implement a mechanical system.
I would like to add that there are two basic techniques to collect berries from the coffee tree. One is called picking, which is mainly done for washed Arabica coffee – the worker selectively chooses only the ripe berries to harvest. The second technique is called stripping and consists of removing unselectively all the berries on the branch. The reason to use the stripping technique is scarce or expensive manpower combined with a large and flat farm where a mechanical harvest is cost-effective to implement. The problem with the stripping procedure is that unripe berries could account for 15% to 38% of the harvested beans. The technique could not only negatively affect the quality of the cup but also the healthiness of the plant.
Over the past 160 years, pickers have used their hands and a basket to
collect the coffee harvest in Colombia. Few improvements have been made at
this stage; however I would like to introduce one example that shows a
small change that increases the effectiveness of the pickers’ job.
The picture at right shows a traditional receptacle for holding ripe
cherries, below shows a new system that weighs no more than 7 ounces at
the ring section. This kind of technology represents a leap ahead in this
area. The institute that is developing this system has released its
results showing a 30% increase of pickers’ effectiveness. Another
positive outcome of using this technology is decreasing the amount of
berries that fall to the ground, which is generally between 2.5% and 7% of
those picked (Source: National Coffee Research Institute of Colombia).Finally, I would
like to share the following link regarding coffee pickers called the
Coffee Nomads (Los Nómadas del café). I found it few weeks
ago, it is in Spanish however with an extensive photo library you do not
need to speak Spanish to understand how the picking process that takes
place in producing countries is a culture in itself.http://www.eltiempo.com/media/produccion/nomadasDelCafe/
You will find the following options (among others) on the website:
Retratos de recolectores (“Pictures from coffee pickers”), Un día con los andariegos “One day with the travelers”), Almuerzo a la carrera (“Fast Food”), Luis y Arancy, amor entre los cafetales (“Luis and Arancy, love story within the coffee farm”).
-- Andres Castro
