TERROIR
In the last 25 years, coffee has moved from being a largely commodity based market to speciality and from consumption to appreciation. This is partly due to the realisation that coffee has terroir.
'Terroir' is the concept that an organic product like wine, chocolate or hops, can posses characteristics and qualities imparted to it by the environment where its produced, how the altitude, soil content, weather and processing method all matters. The experience that you have can be as complex and diverse as a Shiraz from Barossa to a Chardonnay from Margaret River.
To protect particular characteristics that belong to a coffee’s terroir, roasters have started roasting lighter. There has also been an increased interest in the information of coffee origin, altitude, varietal and process to better understand how each correlates to the terroir/characteristics we discover and love.
Technology and the effects of globalisation have brought us closer to coffee producing countries than ever before. We have made a huge leap towards better communication and now know more. Information such as where the region the coffee has come from, the processing method, altitude, varietal or even the name of the producer is assessable to us. This transparency can in some ways be linked to quality. This doesn't always mean that transparency is linked to quality but I can guarantee you that a farmer is not going to go through all that effort of separating a lot and communicating very specific information about that lot unless he gets paid.
The communication between coffee buyers and the farmers have also paved the way for a mutually beneficial relationship. The farmers are now privy to understanding what we enjoy about their coffees and are also able to receive information or ideas to how other farmers (their competitors) are operating. This is not only adding to the quality of the coffees or the price they are being bought at but are helping to build strong long-term relationships that are built upon trust, loyalty and longevity of the partnership.