The coffee export sales are coming to a close for the 2009 season with the exported total reaching 1,593 Mts. This was slightly above the projection of green (clean) bean coffee and was sold at an average price of USD3, 352.94/Mt. as opposed to the 2008 season average price of USD2, 635.93/Mt. The weighted differential was US cents +25.97/Ib as opposed to the 2008 season weighted differential of US cents +5.60/Ib.
This should however be seen in the light of the fact that those farmers who applied adequate inputs and paid attention to trees in their agronomical practices managed to sell their coffee to high quality and high value speciality markets and fetched prices of between USD4, 900.00/Mt. to USD3, 500.00/Mt. and differentials of between US cents 85.00/Ib and US cents 24.00/Ib.
The promotion for local consumption is going on well with monthly training sessions for baristas (coffee brewers) still in place and receiving a positive response from coffee houses, hotels and restaurants with the desire to offer their clientele good quality coffee beverage products such as espressos, lattés and cappuccinos using Zambian grown coffee. If you offer coffee to your clientele in your business, you are most welcome to participate in these valuable training sessions. One is therefore now increasingly assured of ordering and being offered a good quality coffee product after a meal in a number of eating places that also offer coffee and indeed in a good number of coffee houses.
On the 13th of February 2010 our “Zambia 2010 Barista Champion”, namely, Syria Mwanza from Zebra Café in Lusaka, participated in the “First Africa Barista Championships” that was held in Mombasa, Kenya during the 7th Eastern African Fine Coffees Association (EAFCA) Conference and Exhibition. He came third out of six participants who came from South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, Kenya and Uganda. Hats off to him for flying the Zambian coffee industry and indeed our country’s flag high. He is due to participate in the World Barista Championships to be held in London, England towards the end of June this year.
