World Coffee Research (WCR) proclaimed the establishment of Innovea, a global coffee breeding network. The platform is expected to transform coffee breeding and advance genetic improvement.
World Coffee Research was announced at the annual SINTERCAFE coffee expo in Costa Rica, attended by coffee roasters funding the program and countries that plan to be part of the breeding network. The Innovea network is funded by over 200 coffee companies around the globe that make up WCR’s membership.
The program saw participation from nine countries: Costa Rica, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Peru, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and the USA. WCR’s CEO, Dr. Jennifer Vern Long, emphasized coffee needs the innovation that addresses and brings confidence in achieving the industry’s supply, quality, and sustainability goals.
Xinia Chaves Quiros, Director of the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (ICAFE) in Costa Rica, emphasized yields of better varieties that can be distributed rapidly, which he expects to take place through Innovea.
It is expected that some of the participants will start releasing new varieties in 2033, with most taking place in the later years. After the release of the first varieties, newer varieties are expected to be released regularly every 3–5 years.
Earlier in 2022, Dr. Jennifer Vern Long shared WCR’s excitement about its partnership with EIAR and JARC in supporting the various types of research aimed at sustaining the most unique flavors associated with Ethiopian coffee. The partnership focuses on bringing better varieties and genotyping them.
Brazil’s Council of Coffee Exporters (CECAFE) reported October Arabica coffee export rose by 3.3% despite a 63.3% year-on-year decrease in Robusta coffee which contributed to a 3.2 % drop in Brazil’s total coffee exports for October.
The International Coffee Organization's (ICO’s) 2021 Coffee Development Report highlighted the need for youth involvement in improving coffee, themed "The Future of Coffee."
Other insights in the report include the increased global coffee production of 1.1% to 170.8 million bags compared to 2019/20, in which Arabica took the majority share, i.e., 59.2% with 101.2 million bags. The happy note with the report continues as it reveals Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda as being the three main regions responsible for Africa’s 5.5% rise in Arabica production, with a combined increase of output covering 547,000 bags out of the region’s total 589,000 bags growth.
Global consumption increased by 1.0% to 165.4 million bags in the year 2020/21, compared to the prior year. For instance, Switzerland’s (Arabica and Robusta) coffee consumption increased by 22.2 percent, the second-highest growth rate next to Morocco's (mostly Robusta).
The surprises of coffee continue, as ICO reports 2020/21 as "the year of recovery" compared to the influences of COVID-19 in the 2019/2020 coffee year.
