Speech by P. Walters for the presentation of the Gourmet Coffee Project at the informal JAG,
Wednesday 12 April 2000.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen – Good Morning !
Over the next half an hour we have an exiting story to tell.
Mr. Smadja in his introduction referred to the importance of coffee as a commodity.
As an illustration of ITC’s work in Product and Market Development we will be describing to you how coffee producing countries are adapting a traditional commodity to provide new products to meet the ever changing trends in market demand.
way, it is a means of reducing the earning vulnerability of producing countries, whilst at the same time increasing rural income.In addition we will be showing you how new technology – in this case the Internet – can be used to establish brand new ways of selling a commodity.
The result of these innovations are increased prices and therefore earnings for the producing countries with the benefits passing right down the marketing chain and back to the farmers themselves. Or put in another
To set the scene, I will briefly describe some of ITC’s track record in coffee on which the Gourmet Coffee Project was built.
grown significantly. This is certainly also the case for coffee. Some countries – mainly in Central America - have already adapted their production in line with this trend. In ITC we wish to assist some of the least developed countries also to be able to produce and sell certified organic coffee. The first project of this kind has commenced recently in Ethiopia and is funded by the Government of Switzerland.In 1992 we published the Coffee Exporter’s Guide – an almost 400-page handbook which was extremely well received in the coffee business community in both exporting and importing countries. The handbook gave ITC a strong credibility in the entire coffee community. It has been in very high demand during the nineties and more than 10,000 copies have been distributed over the years.
In 1992 and 1993, ITC organized that 120 people from coffee producing countries were given on-the-job training with coffee importers, roasters, and others in the coffee business in the consuming countries. The feed-back from this training was very positive and ITC is still in contact with several of the persons who participated and who have been able to convey their experience back home.
From 1993 to 1998, we arranged seminars and consultations in 30 coffee producing countries for a wide range of people. The Coffee Exporter’s Guide was used as basis for the training in cooperation with local coffee associations. ITC became very visible in many coffee producing countries during these years.
Today you will hear about the Gourmet Coffee Project. It was launched in 1997 and comes to an end in May this year.
During the second half of the 1990s, the demand for organic food has
And finally - we have taken preliminary steps to issue the Coffee Exporter’s Guide in a new and modernized version. The question mark (?) at the bottom of this list reflects our desire to find a donor.
With this being said I wish to leave the floor to Mr. Bertil Byskov.
Thank you.
