Data was released during the opening of the digital event, when the opening of a Coffee Culture Excellence Center was also announced next year, in Minas Gerais.
The opening panel of the International Coffee Week – SIC 2020 (semanainternacionaldocafe.com.br) (18-20 November), brought together authorities and leaders of organizations in the sector for a market overview. Roberto Simões, president of the Minas Gerais State Agriculture and Livestock Federation (FAEMG) system, revealed that the Arabica coffee production grew 34% in relation to the previous year.
The executive also said that a Center of Excellence in Coffee should be opened in the city of Varginha between April and May of next year “with a focus on spreading knowledge, technology and innovation to all of Brazil and even other countries”, he said. He also stressed that people are adhering to a more sophisticated form of consumption and valuing quality, “which makes room for specialty coffees”.
Macroeconomic scenarios
Economist Ricardo Amorim gave a lecture on macroeconomic scenarios in Brazil and in the world for the next few years, focusing on coffee agribusiness.
He started by recalling that, despite having faced the biggest economic contraction that humanity has ever seen in a very short period of two months, the United States and countries in Europe had the biggest growth in history in the second quarter.
“The data we have in relation to the Brazilian economy as a whole, until September, show that here it is no different, with a very strong recovery in the services, industry and commerce sector, and even better in agribusiness”, he says.
On a more specific insight regarding the coffee market, the economist highlighted the increase in competitiveness. “In practice, profitability for the Brazilian producer rose significantly due to the rise in the dollar. The competitiveness of the national product in relation to the rest of the world, too. This is because the exchange rate movement was not so strong in competing countries such as Colombia, for example,” he explained.
Even with the growth of the base and top of the consumption pyramid, Ricardo pointed out two challenges. The first one in relation to communication/marketing. “I lived in the United States from 2001 to 2008 and I always heard in the conversations about coffee that Americans associate the product with Colombia, even though Brazil is the largest exporter. But that was because our competitor had a very strong campaign, which established this connection. Today the situation is a little better, but we still need to go a long way,” he detailed.
Another issue is the need to work on the Brazil “brand”. A factor that has been gaining importance is the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), referring to environmental, social and governance issues. The economist pointed out that the country has been doing badly in this regard. “It protects two thirds of its territory and is the most preserved in the world, but it has an associated image as a great destroyer of the environment. This can be even more disruptive,” he concluded.
About SIC
The International Coffee Week (SIC) has been held since 2013 in Belo Horizonte, capital of the largest producing state in the country. SIC focuses on the development of the Brazilian market and the dissemination of the quality of national coffees to domestic consumers and buyer countries, in addition to enhancing the economic and social results of the sector. In this year of 2020, due to the pandemic, it will be carried out 100% on a digital platform.
