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Ecological Footprint of a Luxury Good Purchasable in Canada

Introduction

Nespresso, the brand name for Nestlé Nespresso, is a coffee product manufactured in Vancouver, Canada. Nonetheless, their products can be purchased in Nespresso stores in other major cities in Canada and around the world, through mail orders, or many other consumer appliance supplies. Nespresso prices usually average at 0.5 USD per capsule. Although, the climatic conditions in Canada do not favor the growth of coffee, the raw material of Nespresso coffee, it has always been imported from other countries. A coffee plant begins to generate flowers from which the fruits of the plant emerge. The plant takes around five years before the initial harvest is realized. After the emergence of the cherries, it takes around eight months for them to ripen, notably with the color turning from green to red. When the cherries turn red, they are ready to be picked.

History of Coffee

Coffee, being the raw material of Nespresso, has become the most poplar beverage in Canada and since it was introduced in 1607 (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2011). It was first discovered in Eastern Africa in the present day Ethiopia and was first used by a local resident who was a herdsman and legend. It is said that he had observed a peculiar behavior on his animals after they had consumed berries from a certain bush (Hewitt 86). It is from this observation that the herdsman set out to try the raw berries to understand as to why the goats were frisky after consuming the berries. After eating the berries, the native discovered that they had a stimulating effect that gave them renewed energy (BellissimoInc, 2011). News about the new fruit named after the legend of kaldi widely spread very fast through out the region.

Arabs became the first people to process coffee raw berries as well as pioneering the trade both in local and transnational areas (Hewitt 97). The Nespresso’s raw material was easily adapted by the Arabs as a beverage as the Holy Quran forbids alcoholic drinks. Therefore, it acted as a religious compliant substitute for alcoholic drinks.

Processing of Coffee

Nespresso coffee is prepared by grinding the roasted seeds of the Arabica tree and its taste is like that of overcooked cereals. The beverage has harmful effects since it contains high levels of caffeine and tannin that accord adverse health issues. For instance, the identified elements affect males by making semen acquire a thin texture, a condition that causes early ejaculation (Mi yerba Mate, 2011). It has been proven that caffeine found in Nespresso coffee reduces reproduction power in both males and females. Additionally, it has a bad effect on the skin in terms of coloration; a heavy coffee user tends to acquire a much darkened and rough skin.

Canada acquires most of its raw material for the production of Nespresso from Colombia and Brazil. Picking of the berries is the most important step in the entire processing procedure. There are two types of picking namely, strip picking and selective picking. Strip picking involves a general harvest of the entire crop, inclusive of the ripe and unripe berries. This method is not very suitable and is least favored between the two. Strip picking on the other hand involves a careful picking of the ripe Nespresso coffee berries that are normally red in color. The berries are then dried and ground into desired textures.

Transportation

Dried Nespresso coffee is known to absorb humidity and other odors; owing to this fact, transportation of dried coffee becomes a delicate operation to avoid contamination during the transit process. Nespresso coffee is transported in jute sacks or containers, categorized as standard and the ventilated containers. The standard container has unique materials used for the walls and ceiling for protection purposes. These include steel sheets, fiberglass reinforced plastic and plywood. Note that, the floor should be covered in wood (BellissimoInc, 2011). The ventilated containers have the roof and floor ventilated with the active hatches for cooling purposes, with the wooden floor kept clean and dry between thirty and thirty-five degrees. Long trucks and rail journeys are avoided owing to the vulnerability to damage that the trucks and rails are exposed to on transit. The amount of time taken and distance to be covered when this means are used is prone to risks like pilferage. Containers are normally offloaded within twenty-four and forty-eight hours to prevent the occurrence of damages. The delay period is as a significant determinant factor on whether or not shipping bulks survive.

Picking methods

Mostly, coffee plants only offer a single harvest yearly as flowering occurs once in a year. Owing to the fact that most of the coffee producing countries are third word countries, picking is mostly done by hand as opposed to the mechanical process. These labor-intensive approaches are rather quite expensive compared to the mechanical process. While picking, green cherries are not to be picked as, the seeds therein are not fully matured for processing. Therefore, selective picking is the most preferred method to do so. After this stage, the coffee fruit that is later turned into Nespresso coffee is transported from the farmer to the processor. This is followed by technical processing either comprising of the dry or wet processes. In the wet process, fruit casing is detached from the cover then the seeds are left to dry. By the immersion of the fruit in water, the ripe and unripe fruits are separated since the ripe berries sink while the unripe float on the water. This process can also be employed using automated equipment in a process called machine-assisted wet processing.

The dry process of making Nespresso coffee also known as dried coffee is the most basic and ancient method of coffee processing. After harvest, the entire cherry is dried out in the sun on tables or simply spreading the harvest outside on sacks (Ihsan, 2011). This is done after the cherries have been cleansed and separating the ripe from the unripe. The drying process takes up to four weeks before the berries are fully dried and ready for the next step. It is a very important process since it determines the ultimate final quality of the coffee. The dried seeds are then taken for milling and packaging, before it is ready for sale.

Commercial benefits

Individuals benefiting from this trade are not the farmers who cultivate the fruit but the importers who buy it. Out of the estimated seventy billion dollars coffee sales noted in Canada each year by the sale of Nespresso coffee, only five billion dollars of the value is pulled back home to the farmers (Markets & Market Systems, 2011). The superfluous amount is retained by the importers in the developed world at the expense of the developing nations. Coffee farmers who maintain the flow of Nespresso coffee in the market only dig up a fraction of the amount collected from their produce, evidencing an unfair form of transaction.

The role of women

The role of women in Nespresso coffee’s raw material plantations is to pick the cherries and to provide food for the men during cultivation activities on the farm (Tensaye, 2010). Female roles were largely defined as taking care of the children, making meals, housework and the same are excluded from farming contributions, although activities dealing with household chores comprise of the bulk of women activities. To attain sustainable production, improvements have to be incorporated in agricultural production methods of planting, weeding, mulching and other farm activities. Respect for human workers’ rights and reasonable remuneration is necessitated for pragmatic sustainability to be achieved.

Improving production

Weed control is vital since such plants compete with coffee for nutrients and water and may strain the coffee plant leading to slow growth. Pruning also helps to rejuvenate the plant by removing the unproductive parts and thus contributing greatly to the total yield of the plant (Ibero Limited, 2011). Environmental safety is crucial and it is necessary for new coffee trees to be planted to replace those that have been lost through wilting diseases. Mulching as a way of covering the soil in a bid to prevent it from losing moisture should be considered in coffee plantations. It is a simple undertaking as grass is mostly used for the task that aids with slowing down runoffs and suppressing weed growth. When the mulch decomposes, it acts as a source of soil enrichment (Ibero Limited, 2011).

Water is a fundamental ingredient in terms of the yielding capacity. Controlling erosion and harvesting rainwater is a certain way to ensure sustainability in coffee plantation, especially during dry periods within the production states. Measures to prevent erosion will save the farmer loss of nutrients required for plant growth (Defares 127). This is not only to protect the top soil from eroding but also to ensure high rainwater content and retention in the farming regions. This helps to maintain soil moisture and thus leading to higher productivity.

Conclusion

Nespresso is a popular beverage in Canada and its consumption can be projected to increase in future. This calls for a careful research on its market viability and its availability to the consumers. More importantly, addressing the methods by which its production can be sustained would be an appropriate approach. Fair renumeration for the farmers is probably the first step to take if the raw material has to enjoy an uninterrupted supply. This would avail resources to them to maintain the soil’s fertility for a better yield. Nespresso coffee is on the rise in publicity and the trend should keep on growing on an upward scale if better sales are to be achieved.

Works Cited

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 2011. The Canadian Coffee Industry. 2011. Web. 14 Oct 2011.

AS Markets & Market Systems. Market for Coffee. 2011. Web. 14 Oct 2011.

Bellissimo, Inc. The Art and Craft of Coffee. 2011. Web. 14 Oct 2011.

Defares, R .S. Inter-America Institute for Cooperative on Agriculture Inter-America. Jakarta, Indonesia: USAID/Indonesia, 2010. Print.

Hewitt, Robert. Coffee: Its History, Cultivation, and Uses. NY: Forgotten Books, 1986. Print.

Ibero Limited. Coffee plantation management. 2011. Web. 14 Oct 2011.

Ihsan, D. Aceh’s Organic Coffee Production. 2011. Web. 14 Oct 2011.

Mi Yerba, Mate. Harmful Ingredients in Coffee and Tea? 2011. Web. 14 Oct 2011

Tensaye, A.W. Marketing & Promotion Opportunities of Ethiopian Coffee. 2011. Web. 14 Oct 2011.

 

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