Cup of Consciousness

t always surprises Bill Diapoulos, director of food and beverage at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco that, just when he thinks the coffee retail market is oversaturated, another Peet’s or Starbucks opens.

Diapoulos is also surprised that—although the Clift is located in the heart of the progressive, politically correct Bay Area where people increasingly examine the provenance of everything they consume—his customers haven’t requested organic coffee, yet. However, he says, “I think the industry is headed that way.”

While coffee houses serve a variety of blends, most hotel restaurants, like Asia de Cuba at the Clift Hotel, rely on one blend of coffee for all of their needs. The Clift serves La Colombe, roasted in Philadelphia and served in hotels like the Waldorf=Astoria. “It’s a good-quality mediumbodied coffee that holds up well after two hours,” Diapoulos says.

Conrad Picou, food and beverage director at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park, uses Rainforest Alliance certified coffee. “We chose Rainforest over organic or fair trade because we believe it’s better for the environment,” says Picou. “Our company [Delaware North] has a program called ‘GreenPath’ that encompasses sustainable organic practices. We felt the Rainforest blend was best because monies derived from the sale are put back into the protection and preservation of the rainforest.”

The Rainforest Alliance is a New York-based organization that puts its stamp of approval on products grown in Central and South America such as coffee, bananas, and wood. In 2007, the Rainforest Alliance certified more than 91 million pounds of coffee.

Its “three pillars” of sustainability are environmental, social, and economic; it measures soil and water conservation, agri-chemical reduction, recycling, reforestation, worker housing, health care, and education for children. Just as César Chávez shone a spotlight on farm workers, the Alliance works to guarantee a fair living for some of the estimated 25 million coffee workers worldwide, thereby addressing in a holistic way most of the tenets of other coffee certifications such as fair trade and shade grown.

The Ahwahnee’s Rainforest blend is a medium roast mixture of Mexican, Sumatran, and Mocha Java purchased ground. It is used throughout Yosemite Park at the bar, conference center, dining room, and coffee shops. “It’s much easier logistically,” Picou says.

The coffee was sampled using the hotel’s current coffee brewing system as well as a French press and analyzed to see how well it stood up during normal holding procedures. “Some coffees become bitter quicker than others with oxygen exposure,” says Picou. “Heat and oxygen are the two biggest enemies of brewed coffee.”

While guests at a national park hotel might be more tuned into the merits of environmentally friendly coffee, Picou says the Ahwahnee doesn’t have space on its menu to communicate that to diners. However, he says, it is part of the Ahwahnee’s corporate philosophy to try to buy local and be as sustainable as possible.

The Airlie Conference Center in Warrenton, Virginia, uses Barista on Demand from Charlottesville to provide coffee service to conference attendees. Barista on Demand’s organic coffee comes from Nicaragua and is Rainforest Alliance certified. The company provides Airlie with a self-serve machine in the conference room, which grinds beans and makes six styles of coffee including espresso and cappuccino. “It’s a hit with attendees because you can’t get any fresher,” says Tim Jago, food and beverage director.

Airlie’s dining facilities serve a different coffee. It is not organic, which Jago notes is almost double the cost of regular coffee. Even though customers in theory endorse organic foods, they often balk at the greater cost. Airlie has a green seal certification and a U.S. Department of Environmental Quality E3 rating for such green initiatives as recycling and composting. Therefore, it is important to Airlie to use organic coffee in the conference room. “Whether it be global warming or sustainability, people are much more aware of the environment today than 10 or 15 years ago,” Jago says.

When coffee drinkers opt for organic or Rainforest Alliance certified coffee, they can feel, with every sip, that their choice has contributed to conservation of land, rather than degradation, and that workers are provided fair wages, decent housing, schools, and access to health care.

Beth Rogers is a frequent contributor to HOTEL F&B

Test Your Knowledge

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

FAIR TRADE
Many farmers around the world receive market payments that are lower than production costs, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt. Intensive farming can also lead to pollution and deforestation.

Fair Trade works to correct these imbalances by guaranteeing a minimum price for small producers’ harvests and by encouraging sustainable cultivation methods. Fair trade farmers also receive badly needed credit and are assured a minimum price.With profits generated from receiving fair wages, coffee growers can invest in health, education, and environmental protection. [from Fair Trade Federation]

SHADE GROWN
In the midst of altered and shrinking habitat in both North and Latin America, migratory birds have found a sanctuary in the forest-like environment of traditional coffee plantations. In eastern Chiapas, Mexico, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center biologists found that traditionally managed coffee and cacao plantations support over 150 species of birds.

However, because of recent changes in coffee production and marketing, shade coffee plantations are a threatened habitat. In the past 20 years, coffee has begun to be grown with no shade canopy at all. While this manner of cultivation produces substantially increased yields, these cannot be sustained for many years without intensive management such as additions of chemical fertilizers and a range of insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides. The diversity of migratory birds plummets when coffee is converted from shade to sun. [from the Migratory Bird Center at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park]

ORGANIC
Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations.

Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides, fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge, bioengineering, or ionizing radiation. [from USDA]