Coffee Stories: Effects of The Covid-19 Crisis

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Businesses along the coffee supply chain describe how a worldwide health crisis affects their employees and their work.

By Dan Shryock

The international coffee industry continues to assess and cope with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Like waves crashing on a beach, the coronavirus spread over one country after another, forcing coffee farmers, importers, roasters, and retail shop operators to change practices and plan for the unknown.

The pandemic “represents an unprecedented joint supply-and-demand shock to the global coffee sector, constituting an enormous challenge to coffee growers, farmworkers, and downstream value chain actors,” according to a recent report issued by the International Coffee Organization and the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Operations have been forced to find ways to protect their workers, guard against the virus invading their workplaces, and still produce their product.

STiR talked with a farmer in El Salvador, two roasters (a large roaster in Ontario, Canada, and a small roaster in Virginia), and a café owner in Oregon to discover how each is coping during the pandemic.

Protecting workers in El Salvador

In a normal year, Maria Botto produces 25,000 kilos of coffee on her farm, Finca Nombre de Dios, in the Alotepec Metapan growing region in El Salvador. She employs 25 workers to operate the farm, a number that jumps to 60 when it comes time to pick the cherries.

At this time of year, Botto is focusing on her farm as she copes with the typical agricultural challenges. But she did not plan on the need to create a virus safety program.

“Before our first positive case [in El Salvador] on March 18, as our government set the alert, I bought an inventory of liquid hand soap, alcohol gel, and disinfectant for clothing and shoes in order to start sanitary protocols at the farm,” Botto said. “We also acquired masks for our farm operations personnel and a thermometer for temperature protocol.”

The local farm community mobilized, too, creating a group that disinfects vehicles bringing goods to town, as well as any residents who’ve handled the cargo. Botto said these efforts have been successful, so far. While the national totals across El Salvador in late May totaled more than 1,800 infections and 33 deaths, Botto reported no cases among her workers.

“They are in good health,” she said. “They feel the stress from the news of our country and the world, as we all do. Our workers usually remain in the farm area. Their work is close to home.”

Farm operations, meanwhile, move forward. Botto has seen delays in receiving needed farm supplies. “Agriculture is working, but if a vehicle needs a spare part, the supplier is closed and the chain is disrupted,” she said. “All movements have slowed due to long queues for services.”

Essential roasting in Canada

As people across North America prepared for home lockdowns, grocery stores reported a spike in coffee sales. Retail shop visits were no longer an option, so consumers shifted to brewing their coffee at home.

That sales jump was evident at Club Coffee, the Canadian-based roasting giant.

“We have seen a significant and sustained increase in sales, especially our retail and e-commerce customers,” said Angelo Campanella, Club Coffee’s vice president for channel development in the United States. “This elevated demand continues into May and our customers are still forecasting strong demand over the next few months.”

Club Coffee has not yet seen any disruptions in its supply of green beans. Nor has it seen any price fluctuations, Campanella said.

“We saw significant demand increases from all our private label customers,” he said. “This was driven by consumers working from home, pantry stocking, and lockdowns that saw many restaurants close or operate limited hours. Some private label customers shared that some national coffee brands short-shipped or were on backorder for prolonged periods of time.”

Deemed an essential industry by the provincial government of Ontario, Club Coffee has maintained regular production and, at times, even added shifts to meet demand. All the while, employees continue to follow safety requirements.

“We immediately implemented new procedures and followed Canadian guidelines [both federal and provincial] to mitigate the Covid-19 risk to our team,” Campanella said. “We have not had any cases of Covid-19 among our teams.”

Those steps include social distancing in all work areas, the wearing of personal protective equipment, health screening for all employees arriving at work, having people work from home when possible, and limiting visitors.

Meanwhile, Club Coffee and other food manufacturers partnered to support first responders, healthcare workers, and other essential workers during the pandemic. Club Coffee has donated one million cups of coffee as part of the #FuelTheHeroes campaign in Canada.

A new normal in Virginia

Red Rooster Coffee in the small town of Floyd, Virginia, continues to roast about 3,500 pounds of coffee each week, just as it did before Covid-19. Its supply of green coffee has not been interrupted. And “most of our coffee was already price-fixed a few months ago,” said co-owner Haden Polseno-Hensley. “My guess is that we won’t know the true effect of the crisis on coffee prices until the summer as producers try to sell coffee that is just now ready to export.”

Where those roasted beans go, however, has changed.

“The thing that has changed is where we are selling the coffee,” Polseno-Hensley said. “With almost all of our wholesale clients closed or open with only limited hours, plus the change in our own coffee shop to curbside-only service, we’ve seen a dramatic shift to online retail sales.”

There also has been a change for employees. Each worker must complete a health questionnaire every day before arriving at work. They must check their body temperature and answer questions about their social distancing. Once in the roastery, “everyone wears masks and gloves at all times,” Polseno-Hensley said.

“We’re roasting in two teams, seven days a week, to keep people separated in case anyone gets sick,” he said. “We also moved the production facility around so that people can stay farther apart.”

This is the new normal.

There were initial job losses at Red Rooster until online sales allowed the company to bring back most of its roastery workforce. “But we are at 50% of sales in the coffee shop, and we still have people who aren’t working,” he said.

Empty tables in Oregon

On a typical weekday, a retired schoolteacher would be tutoring students at a table inside the Urban Grange coffee shop in Salem, Oregon. Most all tables would be occupied as well.

The same teacher still returns to his favorite shop during the pandemic but only to pick up his coffee and leave. The tables are empty. Tape on the floor shows customers where to stand to maintain social distancing.

Three employees lost their jobs when Urban Grange was forced to reduce its store hours by 50%. Now owner Randy St. George and his family run the shop, and loyal customers walk in to order. The shop also launched its first-ever online ordering process so customers can get their coffee and request delivery or curbside pickup. As many as 12 orders arrive online each day.

“The overall impact of the pandemic on the shop has been big,” St. George said. “Gross sales are down 44%. I made adjustments to operations starting as soon as we were told to close our dining area.”

His coffee supply, from Columbia River Coffee Roasters in Astoria, Oregon, has been consistent. So has community support.

“Our regular customers have been stopping by to support us,” he said. “I have also seen a lot of new faces, people who have been displaced by their normal coffee shop closing. Customers have been very understanding about the changes we’ve had to make to be able to stay open and help protect them. Most of them are just glad we are open, and they can get their coffee fix.”

How are you coping with the Covid-19 pandemic? How has your coffee- or tea-related business been affected? We would like to hear your Covid story. Please share your insights with Dan Shryock via email: dws@octobermultimedia.com

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