Q&A: Price Peterson

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Features

By Dan Bolton

During a panel discussion on a global conservation strategy for coffee at the Global Specialty Coffee Expo in Seattle, Price Peterson, owner of the fabled Hacienda La Esmeralda farm in Panama, discussed his vision of how the newly completed map of the coffee genome can be applied to resolving some of the more formidable challenges facing the coffee industry.

Peterson began farming in Panama in 1998, a time when the coffee grown there was not considered exceptional. In those days even the best coffees earned only $1.20 a pound. That year he purchased the 125-hectare Esmeralda Jaramillo farm which was part of the larger Las Esmeralda estate. A portion of the estate was planted in Geisha, a varietal originating in southwestern Ethiopia, near the town of Gesha. Peterson said it was his good fortune that the neighboring Don Pachi Estate had brought the Geisha varietal from Costa Rica to Panama in 1963.

Peterson liked the look of the unusual varietal and its resistance to fungi and decided to replant the rest of his farm in Geisha. The first harvest in 2003 revealed an unusual bouquet of sparkling flavors from berry and citrus to peach, pineapple, guava, and Jasmine. In 2004 a small lot was entered in the Best of Panama competition. The coffee sold for an astounding $21 per pound and remains one of the most prized coffees in the world. It sells for more than $100 a pound today.*

*How good is Esmeralda Geisha? It won SCAA Roasters Guild Cupping Pavilion top honors in (2005, 2006, 2007), 1st place in the Best of Panama Auction (2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2013), and 1st Rainforest Alliance Cupping for Quality (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013). These are only a few of the awards and accolades awarded to the Petersons for their dedication to quality.

STiR: Learning how the genome is constructed is a start, but much work remains to be done. Describe for our readers the underlying challenge.

Price Peterson: The fundamental problem with arabica coffee is its lack of genetic diversity. Twenty years ago Francois Anthony wrote “molecular analysis show that genetic diversity in the species C. arabica is very low.  The transfer of new potential improvements from diploid species thus becomes inevitable for programs of improvement.”  (los analisis moleculares muestran que la diversidad genetica el el seno de la especie C. arabica es baja.  La transferencia de nuevas potencialidades a partir de las especies diploides aparece entonces como una via inevitable para los programas de mejoramiento.”). 

His solution to improvement of the species was, and is, to go to diploid species of the genus Cafea, of which there are many, and look for the genes we need.  They can be incorporated into arabica via traditional breeding, transgenic methods or newer gene editing techniques such as CRISPER.

Alternatively, one could also transfer genetic cup traits from arabica to robusta or other diploid species which would be hardier plants.

STiR: What can farmers do to cope with a changing climate?

Peterson: There are three options for the coffee farmer concerned about climate change. 

A) Move higher in the mountains to a cooler clime, 

B) stay where you are and produce a less desirable arabica coffee, perhaps with irrigation,  

C) grow an improved variety of robusta by incorporating arabica genes or,

D) Get out of the coffee business altogether and let the price rise above $1.40 where everyone loses money.

STiR: Tell us about your efforts to identify the next Geisha.

Peterson: Shortly after Geisha became popular, we realized the problem of Bill Gates; the hardest part of being No. 1 is staying there.  For that reason, we began looking 10 years ago for “The Next Geisha.”

Initially, we hoped we could do this by looking at genetic marker work with arabica DNA varieties.  After a while we were disabused of this notion. It became obvious (1) that if there was a simple chemical basis for cup quality, Mr. Ernesto Illy would have found it. 

Second, clearly cup quality is the result of hundreds of organic compounds produced during combustion/roasting of the proteins, sugars, fats and waxes in green coffee. This involves not only a massive number of genes but additionally, singling out those genes that are being expressed in that particular place (climate, soil, etc.) and that particular stage of growth and maturation and at that particular time.  This would be done by studying the messenger RNAs present at each point. Now that we have a genome, this work might begin.

Meanwhile, not having the molecular data, we went ahead and began growing out about 400 accessions from Ethiopia present in the CATIE (Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza) Costa Rica, collection – a long and tedious job.  So far we have cupped about 200 of these over one or two harvests. We also some data on disease and phenotypic differences.

Up to now, we have NOT found the next Geisha.  Of those cupped, most score in the mid-80s — about where the Catuai controls score.  In the same area (1750m/5800 feet) Geisha are scoring in the low to mid-90s. There are modest differences among them, but so far, nothing very exciting.  There are indications that they may become more interesting with age.

STiR: Share your thoughts about the need for a global conservation strategy.

Peterson: Global conservation strategy.  If I had the technology magic wand, ‘conservation’ would not be my strategy.  More interesting will be expansion of our genetic arsenal to include genetic material from far off places like Central Africa and Madagascar.  You can only do so much with the internal combustion engine – add a few cylinders or change from gasoline to diesel. 

It’s time to explore electric – with no drivers.  Likewise, it is time to open up and incorporate the inventory of genetic traits in the diploid species and modify by editing what we already have. We have the technology and the funding. All we need is the enlightened leadership.