Brazilian Exporters See Coffee Prices

Brazilian Exporters See Coffee Prices
Remaining Firm The director of Brazil's main coffee exporters'organization said Tuesday he sees low global stocks and steadily rising demandensuring high prices for arabica beans in coming years but urged local coffeegrowers to use the resulting windfall to add value to their product. "From my point of view, I think the market will tend to remain firm," saidGuilherme Braga, director of the Brazilian Green Coffee Exporters' Council, ina presentation. But that's not a reason for coffee producers to grow complacent, he said,noting that leading multinational coffee buyers are increasingly seekingcertifications to show environmental sustainability. Some, such as Nestle, aimto have 100% of their suppliers certified for sustainability as early as 2020,Braga said. "Although Brazil is currently the highest-volume exporter of sustainablecoffee...we're well below the goals that have been proposed by big importers,"Braga said. "We have to admit that this hasn't been addressed adequately in ourinternal plans. It's often presented as a somewhat absurd demand." Brazil, by far the world's top coffee producer, would also do well totransform its image as a supplier of quantity, not quality, Braga said. But theSouth American country improved more in that area and now currently exportsbetween 5 million and 5.5 million 60-kilogram (132-pound) bags a year of"added-value" coffees.