Myanmar Coffee Update
I thought I’d take a moment and give you all an update on how things are moving along (and sometimes not) for the Myanmar coffee we so cherish each year (and why we continue to source this amazing product). Obviously, COVID-19 has hit every country hard at multiple points since March ‘20 - and Myanmar is certainly no exception. Last year’s crop took a bit longer to harvest, process, and ship due to lockdowns and staffing shortages, but overall resulted in minimal delays and issues considering the circumstances.
Fast forward to early/mid 2021. COVID-19 spikes are still happening all over the world leading to lockdowns, coffee production shutdowns, limited staffing and ports, and borders being closed or reduced to a trickle. Then comes the great logistics situation we’re seeing in 2021, leading to drastic worldwide shipping delays. What’s causing these? Well - our friend Susan Heller Evenson from Atlas Coffee Importers puts it well in this wonderful post - but to put it briefly: shipping container shortages, port and border delays, coffee processing delays, and trucking delays. So, as you can see, the main issues at play here are shortages and delays: the global shipping system was just not able to keep up with the surge in trade while also accounting for all of the negative effects of the pandemic. In addition, many of our trade partners are taking on massive shipping cost increases - and risk - compared to years past.
Let’s touch on Myanmar specifically here as well. As many of you are aware, the country has dealt with social and political turmoil for generations (as are many of the coffee-producing countries we all know and love). In February 2021, Myanmar’s military forcibly took over the civilian government, imposed martial law and began beating, jailing and killing dissidents. Aside from all the dire situations this caused for millions of innocent people, it added another major wrinkle into the Myanmar coffee value chain: (1)the military shut down most forms of electronic communication including social media sites, which made it very hard to communicate with our producer friends over there; (2) nationwide bank closures made it near impossible to pay producers; (3)massive protests and violence in almost every town and city across the nation brought most work to a halt; and (4)farmers and producers drastically cut their output this year due to uncertainty and concerns around the military coup and COVID-19.
Our NUMBER ONE concern through all of this has been our coffee farmer/producer friends in Myanmar. These are people/families/communities that we have known and done business with for a number of years now. Would they be able to produce enough coffee to support themselves? Do they have other forms of income? Would they even be able to sell their coffee to the outside markets that have purchased from them in the past? And (selfishly) would we be able to continue to share these incredibly special coffees with you like we do every year? We worked pretty closely with our friends at Atlas Coffee Imports as they navigated this intense web of coffee production, logistics, health and safety, financial uncertainty and political upheaval. We are so grateful to Susan and the entire Atlas team for their unwavering support of Myanmar coffee and the amazing people that produce it. And, suffice it to say that these coffees are enroute to the US as we speak. We will keep you posted on possible releases later this fall - but I think this will go down as one of the more special harvests we will ever have taken part in.
In normal times, what goes into getting your coffee is remarkable. What it took this year is purely amazing. Thanks again to everyone farming and producing coffee in Myanmar, especially our producing friends at Ruby Hills, Thee Lady Specialty Coffee, Amayar, and Indigo Mountain Coffee; and to Atlas.