Dry and sunny weather in recent weeks caused premature ripening of coffee cherries and a decline in yield and quality, the leader of the Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA) said on Thursday.
"Cherries have been splitting, accelerating maturation and beans have been drying on the trees," Marcelo Vieira told Reuters in a telephone interview, adding that quality had suffered through fermentation.
Production of higher-quality coffee through the semi-washed pulped natural process is likely to fall sharply. Under this method only mature coffee cherries are pulped and mucilage is left on the bean giving it a natural, sweet flavour.
Quality of traditional natural, sun-dried coffees may also suffer, said Vieira, who helped create the BSCA in 1991 to improve the quality of Brazilian coffee. Brazilian harvesting has advanced rapidly this year, aided by the dry weather, and is well ahead of last year. Production will be much lower due to the downturn in arabica's biennial cycle, with the government forecasting 32.1 million 60-kg bags, against 42.5 million bags last year.
Vieira, a south Minas grower, was even more downbeat, saying that yields will be 20 percent to 30 percent lower than the official forecast, according to BSCA members' feedback. He said that despite a smaller crop Brazil should ship some 600,000 bags of specialty coffee this year, similar to last season. Brazil's specialty coffee commands premiums from 10 percent to 20 percent for estate labels and up to 80 percent for top grades.
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