Harvesting

In the harvesting stage of the supply chain, the main actors are smallholder farmers and commercial farms (Gashaw et al., 2018; Interview 4; Site Visit 2, 3). In most coffee-producing countries, coffee is harvested once per year (Scott, 2015). The harvesting season varies from year to year, but is typically between November and February (Field Trip; Nordic Approach, n.d.-a; Scott, 2015; Site Visit 2, 3). The harvesting timing affects the quality and taste of the coffee (Scott, 2015). Even though it is impossible to have a homogeneous level of ripeness in a harvest, farmers try to keep the level of over- and under-ripe cherries to a minimum to ensure

the highest possible quality (Scott, 2015). The picture below shows ripe and unripe coffee cherries (picture 2).

Picture 2: This picture taken during our field trip to Jimma, Ethiopia, shows a coffee plant with ripe (red) and unripe (green) coffee cherries.

Farmers are commonly dependent on additional labor during the harvesting season, which can be in shortage in this time period (Interview 1; UNIDO, 2014). This can result in the use of child labor, as children can lessen the workload of farmers by picking the coffee cherries (Galdo et al., 2019).

4.3.1 Harvesting Techniques

There are two ways of harvesting coffee, selective harvesting or non-selective harvesting, such as strip harvesting (Fufa, Etana, & Aga, 2019; Minten et al., 2019).

Both the selective- and non-selective methods can be done by hand or using machines (Poltronieri & Rossi, 2016; Scott, 2015). As Garo, Shana and Mare (2016) explain, hand-picking is prefered over mechanical harvesting, as it results in higher coffee quality due to a lower number of defects and damages to the cherries in the process. However, mechanical harvesting has seen a development where vibrations and velocity parameters are set to pick only mature cherries that are more loosely attached to the coffee plant (Poltronieri & Rossi, 2016). Also, machines that screen coffee cherries based on their maturity color to select ripe cherries to harvest have been developed to improve harvest quality (Poltronieri & Rossi, 2016).

Selective Harvesting

Selective harvesting consists of only picking ripe red cherries, and leaving unripe green cherries for later harvesting (Minten et al., 2019). The advantage of this method is that the amount of unripe cherries in the harvested coffee is reduced, leading to a more homogeneous coffee with higher quality (Minten et al., 2019).

Red cherries obtain higher prices than green cherries, or mixtures of both (Minten et al., 2019). The price difference is estimated to be around 10% (Minten et al., 2019). It is also an advantageous method in agricultural areas where machines cannot be applied due to the terrain/landscape, or because farmers cannot afford to invest in machinery (Scott, 2015). Among the disadvantages of selective harvesting is that it is a labor-intensive and time-consuming process (Scott, 2015).

Strip Harvesting

Strip harvesting consists of grabbing and pulling coffee branches and making all coffee cherries fall onto the ground to be picked (Garo et al., 2016; Minten et al., 2019). The benefit of strip harvesting is that it is less costly to perform and is quicker than selective harvesting as all cherries are collected at once (Garo et al., 2016; Minten et al., 2019; Scott, 2015). Some farmers prefer this harvesting method, as they do not have to harvest multiple times per season (Beshah et al., 2013).

The use of stripping harvest methods has become less frequent due to its disadvantages (Minten et al., 2019). The main disadvantage is that different maturity levels of coffee cherries are collected, leading to a lower quality product as unripe, ripe and overripe cherries are mixed (Beshah et al., 2013). Other materials such as leaves, stones and sticks can also be gathered with the cherries in this process (Fufa et al., 2019). In addition, this method can decrease future yields, as it can harm the coffee plant (Garo et al., 2016).

4.3.2 Discussion

We have identified the following main challenges and potential opportunities:

coffee quality, as well as labor and time intensity. We discuss these in terms of sustainability and the triple bottom line.

Coffee Quality

From our findings, we see that the harvesting method applied will impact the quality of the coffee cherries. First, in terms of hand-picking versus mechanical picking, we found that hand-picking has been preferable, as it can lead to a more homogeneous, high-quality harvest. Yet, new machines can also provide this result.

Additionally, selective harvesting is considered to provide more homogeneous coffee than strip harvesting. Our findings show that a higher quality harvest will result in higher prices, and thereby impact the economic sustainability of farmers.

The economic dimension of sustainability considers financial performance and increased earnings (Braccini & Margherita, 2019; Shou et al., 2019).

Our findings show that selective harvesting also limits the harm done to the coffee plant, thereby increasing the commodity’s quality and future yields. As Longoni and Cagliano (2018) explain, economic sustainability encompasses being profitable in the long term. We can thereby expect that applying harvesting techniques that lead to high quality coffee, will have a positive impact on the economic sustainability of farmers in the long term.

Second, the chosen harvesting techniques can result in varied amounts of waste, due to the defects and damages they may cause to the cherries in the process. Strip harvesting can potentially lead to more waste than selective harvesting. The usage of less modern machines to pick the cherries can potentially increase wastage.

Waste can have a negative impact on environmental performance (Koberg &

Longoni, 2019). From this, we see that the waste generated in the harvesting process can affect the environmental sustainability of this stage of the chain, if not managed correctly. Thus, waste management techniques should be considered. Such techniques are discussed in the ‘Waste Management’ segment in the ‘Primary Processing’ section. In relation to waste from harvesting, we can presume that it will also impact the economic dimension of sustainability, as it will lead to a loss of potential revenues. Waste is not consistent with the focus of economic sustainability, which is increased sales (Braccini & Margherita, 2019; Shou et al., 2019). By missing out on sales, it can impact the welfare of the seller and farmer, and thereby their social sustainability. The social dimension is concerned with the welfare and well-being of the workforce (Longoni & Cagliano, 2018; Nichols et al., 2019). With this we show that there is a linkage between the three dimensions

of sustainability. This is supported by literature (Braccini & Margherita, 2019;

Christopher, 2016; Geissdoerfer et al., 2017).

Labor and Time Intensity

We found that it is common to employ additional labor during harvesting season, due to the high labor demand and the large amount of time involved in the process.

As stated, this can result in child labor, having a negative impact on social sustainability. This is because the social dimension is concerned with human rights (Chopra & Meindl, 2016; Christopher, 2016; Koberg & Longoni, 2019; Shou et al., 2019).

Another challenge is the costs that occur in the harvesting process. Thus, farmers can have additional costs related to wages and time spent doing the harvesting. The economic dimension of sustainability is concerned with cost reduction (Longoni &

Cagliano, 2018). Hence, we see that additional costs in the harvesting process will have a negative impact on economic sustainability.

Longoni and Cagliano (2018) highlight the importance of community development in social sustainability. In light of this, additional labor demand can be positive, as it can lead to increased employment in the local community. Thus, we consider the labor and time intensity of harvesting to have a positive effect on social sustainability.

Another challenge is that a more time-consuming process could lead to overripe cherries, resulting in increased waste or lower product quality. We find that selective harvesting typically implies a larger demand for labor and time compared to strip harvesting. As mentioned in the segment ‘Coffee Quality’ in the

‘Harvesting’ section, waste can have a negative impact on environmental sustainability, and a lower quality will have a negative impact on economic sustainability.