The following interview was conducted by Fabiola Calderon and Dr. Hans-J. Langenbahn (both Happy Goat Coffee Company). The interviewee was Briana Davahiva Gomez Ramirez, associated lecturer at the University of Antioquia. Briana led a project exploring the production of coffee pulp flour by female coffee growers in Antioquia, Colombia, with the goal that the flour be consumed locally.
Hello Briana, thank you for taking the time to speak with us today! Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Sure! I am a dietitian, nutritionist and postgraduate in food and plant-based nutrition in Colombia. Currently I am a lecturer at the University of Antioquia in the School of Nutrition and Dietetics.
What was the idea behind the development of a coffee pulp flour?
Colombia, as everyone knows, is a famous coffee growing country. Coffee production generates enormous amounts of pollutants, especially due to unused or untreated residues such as coffee pulp. The pulp, which represents about 45% of the coffee cherry, is responsible for approximately 70% of the possible contamination caused by coffee processing. These contaminants end up in the ground water and other water sources.
In my opinion, the pulp has not yet been sufficiently explored with regard to its use in the food chain. Initially, our idea was to create an extract since coffee pulp flour already exists and is available in some markets. But in the end, we came to the conclusion that a pulverized product like flour was easier to incorporate into the food products and meals compared to a dry or liquid extract.
What was the objective of the project?
With this project we wanted to demonstrate that it is not only possible to upcycle a waste product and bring it into the food chain, but that the coffee growers themselves can make use of it as food. In other words: creating a low-cost, artisanal product derived from coffee pulp, and integrating it directly into the traditional mountain recipes of Antioquia.
What was your role in the project?
My main role was research and the logistics of the project. I worked closely with the Universidad de Antioquia and the Cooperativa de Caficultores de Antioquia. The participation of the co-op was important since it is in direct contact with its members, the coffee growers.
Who exactly did you work with?
The trials were carried out in different municipalities of Antioquia, which is in northwest Colombia. The vast majority of the coffee farmers were female, as the project is focused on gender inclusion. It was carried out in agro-ecological farms, which means, they do not apply any type of pesticides, among other things.
In addition, these farms are using drying tents for their coffee, so called “marquesinas”. Our drying protocol for the coffee pulp, which was especially designed to reduce the microbiological load, was difficult to apply because we worked synonymously with different farms during the peak harvest season; and this is the busiest time for farmers.
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Do the women involved work collaboratively on this or is each one producing her own flour?
The coffee growers' cooperative was the meeting point where the women learned about the project, where the research was carried out, the drying method was demonstrated etc. Each farmer took the information back to her own farm for the production of the flour. The research and education was carried out collaboratively, and the knowledge continues to be shared with other farms.
Why was the focus on women?
We focused on women because they are the ones with the greatest problems when it comes to food and nutritional insecurity. They are the ones who also have the main responsibility for the family as men tend to be in this respect, let me put it this way, a little “reserved”.
There are also coffee farms that are managed by women only; we wanted to support and promote those ones especially.
I assume coffee pulp flour was new to them. How was their reaction in the beginning?
I would say they were sceptical but interested.
Let's have a look at the flour: what are the different steps from the freshly removed pulp to the final product?
Initially we surveyed 188 coffee farmers to find out what our best approach could be. The results showed that 1 out of 3 women was aware that the pulp can be beneficial as soil amendment or as additive to animal feed, for instance. Surprisingly, 90% of them were willing to try the flour as an ingredient in their food. This was very motivating for us and showed that the project was feasible and could be successful.
Coffee pulp, if not treated properly, has a high microbiological load; this is a significant limiting factor for human consumption. Because of that, in the second phase we developed a drying protocol that minimizes the microbiological load down to acceptable levels. We conducted a series of trials, like with and without drying tents, with different times, turnovers, trying methods to keep animals away etc.
We received our best results with a 36 hours drying period in a closed drying tent, turning the pulp periodically depending on the weather, so that it would dry evenly. On hot days it would be turned every 4 hours, on cold days every 6 hours. Using tents was also the best way to keep animals away. We consider this stage to be the most difficult part of the project.
The next step was testing recipes with the dried pulp. We used three different textures: liquid, pulverized and oleomacerate. It turned out that the pulverized form, in other words a flour, worked best. This pulverized dried pulp was then analyzed for residuals (pesticides), mycotoxins, physio-chemicals (nutritional components), phenolic components, and its antioxidant potential.
We then tested different simple household grinding tools such as blenders and mortar and pestle. The blender was the best choice; the flour was very fine, exactly what we needed.
This finely ground flour was added to 21 typical cooking and baking recipes of the region. We made adjustments for a good incorporation into things like breads, arepas, toasts, soups, pasta and meat to avoid a negative impact on the sensory qualities of the food. We also conducted sensory acceptance tests with coffee growers to learn which of the new recipes were accepted best. Nutritional analysis and antioxidant profiles were performed too.
Who did the cooking and baking tests and created the recipes?
The recipes were developed in the Food Laboratory of the University of Antioquia. The challenge was to not alter the taste and flavour of the traditional recipes. We had to be very careful, not just because humans in general are very sensitive when it comes to changes of recipes or foodstuff, but especially because the flour was made from a waste product. Who wants to eat waste? This was a delicate task to do - in more than one sense of the word, but it worked out.
We also experimented with drinks and beverages, but we couldn't get pleasant tastes and flavours. The flour obviously is not suitable for drinks and beverages, at least not in the way we tried it.
What are the advantages of adding coffee flour to other foodstuff?
The flour has 11% protein, which is very good, and 44% dietary fibre content, which is super good. More specifically, it was about 36% insoluble fibre, and 8% soluble fibre. It also contributes potassium and phosphorus, and lesser contributions of iron, zinc, magnesium.
We cannot directly compare nutrients from plants with those of animal origin, but the micronutrients present in the pulp are very valuable. They might also be different in amount and bioavailability compared to nutrients from animal sources - just compare the differences between plant and dairy protein - but in our opinion, the nutrients from the coffee pulp make a significant contribution to the farmers well-being. The fact that they are made from a waste product shows us what a rich source of nutrients we have ignored for so long.
What was the percentage of coffee flour that obtained the best results in the recipes?
We do not have exact percentages, as peoples tastes and preferences are different. We only made recommendations, but for bakery products we added 8 to 12 grams per serving, for instance.
The coffee pulp doesn´t come without caffeine. How much of it is in the flour?
The flour is rich in nutrients, but also high in caffeine; 100 grams of flour contain 1,76 grams of caffeine. Based on the recommendations of a daily consumption of 400mg caffeine in the EU and in North America, a person should not consume more than 23 grams of the flour per day, which would be 2 - 2.5 servings a day.
But how can the amount of caffeine be controlled if the flour is added to several daily foodstuffs or meals and in different amount depending on personal preferences, for instance?
In this region in Antioquia, the caffeine content is actually not a problem. These people are used to drinking coffee from an early age, and because of that they have a very low or almost no sensitivity to caffeine. The 400g/day recommendation does not apply to them.
Do the women actually still cook and bake with coffee flour?
Yes. We continue with our training in order to share the knowledge among other communities. We made a nice recipe book that we distribute. Some families are in the process of getting a certificate to be allowed to sell the coffee pulp flour as a safe product, this is the first step into the commercialization.
Do you think they will continue in the future using the flour at home and/or for commercialization?
Yes, I´m pretty sure they will, as it was well accepted not alone by the women but also by their families. Beyond that, some of the women already started commercializing it, as I mentioned before.
Do you think that other women who have not participated in the project will learn from women who attended and start producing their own coffee flour?
The cooperative conducted the project with 5 out of 52 municipalities. Women who have participated can now train women of the other communities. The goal is still the same: promoting the production of the flour for personal consumption. If women decide to sell it, we are absolutely fine with that. Those women will also have the option of buying the four from the cooperative instead of producing it themselves at home.
Is there in your opinion a market for coffee pulp flour?
Indeed, I think there is a good chance. As I said before, producing the flour for sale has not been our goal, but these women are smart. We will see how it goes!
Briana, thank you so much for all this precious information!
