Episode 112: Coffee and sustainable development

Kỳ 112: Cà phê và sự phát triển bền vững- Ảnh 1.

The Japanese have shaped the Tea Ceremony into a national ethic, an art of living conveyed through the enjoyment of a cup of tea. Meanwhile, Vietnam - a leading coffee powerhouse in the world , has the world's best Robusta coffee beans, has a rich history of coffee enjoyment culture for hundreds of years, but up to now, the value of Vietnamese coffee is still in the low segment, mainly exported raw and has not been properly shaped as the inherent position of the industry and the country.

With the desire to bring the Vietnamese coffee industry to a new level, enhancing the value of coffee not only as a regular drink but also at the level of cultural coffee, artistic coffee, spiritual coffee... to philosophical coffee, worthy of the position of the world's coffee powerhouse - Trung Nguyen Legend Group has spent time and passion for many years to research the history, culture, art... of coffee in all areas of human life so that coffee becomes "Philosophical Coffee".

Throughout the journey of creation and development of Trung Nguyen Legend, the spirit of dedication to serving the community has always been the core through many action programs to Create great aspirations, great directions; contributing to building a new position for the Vietnamese coffee industry on the world coffee map.

The Japanese did it!

We Vietnamese can do it too and do it better!

Aspirations for a sustainable future for the global coffee industry

Throughout its development from the 9th century to the present, coffee has always been a popular and favorite drink worldwide. In particular, with its profound and interconnected influence on all aspects of human life, promoting economic growth, social welfare, creating livelihoods for millions of people from producing, processing to distributing and consuming countries, coffee is a global industry.

Along with its great value to humanity, the coffee industry also faces social and environmental challenges. Most of the world's largest coffee growing areas in countries such as Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Ethiopia, Jamaica, etc. are home to ecosystems that are most sensitive to climate change on Earth. Since the 1970s, concerns about the sustainable development of the coffee industry have begun to emerge, revolving around environmental issues such as deforestation, soil erosion, biodiversity loss, or direct impacts on farmers such as price fluctuations, pests, and climate change. This is the premise for the formation of the first fair trade initiatives, focusing on setting floor prices and social support to minimize the impact of market fluctuations.

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Also during this period, the method of growing monoculture coffee directly under the sun (sun-grown coffee) to increase productivity instead of traditional cultivation under the shade (shade-grown coffee) has put pressure on the living ecosystem of many species. This situation has caused environmental conservation organizations and the international community to speak up, opening up the discourse on the concept of "sustainable coffee" with the aspiration to transform the coffee industry, which is inherently exploitative, into a model that can be maintained in the long term, developing sustainably without weakening the ecological and social foundations that depend on it.

In 1987, the United Nations Brundtland Commission officially introduced the concept of "sustainable development" as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" with three core pillars: economic, social, and environmental. Since this concept has been widely recognized globally, definitions of "sustainable development" in the coffee industry have been proposed by international organizations and associations. In particular, the definition from the International Coffee Organization ICO is comprehensive and asymptotic: " The sustainable development of the coffee industry is all efforts to ensure the lives and livelihoods of coffee farmers and production communities (People), establish a fair economic system, transparent markets and stabilize the global coffee supply chain (Prices & Profits), while protecting the living environment and natural resources (Planet) ".

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In the context of climate change, environmental challenges and increasing demand for coffee consumption today, "sustainable development" is not only a trend but also an inevitable path for the global coffee industry to build resilience, circularity and regeneration for the industry, thereby creating a sustainable future for the global coffee industry.

Proposed sustainable farming models and standards include regenerative agriculture, organic agriculture, agroforestry , shade-grown coffee, water conservation and the use of green technology. At the same time, promoting income equity and improving working conditions for farmers are also mentioned. Sustainable coffee businesses are committed to transparency throughout the entire supply chain, from the origin of the coffee to the production and consumption process.

Current international certifications such as Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade, UTZ Certified, or Organic Coffee are proof that the application of sustainable coffee models is being welcomed. These are criteria that help create coffee products with added value, are responsible for the environment, as well as promote the development of the coffee industry with a sustainable future, contributing to the balance of the ecosystem and the prosperity of human life.

"Solutions for a harmonious and sustainable future" of humanity

In the journey towards sustainable development, the global coffee industry has recorded important efforts from many countries, businesses, organizations, researchers, etc. to bring initiatives, solutions and implementations to promote sustainable development for the global coffee industry.

Some of the world's leading coffee growing countries have actively implemented sustainable coffee models, including Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Jamaica, Vietnam... These are places where organizations such as Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade and UTZ Certified have collaborated with local farmers to build environmentally responsible coffee value chains.

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In particular, along with efforts to promote sustainable development of the coffee industry, contributing to environmental preservation and maintaining biodiversity, many studies show that the coffee industry can completely become a solution for a harmonious and prosperous future of humanity.

In particular, Trung Nguyen Legend with its global vision has devoted many years of dedicated research into the history of coffee in all areas of human life to fundamentally and comprehensively rethink the world coffee industry. In 2012, at the World Economic Forum, Founder - Chairman of Trung Nguyen Legend Group Dang Le Nguyen Vu proposed "7 initiatives for the global coffee industry" . With the aim of creating common synergy as well as healthy competition in the global coffee industry for sustainable development, " 7 initiatives for the global coffee industry" has received enthusiastic response from experts in many fields around the world.

In particular, the initiative "Rethinking the concept of coffee" opens a new direction in the concept of coffee: not only as the most popular drink in the world but also as: a heritage of humanity, affecting all aspects of human life; as a conscious and creative energy responsible. These values will be the foundation for building the coffee industry as a pioneering model of harmony and sustainable development in today's green economy and creative economy. At the same time, it will also be the basis for connecting and developing the community of people who use coffee as energy for responsible creativity, to create sustainable success and true happiness for themselves and the community.

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Over the past decade, from the role of coffee heritage placed in the world's shifting trends, Trung Nguyen Legend has always strived to realize initiatives. Along with preserving and diversifying coffee styles and cultural standards, bringing robusta coffee and Vietnamese coffee culture and brands to the world, as well as creating a model location gathering a community of billions of coffee lovers and enthusiasts towards..., Trung Nguyen Legend initially connected and developed a global coffee community, contributing to promoting the development of a sustainable model for the world coffee industry, bringing balance, harmony and prosperity .

Today, the effort to develop a sustainable coffee industry globally is a form of humanity, humanity, and a joint effort to create a responsible lifestyle, ensuring ecological balance and harmony with the environment. In particular, in the creative economy, with values such as the main energy, sublimation of creativity combined with the ability to regenerate - preserve the environment, maintain biodiversity, the coffee industry can develop a comprehensive coffee ecosystem, becoming a model leading a sustainable and prosperous economic model for the world.

PHILOSOPHICAL COFFEE - A brief history of coffee economics

We invite readers to watch the series of videos of Philosophical Coffee posted on the channel https://bit.ly/caphetrietdao