From a triple-shot espresso to a slow roast, drip coffee made from beans cultivated high up in the Colombian mountains, a social culture surrounding coffee has emerged.

And with that, an increase of coffee imports.

From 2011 to 2015, coffee imports into Canada have gone up nine per cent to nearly $1.6 billion, according to the government of Canada’s trade data.

Dylan Gordon, an organic food advocate and PhD candidate at the University of Toronto, said that although population increase accounts for a portion of the nine per cent, it is not all of it.

A “boutique” experience 

Gordon said people are no longer drinking coffee simply out of necessity; rather for a gourmet, “boutique” experience.  People are interested in what they are drinking and where it is coming from, which can explain the rise in coffee imports.

For Gordon, chains like Starbucks continue to “increase penetration” into the gourmet coffee market by adding more outlets to the suburbs and rural markets.

Another explanation, he added, is with the desire for quality, fresh product, there is a faster turnover of inventory.  And in order to keep up with this upscale coffee trend, waste output has increased, raising the overall demand for cultivated beans.

Coffee education

Pietro Comino, operations manager at Francesco’s Coffee Company in Ottawa, said there has been a “massive consumer education on a wholesale level” when it comes to what coffee consumers are drinking.

“Big chains like Starbucks have come in and reshaped the landscape for coffee in North America,” said Comino. “Now everyone drinks espresso.”

“Not roasted, not decaffeinated” coffee is the most common type of coffee imported into Canada. By importing this type of product, buyers allows roasteries across Canada to roast and brew their own blends of coffee.

The biggest amount came from Colombia, while the country with the largest percent increase was the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at nearly 200,000 per cent.

Comino buys a lot of his coffee beans from Burundi, a country that showed a 69 per cent increase over the same five-year time period.  He said the coffee he buys from Burundi is not Fair Trade.

What is Fair Trade?

For many consumers, a big component in the gourmet coffee experience is drinking product that is labelled organic, or Fair Trade.

According to Comino, Fair Trade plantations are often bigger, more complex operations because it takes more money and effort to certify the product and the plantation. This means Fair Trade coffee will not only sell at a higher price – explaining the increase in coffee imports – but Fair Trade farms will put small farms out of business, which can have negative effects on local communities.

The small, family-run plantations –   micro lots –  that farm quality product aren’t always certified Fair Trade, said Comino. “But to not purchase from them” because they are not Fair Trade “means you are harming them.”

For Comino, the most important aspect of the coffee trade is to ensure the product you are buying and selling is actually what it claims to be.  Accurately presenting your product is a necessary social commitment that gives the consumer the choice to engage as well, he added.

“That is a big deal,” said Comino. And that way, “the money does go back to the farmers, and it does make a difference.”

Comino said the shift in the coffee industry is “interesting” because with more Fair Trade coffee sold there are more people caring about better coffee.

“Fifteen or 20 years ago, Maxwell House was king,” said Comino. “You just see less and less of that.”