RIMINI, Italy – At BioCubaCafè’s stand at SIGEP, we talked about strategic projects for Cuban coffee production: an operation that has become increasingly crucial for the economic development of the local sector and that involves various players, including The Lavazza Foundation. To find out more, we interviewed Michele Curto, president of BioCubaCafè.
Michele Curto, let’s start with the origin: what is BioCubaCafè?
“BioCubaCafè was born as a vision shared by three players: the first is the Lavazza Foundation, which for years now has identified Cuba as a potential coffee story, a diamond in the rough that we have been gradually cleaning up. The second is our experience as a non-profit agency that tailors good ideas with good practices, and finally the Cuban Agroforestry Group.
Cuba has a holistic view of the forest and the Cuban producer of coffee, cocoa, honey, is at the same time a protector of the environment.
BiocubaCafé was created to bring these parts together to make the coffee chain more efficient, to harmonise it, to dignify it, to reorganise it, to propose forest coffee on the international market.”
But what is forest coffee in Cuba? It is a strange expression.
“In Cuba you don’t hear a different expression. It is one of the countries that has reforested the most in the world: it went from 12.5% in 1959 to 42% in 2022. Over a period of 60 years, forest cover has steadily increased to such an extent that it occupies all the free areas of the country, thanks to a policy that was accelerated after the Rio De Janeiro climate conference in 1992.
Lately, and even earlier, various coffee crops have been added here, embedded in a natural, shaded, tiered system: there are low, medium, tall, native plants. The Cuban type of reforestation is interesting compared to the European type, which is usually done with four species of trees, whereas the Cuban farmers have used a matrix of 173 tree species.
This demonstrates a very strong concern, inherent in their relationship with these forests, with biodiversity. Coffee and cocoa live in symbiosis with nature and communities.”
Curto, how is the Italian presence in Cuba on coffee and cocoa?
“This is the most relevant project in the country. BioCubaCafè is a mixed Cuban enterprise, with participated capital, probably one of the most important and one of the youngest, which organised the Coffee Fair. There are many Italians who have opened restaurants, small entrepreneurs who have started their own coffee bars: in this context BioCubaCafè was also created to export green coffee to the world and to organise local consumption.
We are, for example, building the most technologically advanced roasting space in the country thanks to a partnership of big Italian names, such as IMF, WEGA, Goglio, who are accompanying us together with the Lavazza Foundation to guide the domestic market. Cubans like coffee, it is a consuming country.”
So is Italy. What is Cuba’s coffee like, what interest can there be from Italy for it?
“Curto: ‘It is like its people, characterised by sweet notes, very lovable. So much so that the iTierra! Cuba made by Lavazza is a product that is on 40 markets and popular from Northern to Central Europe and Singapore, as well as in Italy and France it is highly appreciated. This is thanks to the mixed component that allows us to better describe Cuban coffee: a Turchino, a very clean Arabica.
It comes very well from production: in 8 hours we go from field to depulping. A standard certified through our supply chain system, the first blockchain of Lavazza and Cuba. Then it goes through a cleaning system with optical readers and finally the final touch, passing into the hands of 82 women who do the final selection.
This is accompanied by a good Robusta with an aroma of chocolate, dried fruit and an excellent body. Finally, a 10% Robusta which we ferment with yeast and which plays a bonding role between the two products for an exceptional, modern, pleasing result.
We are working hard on post-processing techniques as BioCubaCafé. Now we have realised the extraordinary history of Cuban rum, the world’s first light rum born in Santiago de Cuba in what is the oldest ronera in the world and the oldest barrels. We have made a rum aged with our own technique.
The coffee is aged for more than 100 days in these containers using a secret rotation technique, which creates an extraordinary drink. We still don’t know if it will be on sale, but we brought it to SIGEP to let those who attended the fair with us taste it.”
