Water Street Coffee Joint Offers Panama-Grown Coffee
(kalamazooweekly.com) A key grower in the coffee industry, Justin Boudeman, 36, has transformed the mainstream way of producing coffee by allowing wildlife to coexist with the planted environment—a viable alternative to environmentally destructive farming practices.
By utilizing refined pruning techniques and using no pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or outside fertilizers, Boudeman is able to keep his product fresh, yet still eco-friendly.
An avid surfer and a father, Boudeman acquired his coffee farm—located in the Boquete region of Panama, an area widely recognized for producing the best coffee in the world—about five years ago and quickly converted it to organic production by applying permaculture (permanent agriculture) techniques that he was first introduced to while on a University program in the Dominican Republic.
In his “Intensive Pruning Technique,” each coffee tree is examined individually and pruned several times each year.
This technique eliminates excessive growth, while increasing the amount of both air and light absorbed into the plants; thereby, reducing fungus and other diseases.
Boudeman also uses free-range hens, which are rotated around the farm in a mobile hen house that he built between the rows of coffee. The hens provide fresh eggs on a daily basis, eliminate bugs and weeds, and serve as the only fertilizer for the coffee and garden crops.
While coffee is the only cash crop sold on the farm, its sale does not create a profit, but merely aids in offsetting the costs of the upkeep.
“Justin’s bigger cause is helping people to realize that they don’t have to sell their land,” said Mark Smutek, who has been the owner of the Water Street Coffee Joint for 16 years. “Land is being bought by foreigners, and the culture is changing, but Justin believes that everything can coexist together. He’s not in it for the money.”
According to Boudeman, the overall goal of his farm is sustainability, not profitability. Currently, the farm produces about 50 percent of the food that is consumed by his family who lives on the farm. With the addition of aquaculture to the farm and more free-range hens by next year, he plans to have increased consumption to 90 percent by 2012.
For years, Boudeman has been growing one primarily type of coffee: Direct Trade Panama Boquete Hacienda Fennario Wild Grown. However, unlike most coffee growers who sell their product to multiple buyers, Boudeman’s coffee can only be found at the Water Street Coffee Joint in Kalamazoo.
While buying direct is typically more complicated and more expensive, the quality of the coffee is generally more superior.
Last year marked the first year Smutek worked with Boudeman, and their business relationship continues to grow.
“It’s an honor [to be working with Boudeman],” said Smutek. “It’s extremely rare to find a small farm and work out the shipping details to get the coffee into a roaster this size. It’s a dream.”
Likewise, the relationship also proves to be beneficial to Boudeman.
“I enjoy trading with Water Street and see Mark’s vision for his business as having similar values to my own,” he said.
Coffee enthusiasts may purchase the full-bodied Fennario Wild Grown for $18.50/16 oz.
“…if you want to get my coffee from somewhere other than Water Street, you’ll have to come to Panama…” said Boudeman.
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Original Source: http://www.kalamazooweekly.com/articles.php?id=408
Date Retrieved: June 20, 2009.
