Found Coffee Bean Variety That Will Shake Up the Coffee Industry... Experimental Cultivation of Natural Decaffeinated Coffee

If Commercialized, It May Compete with Artificial Decaffeinated Brands

As coffee has become an essential item for modern people rather than just a simple luxury food, the demand for decaffeinated coffee with reduced caffeine is explosively increasing. In this context, researchers in Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer, are gaining attention for taking a step closer to producing natural decaffeinated coffee beans.

The British daily The Guardian reported on the 17th (local time) that "the Campinas Agricultural Research Institute (IAC) in Brazil has entered an important phase of a 20-year long-term project to develop a natural decaffeinated Arabica coffee variety."

IAC is recognized as a leading institution that has developed many high-profit coffee varieties and played a major role in Brazil leading the global coffee market.

The IAC research team has been developing new varieties over several years by crossbreeding coffee trees with naturally very low caffeine content using their own seed bank. They have started trial cultivation of some of these varieties in coffee plantations.

Decaffeinated coffee is a product from which 95-99% of the caffeine content is removed from regular coffee. Even consumers sensitive to caffeine can enjoy the taste and aroma of coffee without burden. The recent technological advances that have made the taste and aroma of decaffeinated coffee similar to regular coffee are also a factor in its popularity.

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To remove caffeine from regular coffee as much as possible while maintaining its original taste and aroma, several chemical processes are required. Representative methods include using water, solvents, and supercritical carbon dioxide extraction. However, if natural decaffeinated coffee beans are successfully cultivated, these processes would not be necessary.

According to data from the National Coffee Association (NCA) in the United States, decaffeinated coffee consumption accounts for about 10% of the total market in the U.S.

In South Korea, the popularity of decaffeinated coffee is also steadily increasing. According to customs trade statistics, the import volume of decaffeinated coffee in 2022 was 6,933 tons, a 45.8% increase compared to the previous year. The import volume of decaffeinated coffee has steadily increased since 2017, and last year, the import value of decaffeinated coffee reached a record high of 71.92 million dollars (approximately 92 billion won).

The coffee industry analyzes that sales have increased as consumers seek to enjoy coffee with desserts after dinner.

Accordingly, famous domestic and international coffee brands such as Georgia, Hollys, and Ediya are competing to introduce decaffeinated coffee products to meet consumer preferences. However, if natural decaffeinated coffee beans are commercialized, they are expected to fiercely compete with artificial decaffeinated brands in regions with high coffee consumption such as the U.S. and Europe.

Of course, coffee trees generally take 2 to 3 years until the first harvest. It will take a few more years before the coffee improved by IAC can actually be harvested and its components analyzed.

Julius Cesar Mistru, an IAC researcher in charge of this project, expressed optimism, saying, "The outlook is bright based on the results obtained so far."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.