TLC?

Tinto (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 9, 2006, 07:20:

My God that Bush family is powerful! You might look to the explosion of coffee production in Vietnam*, financed in part by the World Bank and other multilaterals as the reason Colombia cannot compete very well in the "commodity coffee" market anymore. They have some of the smallest farms and highest production costs in the world. Also, their per-capita (domestic) consumption has dropped by a third, making them ever more reliant on the export market.



*Vietnam, in most years, is now the number two producer of coffee behind Brazil.



Another factoid:

Annual per capita consumption, kg:

European Union 5.4

United States 4.2

Brazil 4.7

Japan 3.2

Colombia 1.9 (2.8 kg 20 yrs. ago)

China .02 (20 g)

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Wastelandlive says on Feb 9, 2006, 09:45:

Jejejejejeje... GIB, I'm glad you're dedicated to this campaign to devalue the peso. I'm with you brother! How can I buy a condo if the dollar keeps sliding?

I'm just wondering what we can do to get the President and his Central Bank Executive to spend more time reading PBH...

Wasteland

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bufalo says on Feb 9, 2006, 15:31:

This might be retarded as hell, but I also noticed something else happening at the same time Colombia had coffee problems. "Freinds" and "Frasier". Give me a sec before you count me off as a complete lunatic. I remember that before those two shows, nobody really got into coffee in the US, just my opinion - coffee came from Colombia, period. Then, the two biggest shows, also shown worldwide, started having it's main characters drinking "exotic" coffees from many different parts of the world. No more, "light and sweet" or whatever, it was more of a "I'd like the experience of a Thailandese bean espresso, blah, blah, blah". Colombian coffee was coffee, everything else was an experience. Starbucks came up big with the same type of advertising. Basically, Colombian coffee was boring. I used to laugh seeing people in Starbucks with books or on laptops, you could tell most were there just to be "cool", it was the in thing, Colombia was out.
Who knows?

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

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poco says on Feb 9, 2006, 15:54:

Some hope for the future Is it going to be just as damaging as the agreements with the Bush Administration in the late 80´s and early 90´s that ended up driving down coffee prices here in Eje Cafetero-Quindio-Armenia?

I think the problem was with Johnson,,, pretty much “all by himself”. He quit bombing Vietnam and pulled out (similar to what I recommend on another thread).

Lacking an enemy and a surplus of AK-47’s,, they sold the weapons to Colombian “freedom fighters” and used the money to buy a few coffee plants,, just look what pulling out has done to Colombia.

There is some hope,, if Colombia could reduce the costs (lower wages, no benefits, mechanized production).

Colombia might also lower the minimum wage,, that might make them competitive on the world market.

They might once again make Juan Valdez a recognizable (although politically incorrect) figure.

"When you men get home and face an anti-war protester, look him in the eyes and shake his hand. Then, wink at his girlfriend, because she knows she's dating a pussy." Quote - General Tommy Franks

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Tinto (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Feb 9, 2006, 16:13:

Interesting theory. Take it back another decade or two and the origin of the problem lies with (drum roll, please): the French!



On the politically correct front, remember the uproar when a Mexican beer company used this ad on U.S. billboards?



www.house.gov/roybal-allard/images/LRABeerTecate.jpg

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poco says on Feb 9, 2006, 16:36:

I’ve got that picture !!!! A few years ago I was doing a search,,, found that photo in the directory you furnished,, back then it was NOT password protected. Nothing much,, just a lot of photos. Still,, she should be protected,, no protection is bad.

Ahhh, the French,, right again,, didn’t want to mention them,, they have enough trouble,,, the U.S. gives a lot of charity to France,,, ie: private charity :).

Charity in France

Someone has to help them protect their “stuff”.

"When you men get home and face an anti-war protester, look him in the eyes and shake his hand. Then, wink at his girlfriend, because she knows she's dating a pussy." Quote - General Tommy Franks

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