44 • Decaffeinated Coffee • C&CI May 2016 Decaffeination option available in Vietnam

hrough a chance meeting with Will Frith (www.willfrith.com) at a As Ruth Ann Church* of Artisan Coffee Imports in the US TRoasters Guild retreat in August explains, although most decaffeination companies are 2015, I learned about a new option for decaffeination in Asia. Thanks based in Europe or North America, there is now an option to Will’s travels and explorations to produce decaf coffee in Vietnam in coffee in Vietnam, he was able A Starbucks store in Chengdu, China to introduce me to a relatively new player in the decaffeination world: Hiang Kie Industries Limited (HKI). HKI began operations in 2007 and was the first decaffeination plant set up in the Long Thanh Industrial Zone in Dong Nai Province, Vietnam (about an hour drive from Ho Chi Minh City). They process coffee using methylene chloride (MC) as a solvent. The company runs two decaffeination plants: one can handle Samples from Hiang small batches and the other handles Kie all cupped well larger scale work. They process beans from all coffee regions: South America, Africa and Asia. The minimum batch size is 2.5 tonnes, or about 5,500 lb, which is about 42 60kg bags.

Consumers need retailers, roasters among others have been methylene chloride process,” SWDCC claims. focusing on improving the coffee supply chain “This is highly confusing to the consumer and to know more in order to offer better traceability and a more the coffee trade. While not new, the Swiss Water sustainable operation. process is unique,” it claimed, and is the only Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company “Although several initiatives have been method of processing coffee using water and a (SWDCC) tells C&CI that it believes implemented, when it comes to the decaf green coffee extract alone. “For us, the use of conscientious consumers are “looking beyond category, there are still many things that can be the terms ‘Swiss Water’ and ‘supercritical carbon food safety” and many are basing purchasing done and that are unique to the segment,” says dioxide’ decaffeination are important because decisions on a product’s provenance, quality SWDCC. “One challenge is that consumers they are precise, and thus tell the consumer and traceability. This is true of coffee and of have certain stereotypes about decaf coffee that exactly how their coffee was manufactured.” decaffeinated coffee, it says, but the industry aren’t necessarily precise. Another well-known player in the market, “has to be accountable for what is promoted” “For instance, a lot of people consider that Descamex in Mexico, concurred that there and has to educate and inform customers about decaf coffee does not have true coffee flavour is a growing focus in the industry on ‘natural’ the ways the coffee is being decaffeinated. and that is healthy per se. Although more processes. “In Mexico, for example, Nestlé “After all,” says the company, “it is part of the information can be found about the methods recently launched a big campaign focused on traceability mandate.” of decaffeination, most of the time, shoppers their natural decaf method,” said the company. As it notes, food and beverage companies don’t find basic information about the process “In response to this, decaf companies are face a growing challenge meeting labelling applied for the extraction of the caffeine in their improving their processes and better-educated requirements and providing consumers with products. The industry uses terms such as consumers are learning more about coffee and access to food and nutritional information. “This ‘natural decaf’ and the ‘water decaf process’, but all of the processes involved. There is also a general movement toward increased demand these rather indistinct terms place most decaf growing awareness of decaf options in many for natural, organic food and more traceable coffees under the same umbrella. countries that are consuming countries, such products is also very relevant to the coffee “There is also indiscriminate use of the word as Brazil, that are just starting to find out about industry. Producers, importers, manufacturers, ‘water process’ to describe what is actually a caffeine-free coffee alternatives.” May 2016 C&CI • Decaffeinated Coffee • 45

Demus unveils more details of Aqua process

As highlighted in the March 2016 issue of C&CI, Demus in Italy is now also offering a water decaffeination process. “Using water as a solvent has excellent commercial appeal,” said the company, “and in fact it was one of the first solvents to be used for decaffeination. It is rather complicated to use because it is not particularly selective, so it extracts some of the water soluble flavour components from the product, along with the caffeine. However, various methods are used to get around these drawbacks: the water can be saturated in advance with the flavours that coffee normally contains, thus reducing the extent to which they are extracted from the processed coffee. However, this leads to a certain degree of molecule exchange between the solution and the coffee, which alters the product’s characteristics. An alternative is to extract Ruth Ann Church: “Hiang Kie Industries uses a ‘direct’ MC process” the caffeine and the water soluble flavours, remove the caffeine from the solution using a solvent or – much better – activated carbon, and then allow the coffee to reabsorb All were decaffeinated at the molecules lost during the extraction process.” Direct MC Hiang Kie and they all cupped In Demus’ new process, which it calls ‘Demus Aqua,’ quite well. I admit I was green coffee and pure water are loaded together into process surprised, having lived my entire a stirred tank extractor. This mixture is heated to the What intrigued me about their ‘coffee life’ believing Vietnam temperature set to start the extraction process. As service is their transparency. can only produce low-quality highlighted above, water is not a selective solvent. Indeed, With relatively little effort, their Robusta. The Colombia was the water extracts almost all water soluble substances sales representative answered my favorite. It retained a lot of from coffee and the solution continuously flows and passes my questions about process its acidity and fruity notes. The through a bed of special activated carbons with selectivity details and costs. It is a ‘direct’ Brazil had typical earthiness towards caffeine and its molecules are captured. MC process, meaning that and body of a Brazil natural. “The solution, now deprived of the alkaloid but still rich the beans soak in the solvent, The Vietnamese Arabica had of coffee aromas, is sent back, inhibiting the extraction and then the solvent, with the brilliant aroma with sweet cherry of flavourings,” said a spokesperson for Demus. “This caffeine, is removed. and dark chocolate. Admittedly, process has a variable length depending on the amount Of the different MC processes, much of this amazing aroma to be extracted. After this stage, the residual aqueous this one has always been my was tempered in the brewed solution is concentrated to suitable conditions without the favorite. It seems the simplest cup. But this decaf Vietnam still caffeine. and ‘cleaner’ than the indirect had smooth body and minimal “When a certain concentration of flavours in the solution process. It seems to offer the bitterness in the after-taste. So if has been reached, the reincorporation phase begins. best chance that original coffee you’ve been wondering whether This stage consists of bringing the coffee into contact bean is left intact as much as to try decaffeination in Asia, with the concentrated solution in conditions that facilitate possible. HKI would certainly be worth penetration of the flavouring in the coffee bean, thus Hiang Kie offers two types of considering.  C&CI reintroducing the flavour extracted beforehand. The coffee dryers. A drum dryer takes about is then dried and cooled. Finally the coffee is bagged and eight hours to dry the coffee analysed in our accredited laboratory.” and a vacuum dryer takes about As he explained, the water-decaffeinated coffee appears three hours. Total processing darker than un-decaffeinated beans. Some of the coffee time about is about 14 to 16 beans may be slightly chipped because of the prolonged hours depending on the type of * Ruth Ann Church is President contact with hot water. “Decaf is mechanically more beans. of Artisan Coffee Imports, an delicate than non-decaffeinated coffee,” the company importer and trader of specialty explained, “and thus a little more fragile and, from an green decaffeinated coffee. organoleptic point of view, it degrades a little more quickly Coffee cups well Artisan is now offering consulting than decaffeinated coffee obtained with dichloromethane. I was eager to sample the at origin for work related to The roasting process for the product is also different: to company’s coffee, so Dinesh sustainability and impact obtain a product with good organoleptic characteristics in Bhojwani, Hiang Kie’s sales assessment. She is currently the cup, the colour of the roast should be slightly darker representative, arranged to send studying for a second master’s than it would be for a non-decaffeinated coffee.” me three samples: a Colombian, degree focused on the coffee a Brazilian and a Vietnamese value chain and sustainability at Arabica. Michigan State University.