Brazil is trying to develop Russia's coffee market by persuading the country's consumers to switch from cheap instant coffee to quality brews, Brazil's coffee quality chief said. A group of large Russian roasters this week visited coffee farms in Brazil's finest coffee growing areas in Minas Gerais state to see how the bean is produced and taste the blends.
"The Russian market has major potential," Jose Francisco Pereira, president of the Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA) told Reuters in an interview after entertaining the Russians.
The Russian visit, part of efforts by the world's biggest coffee grower to shed its image of poor quality, followed a road show BSCA staged in Russia last year to promote Brazilian coffees. Apart from sipping coffee, Russian roasters also took a shine to Brazilian cachaca - a fiery liquor distilled from sugar cane - lacing it with black pepper.
Pereira, who is also general director of one of Brazil's biggest coffee growers, Cia. Agropecuaria Monte Alegre, said Russia currently imports mainly soluble coffee from Brazil. "There are already a lot of tea and coffee shops in Moscow and St. Petersburg but they serve mainly low quality coffee," Pereira said on his farm in south Minas. "Some roasters and shops are now trying to increase demand by improving quality."