Demetria, a Colombian-Israeli company, has developed an artificial intelligence data platform that can determine the quality of coffee beans. The machine will need a human to input the quality parameters first, but after that, it will be able to classify the different grades of coffee before it is even roasted. The company has completed a pilot program with Carcafe, the Colombian division of Volcafe, one of the largest coffee trading companies in the world.
Well-paid and trained coffee quality examiners perform the painstaking task of determining the quality and value of coffee beans.
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Also, Q graders – individuals licensed by the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) who can evaluate coffees – go through an entire process to classify the quality of coffee.
“The human is the one who does the important part of the process,” said Oswaldo Aranha Neto, a coffee industry veteran who recently joined Demetria as a board member. “The human has to teach the robot what it needs to do.”
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Demetria last month received $3 million in funding. Volcafe, a unit of ED&F Man, is in the process of adopting this technology, seeking to “significantly increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the evaluation process,” said CEO Sebastian Pinzón.
Demetria CEO Felipe Ayerbe said the tool will help growers produce coffee with the characteristics buyers want, potentially helping to obtain better prices.
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The technology could also help the exchange, which has struggled to grade beans during the pandemic due to social distancing rules. It could also help resolve quality differences in the market, Aranha Neto said.
Demetria is also working with the Colombian National Federation of Coffee Growers to develop a series of applications that will help farmers control and monitor the quality of coffee beans and price them accordingly.
Information source: thestar.com.my
