The Nescafe Model of Development
Anyone who's ever spent time in the Africa (and many other places - feel free to chime in) has run into the "Nescafe" phenomenon. I also like to refer to it as the "who do I have to kill to get a decent cup of coffee" kunumdrum. Rather than real coffee, most establishments, office coffee areas (if you are lucky enough to have one), etc. have Nescafe - instant coffee. It's just not that great. And rather than just recognize it's inadequacies and replacing it, it's just modified and jazzed up to appear better than it is. This is a nice metaphor for governments and development in many third world countries. Say you have a bad road maintenance system (or a "Nescafe" road system): roads are deteriorating more and more, newly rehabilitated ones are not maintained, repair work is temporary and shoddy, and the government agency in charge of it has neither the funding nore inclination to make things better. Logically you should replace it with a system that works - alter government agencies' roles, responsbilities, methods of finance, etc - and turn it into a "Pressed coffee" road maintenance system. No need to aim for "Cappuncino" road maintenance system - let's be realistic. Instead, however, we try to make the old thing seem better when it's not - we effectively turn it into a Nespresso. The same old government agency that hasn't been able to do anything puts a spin on its role, makes bold statements it can't live up to, and just keeps being the same ineffective actor it was before, just packaged differently. I, for one, am tired of Nespressos, Nescappuncinos, and Nescafe Lattes. It's time for change; it's time for the reign of Nescafe to end. Join me in the revolution.
posted by Sahara Sarah at 8:46 PM
9 Comments:
I realize that 'coffee' isn't the real point to your blog -- but it gives me the perfect reason to discuss having a good cup of joe in Africa.
My last trip to South Africa was in Oct.04 and I longed for a cup of that strong SA mud that I remembered so fondly from a decade earlier. I stopped by a restaurant for lunch and, of course, ordered a coffee along with it. The waitress brought it on command.
Imagine my disappointment when I took a sip of watery brown dishwater! I looked up just in time to see a sign which read, "Proudly serving American-style coffee" -- Yeck! I'll never look at the country the same way again.
I feel you, girl! Down with "Nescafe Road System"... or should I say "Office des Routes Coffee"! :)
Oh my my, I recently moved from Washington, DC. to Kingston Jamaica with my husband, and I have been going mad,about this same coffe issue.Thank GOODNESS Jamaica has more than "Nescafe" at the grocery store, but for a country who produces the finest Blue Mountain brand, why is it so so difficult to buy a decent cup of coffee at a coffee house.I ask myself this almost daily.
I was a huge Starbucks or small coffee shop junkey, as I walked to my office in the Dupont Cicrle area of DC, so this lack of good coffee can be at times troubling.
I found one place my fouth month here and was really excited, only to almost spit it out upon my first taste.
Then about a month ago, I found a great place next to my gym, so I am thrilled now, and stop by about twice a week, for some good coffee.
I have my ideas about why this coffee thing occurs, but my ideas would take up four pages.
Keep blogging
I am fortunate enough to live in a city where some of Europe's finest coffee brands are imported, processed, roasted, packaged and distributed. The secret is in the mix and the roasting process y'all, and how you prepare the coffee for consumption. For example, few people use automatic coffee brewers here. We pour boiling hot water over the roasted ground coffee resting in a paper filter. Voila! The best Cup of Joe you have ever tasted, hands down.
Nescafé, a product since 1938 of the Swiss food giant Nestlé, is the world's favorite coffee according to the company. 3,000+ cups of Nescafè are consumed around the world every second. So you see Nescafé is not an American-style coffee but is strictly an invention of the Swiss intended to be consumed around the world.
You can read more about the history of Nescafé here:
http://www.nescafe.com/main_nest.asp
Now, getting back to Sarah's metaphor about good governance in the Congo...
Congratulations on being cited in the PSD blog! (http://psdblog.worldbank.org/)
I identify. Am Kenyan, living in Nairobi. Truly the best coffees in the world come from my country. The coffees are exported green and then come back to us as very expensive Nescafe, just like our roads which I understand are probably the most expensive in the world. My take is that so many people around the world drink Nescafe because like African Governments they are lazy - they cannot stand the process of making a good cup of coffee (or road for that matter). Today, I will eat some strawberries and drink a glass of milk before I get on my way home. This way, with all the patch-up work that our roads undergo, I will arrive home with a milkshake in my stomach. If I substitute the milk with coffee, then I end up with something similar to those Sturbuck's flavourings - yuk!
I identify. Am Kenyan, living in Nairobi. Truly the best coffees in the world come from my country. The coffees are exported green and then come back to us as very expensive Nescafe, just like our roads which I understand are probably the most expensive in the world. My take is that so many people around the world drink Nescafe because like African Governments they are lazy - they cannot stand the process of making a good cup of coffee (or road for that matter). Today, I will eat some strawberries and drink a glass of milk before I get on my way home. This way, with all the patch-up work that our roads undergo, I will arrive home with a milkshake in my stomach. If I substitute the milk with coffee, then I end up with something similar to those Starbuck's "flavourings" - yuk!
Interesting analogy and one I can say holds true here in South America. But the actual situation of the Nescafe coffee phenomena here in Peru is even stranger. Peru produces very good quality coffees, you just can't buy them here. In fact, Peruvian Coffee Chamber estimates that more than 60 percent of Peruvians use instant coffee and very little of the rest is actual peruvian bean. Instead, the good coffee is shipped abroad because it is much more lucrative to do so. But wait! The tins of Nescafe say "Made in Peru." That's true. But what actually happens is they buy the cheapest beans possible from Brazil, ship them to northern Peru where they are transformed into instant coffee and then sold domestically. All of which probably provides an awesome extension for your analogy, but I am not exactly certain how to go about it.
as a coffee snob, i never touched nescafe...i was wrong...it is just another method for making coffee...i think nescafe is making inroads to promote fairtrade, too. they need to do more, but please do your research!
i WISH nescafe was americaneaux...then we'd have more choices...esp. the fairtrade version.
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