Characterizing phytochemical content of bioactive coffee leaf materials for use in coffee tea leaf beverages

Wize Monkey is currently the only maker of Coffee Leaf Tea in the world; they work in partnership with coffee producers in Nicaragua to develop alternative coffee based products. One of these is coffee leaf; a novel idea of harvesting leafs at optimal times to be used as a tea-based beverage. The leaf is harvested, dried, processed and blended to produce novelty based coffee leaf teas. Their business provides a humanitarian component providing stable work for up to 40 farm workers through-out the year to supply their product. Lives of coffee growers in this region of the world is greatly influenced by the volatility and seasonality of the commodity; hence a factor underlying the poverty and hunger that exists for many of the coffee growers. Wize Monkey has created a vertical integrated supply chain where coffee leaves are harvested and processed on-site at the Nicaragua farm, then shipped directly to Vancouver, Canada where they are inspected, blended and packaged for export to many different global customers. TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

David Kitts

Student:

Ningjian Liang

Partner:

Wize Monkey

Discipline:

Food science

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

University of British Columbia