Controversy brewing on coffee rules

Date: 08/10/1998

By Renée Cordes

AS THE long-running dispute over the content of chocolate sold in the EU rumbles on, a fresh battle is looming over coffee.

At the centre of the latest controversy is Industry Commissioner Martin Bangemann's proposal to simplify EU food rules by abolishing specified weights for packs of instant coffee.

The European Parliament is supporting the coffee-makers in their fight to preserve the status quo and voted last month to amend Bangemann's proposed changes to 21-year-old Union rules governing the production and sale of soluble coffee "made with genuine roast beans and pure water".

Bangemann's staff have so far rejected the Parliament's amendments. Unless the Commissioner backs down when he presents his formal opinion to ministers next week, MEPs and member states will be forced into two months of negotiations.

Removing the weight restrictions could make life easier for retailers who want to set 'psychological prices' for coffee once dual pricing of goods in euro and local currencies begins in January. By altering pack-sizes, retailers could continue to set prices such as E1.99 instead of ending up with a less attractive price from a straightforward conversion to euro.

But Barbara Dufrene, of the Association of Soluble Coffee Manufacturers in the European Community, says buying instant coffee in 100, 200 and 500-gram jars "is such a long-standing consumer habit that we don't want it to be taken away".

She argues that compulsory weight levels allow shoppers to compare prices and prevent unscrupulous manufacturers from putting less in a jar and selling it for the same price. "Coffee extract is a product with variable density, so if you don't have specifications, you can sell a product that looks like 200 grams and may contain 280 grams," she said.