sufficient foreign currency reserves to import petroleum. This occurred against the backdrop of the 1970s energy crisis, as the effects of the 1973 oil shock only began to affect East Germany in the mid-1970s. The suggestion to cease coffee production, put forward by Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski, was able to be avoided after Central Committee member Werner Lamberz encouraged barter trades and armament sales with Third World countries, such as Ethiopia and Mozambique. The cheapest variety of coffee, "Kosta", was discontinued and only more expensive varieties were available. Other alternatives were made available, such as "Kaffee-Mix", a 50 percent mixture of genuine and ersatz coffee, and rationing was not required. The Kaffee-Mix was pejoratively referred to as "Erichs Krönung", a reference to Erich Honecker, leader of East Germany, and the West German Jacobs Krönung coffee brand. The East German government assumed that much of the population would acquire coffee from Westpakete sent by West German relatives. This increased the demand for the typical return gift, a Dresdner Stollen, which also caused difficulties in the East German economy, because many of the ingredients, such as almonds, raisins, and succade, were also only available as imported goods. Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski's suggestion of a ban on giving Stollen was unsuccessful. The citizens of East Germany overwhelmingly rejected the Kaffee-Mix and saw the coffee shortage as an attack on a major consumer need that was a large part of everyday life. The coffee mix also damaged some coffee machines, as the mixture contained substitute ingredients such as pea flour, which contains proteins that swell under heat and pressure, clogging the filters. This led to numerous complaints and outraged reactions and protests. Even though the price of coffee on the international markets retreated and normalized in 1978, the problems faced by the East German government acquiring foreign currency continued into the 1980s, prolonging shortages that progressively damaged the image of the country's political leadership. It is estimated that 20–25 percent of the entire East German coffee consumption from 1975 to 1977 arrived from the West in care packages. Coffee attained a value as a symbol of inner-German unity, far above its role as a mere consumer good or commodity. Effects on West Germany In West Germany, the coffee price increases in 1977 did not lead to any shortages, but did lead to the adoption of cheaper varieties of coffee in the lower price segment. Coffee brands such as