If you ask most green coffee buyers about Kenyan coffees they will reminisce about back in the day, when Kenyan coffees used to taste the way Kenyan coffees should taste. How much of this is due to nostalgia versus reality, even I am unsure. What we do see is that the landscape of Kenyan coffee production has changed dramatically over the past years, and continues to do so. Kenya is a country of dwindling coffee Read more…
Last summer I went back to Uganda, following up on a project we started in 2018. While there I visited the West Region and launched some new projects. These initiatives in Uganda have yielded some amazing coffees which are on their way to Belgium, estimated to arrive in port on March 28th. We believe that Uganda will play a significant role in the specialty coffee industry of the future. There are great coffees here, plus Read more…
Finding the right equipment for your business might seem like an impossible task. With so many different manufacturers and models, it’s an ocean of opportunities. Kaya, manager of the Nordic Approach lab, asked some of our customers how they made these decisions. If I were to start a roastery tomorrow, I would have an army of ROEST machines. Four different coffees on the line. One roaster for each. One profile for each. That would be awesome. But hey! AINT NO Read more…
Finding the right equipment for your business might seem like an impossible task. With so many different manufacturers and models, it’s an ocean of opportunities. We talked to our lab manager, Kaya Carretta, and some of our customers to find out how they made these decisions. Your roaster is a big investment and you know you need to do your homework. If you make the right choice, it will be with you for many years, Read more…
In honour of International Women’s Day this Sunday, we honour a few of the women we admire in our value chains. Natalia Brito Garcia, Brazil Natalia is the reason we buy coffee from Brazil. We didn’t source coffee from Brazil until we met her, now we buy all our Brazilian coffees through the specialty programme she established. Natalia is a passionate advocate for smaller farmers in her region, and works to find them a stable Read more…
Unlike their fellow roasters in Europe or North America, most of our customers in Asia or the Middle East face challenges in bringing the green coffee beans to their countries. Customs regulations change frequently, and there is an extra layer of bureaucracy with customs officials demanding to see different certifications. Sometimes it can be confusing, like walking through a maze If this is the first time you import coffee to your country, we suggest you Read more…
After talking about how important it is to plan your coffee purchase, we would like to share how you should manage your shipping, if you are a roaster located in other countries outside North America or the EU. We are fully transparent about our product costs, so let us be equally transparent about freight. Using road transport, delivery within Europe usually takes 5-7 business days, and in North America anywhere from 2 to 10 days. Read more…
We have just released our first origin transparency report from Rwanda. In the coming months we’ll release reports for all of our origins. These origin reports break down the FOB price and how it is distributed among the different players of the value chain in that country. There is a lot of information you need to absorb in order to contextualise these numbers, so for now we have kept the data to transactions that happen Read more…
By Suzie, Morten and Jamie We published our first origin transparency report with price data from Rwanda today. We are very proud, and just the tiniest bit nervous for our numbers as they go out into the world. We stand behind our numbers, we know we pay our farmers and producers well in the context of coffee prices in the origins where we work. So why are we just the tiniest bit nervous? Because, well, Read more…
While we’re literally only just starting to sell our 2019 offering, our partners in Rwanda are hard at work to plan for 2020 and distribute the right knowledge and fertilisers. Fertilisers Wait… fertilisers!?!? Isn’t that a bad thing? Sometimes yes, frequently no. Heavy use of fertilisers without considering what the soil actually needs can damage the soil and its microorganisms, and cause pollution. However not caring for the soil and replenishing the nutrients consumed by Read more…
It is my personal quest to ruin every coffee party by talking exclusively about purchase planning. Despite this, I feel that roasters still don’t fully get the concept or how valuable it can be to their businesses. Planning is one of those crucial things that’s much easier to talk about than to actually commit to and it can be more art than science. Many experienced roasters and green buyers still struggle with this, but it Read more…
We are amazed by the potential in Peru. With simple equipment, minimal infrastructure and hardly any government support, smallholder farmers are producing amazing coffees. Alas most of them go into a big pile which is sold for much less than it is worth. The country is known for certified coffees at low prices which means producers earn a small premium for the certification, but there is no incentive to improve quality. This situation is unsustainable Read more…
Rosimeire’s house was immaculate. Every surface gleamed and not a single item looked out of place. Her kitchen, where she served us coffee and cake, had all the modern appliances. This was not what I expected. I lived in Colombia for several years, and it is where I have the most origin experience. My recent visit to Minas Gerais earlier this month was my first ever time in Brazil, and the contrast between the two Read more…
This is the fourth year for us working with Wildan Mustofa and his family. Wildan is the entrepreneur and producer. His son Fikri recently graduated from university and is involved in processing and operations, while Wildan’s wife, Atieq, manages the financial side of the business. We also began a new project in Indonesia this year with a Cooperative called Alko Coop in Kerinchi. We had help from a local friend, David Irawan, who managed the Read more…
In our very early days we took a big risk, betting that a community of quality-minded roasters would value exceptional coffees from trustworthy and progressive producers, regardless of any movement of the C-market. Thankfully that community exists.
This blog post is part of a series called Why Transparency Matters. Read all posts in this series here. For several months we have been working on a transparency model, with the aim of releasing a transparency report that breaks prices down beyond FOB, and be clear about our own costs and margins. Our goal is to have this price breakdown a standard part of the information we provide for every coffee we sell, and Read more…
One the goals going into a new Rwanda season this year was to diversify the profile range. To that end we asked our long-term partners, Aime & his father at the Gitesi washing station, to prepare some naturals for us. It was their first time with this process. Always exciting! To sell naturals in Rwanda, first you need a license, and to get a license you need a guaranteed buyer. Otherwise it is illegal to produce Read more…
For new roasteries, one of the toughest questions, after “which roaster should I buy?” is “what should go on my menu?” The answer will be different for everybody, depending on your customers, your location, and your capacity. To help decide what is best for you, we asked some of our customers how they tackle this question. How do you choose which coffees to put on your menu? The first step to answering this question is Read more…
Today the specialty coffee sector is still dependent on the C-price in varying ways. Even when we make our best efforts to pay prices that are not influenced or related to the C-market, we are compared to it. In order to break entirely from the C-price, the specialty industry needs its own pricing mechanism for distinct high quality coffees.
Coffee competitions in origin: What are they, why are they important and how can you get involved? We run two annual competitions in origin, the Apas Cup in Brazil and the Tarqui Cup in Colombia. Each competition judges a selection of coffees from producers working in a particular region. The top lots earn significant premiums on the local price, which is a huge benefit to the farmers. More importantly, these competitions help farmers create a Read more…
Slight turbulence ahead. Things were a little bumpy going into the season this year, but we have become accustomed to that over the years. And the Burundis, taste, well… like stunning Burundis: amazing complex coffees and so characteristic. Definitely worth a few bumps and jumps. Low yields this year As every year our focus is on our long-term relationship with Salum Ramadhan and his four washing stations. The yield on the trees was low this Read more…