It started in 2016,
with a Kickstarter campaign to fund the construction of a community wet mill in Quindío, Colombia.
Community wet mills as a solution
El Fénix serves to act as an example that can be replicated, to benefit producers that work locally to each central point. A community wet mill improves quality alongside bringing more stable returns for the coffee produced. A wet mill benefits a larger number of people than working with a sole farm.
We aim to remove obstacles to quality production, connection, and economic sustainability.
The wet mill
PAYMENT
A community wet mill creates a scenario quite different to traditional systems of coffee production in Colombia. First and foremost, it sees the producer able to do less hard labour for more of a profit return. This is because we buy cherry, not parchment, so the coffee has not been processed in any way by the producers before its arrival at El Fénix.
To ensure the best scenario for producers selling to the wet mill, we propose a two payment system:
The first price is fixed, paid for unprocessed cherry on the day it was picked. Income from this first instalment alone is predictable, sooner, and higher than the average Fairtrade price equivalent for parchment.
Upon export a second payment is made to producers. This is a premium, agreed between the roaster and farmer based on the final quality.
[The usual situation in Colombia sees producers taking out loans to fund the harvest and processing time. They receive an unpredictable market rate for dry parchment at the end of the season.]
The farm
The QC Lab
QUALITY
Processing coffee is complex and has a significant effect on the final product. Sorting, processing, and drying cherry at the new advanced facility provides far greater control over the resulting flavour; key in accessing the specialty market.
At El Fénix, continual experimentation and feedback from buyers drives quality up. As a meeting place for farmers from the region, information on best practices is readily accessible.When fully complete, the project will provide the region's farmers with greater control over their coffee quality, and over their income through a fixed price payment system.
Investment in this kind of accessible infrastructure is one of the necessary steps to make good on the promise of development through trade.
