17/04/19
LOCATION: Huila, Caldas,Risaralda
COUNTRY: Colombia

So, where are the Raw Material associations?

Raw Material projects have been developing across Colombia over the past couple of years.  The initial thinking behind our work was born from a meeting with producers in Pitalito, Huila, in 2017. This meeting went on to create El Carmen, our pilot community project.

Before the project began, producers self-organised to find solutions to the problems they faced. The effects of climate change on the drying of their harvests meant producers had to utilise third parties, selling their parchment in wet form, to capture a small, but vital return for their work.

Understanding this scenario led us to build a fixed price payment system for all producers we work with in Colombia, giving an average 2.5x income through coffee per household. Where group of producers need further assistance, we are building the required infrastructure; to re-enable produers to fully dry their harvests for example. Where possible, we also attached steps traditionally downstream of producers: sample analysis, roasting, QC, and separation of lots by value based on quality.

The associations are supported by long-term relationships from roasters at the other end of the value chain. Once their demand is available, it can be matched with supply from association members. And as that support increases, so can our reach.