Coffee
We Work
Thoughts
Projects
Portal
Solutions
Raising quality and shelf-life, through low-cost interventions
We do this by creating systems to ensure consistency of large lots at a community level. This in turn enables reliable, stable and improved household incomes for smallholder farmers through a connection with roasters.
- Place QC staff and equipment at parchment buying points to improve consistency.
- Build and join community associations, invest in infrastructure and training to improve quality, and take their coffee to market.
- Consult producers in-person on best practices.
- Purchase for consistent prices based on what coffee costs to produce and what roasters are willing to pay to maximise profitability for producers.
Elevate the position of female coffee producers, and QC staff
We set up cupping labs, and focus the training of staff towards women in the community. When possible and desired, we can isolate the harvests of female producers, and sell their coffees independently to the community blend.
Encouraging a shift towards sustainable farming practices
Our organic coffee forest El Fénix, serves as an example of how shade, organic inputs, encouraging biodiversity, and lack of pesticides or fungicides can work together to create a successful coffee harvest; whilst supporting the environment. We host many guests throughout the year, including a training programme Plant to Port, which funds the attendance of coffee producers alongside paying coffee roasters.
Wet mills and drying stations are uncommon in Colombia, where producers harvest, process, and dry their own harvests. A centralised washing station reduces labour for a producer, and lowers the cost of production. Our washing stations at Villamaría, as well as El Fénix seek to demonstrate the upsides of this system compared to the heavy work load and inputs required for producers to do this alone.