![]() Let me give you a great example because I have a fresh statistic from my trip the of Honduras. ![]() Is that tricky to explain to people? When you’re meeting with the person that you just mentioned, did that come up? Ray: I assume, like you said, it kind of self-selects that you’re doing organic. They never really see who they’re buying or selling to. To make that kind of connection, for him to see the people … one of the people on our trip was already buying coffee from him. When I say neighbors, you understand this was like a four-hour car ride that we had to stop in and take a two-hour horse ride up to the top, so their neighbors, you can see them, they’re way over there on other mountain tops. It was just like you show up and they’re able to show off their farm and the things they’re doing and they prepare a beautiful meal. They’re not organic, but it was the first time any foreign visitors had been there. We went up to a place called Finca Jerusalem. When I was in Colombia not that long ago, I was with a group of a couple other coffee buyers and an importer. Jeff: I think people are people everywhere. Ray: Are there particular regions or countries where it’s harder to have that kind of relationship? ![]() Then, I want them to put a face to that and I want to be able to shake the hands of the people doing it and meet them, to see if there’s something that we can work together to help improve their lives, improve the coffee, that sort of thing. When we choose a coffee that we buy, typically (unless something egregious happens), we continue to buy that coffee year after year after year. A big part of what I want to do and what I’m trying to do is meet everybody that we’re buying from. How are you in a community with someone 3,000 or 10,000 miles away? We’re connected through this cup of coffee or this sack of coffee. Then, working with a big part of our company is about community. More and more, over time, it is finding relationships at origin, establishing relationships, getting face-to-face, looking at farms, and seeing what they’re doing there. Decide how we’re going to use them, how we’re going to present them. What that coffee’s going to taste like, that’s kind of my job to figure that out. There’s a bigger universe of specialty coffees out there, but we choose only the organics. We’re kind of in a little special shell because we self-restrict ourselves to certified organic coffees. ![]() All coffee companies, we have access to many of the same coffees. When you have a company, that company is projecting into the world what they think coffee should be like. Jeff: Basically, in a word, not a word but a phrase, it’s like a curator of the flavors. Jeff: It attracts the weird people like me. Ray: As coffee gets bigger, it gets weirder, too, maybe. Ray: On the show last week, they’re Chief Happiness Officer. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |