Help Please: Coffee enthusiast needs help with his coffee trip

[Mathew]

Hello i´m Mathew, i´m from south west London but for more than 5 years I have been living in Cartagena Colombia. With the pandemic that has swept the world I am going to have some extra time in aug and sept and am planning to visit farmers and coffee workers while traveling through some of Colombia´s coffee regions. I have planned stops in Quindio, Risaralda and Antioquia. For sure and want to explore the possibility of visiting the oriental region, an area the country is investing in to help stimulate and grow its coffee trade after long periods where the FARC ruled (anyone who would like to know more just ask about this region or anything about Colombian coffee).

My question to roasters or anyone in the industry is:

What would be the ideal relationship between a Colombian Farmer and British Roaster if you had a clean slate?

E.g.:
- would you be open to work directly with one farm?
- would you buy for harvest?
- How much would be an ideal amount to pay considering that all the money will go to the farmer?
- Fixed pricing is good?
- Buy crop only after harvest and rated
- How often would you want to receive green coffee?
- How much input to the growing would you like?
- Would you invest in a year dealership with a farm?
- Would you be interested of how the coffee is rosted here in Colombia?
- Would you need a variety of beans?
-

All these questions we will be able to put directly to farmers here in Colombia and we will be asking them similar question of how they would build a partnership with a roster if they could start from zero what would be ideal for them and would be relying there answers.

The goal of our trip is to create a better chain of communications allowing rosters and farmers to understand each other better.

I would like any help or advice on where to go what and the chance to bounce ideas and understand better all aspects of the coffee industry in the UK and Colombia.

Thank you hope to hear from you soon

 

[PinkRose]

Hello Matthew,

I'm curious. Why are you making this trip to visit coffee farmers and their workers?

Are you a student gathering research?

Do you work for a coffee importing company?

You are asking a lot of questions. Hopefully someone on this Forum will reply to your post.

~ Rose

 

[Mathew]

Hello Rose,

Thank you for replying, no im not a student and not yet an exporter. I am a coffee lover and have been researching the coffee industry for maybe a year whenever i get the chance. The fact that I have roots in Colombia and the Uk i have been drawn towards exporting green coffee to roasters. I think that there is huge potential for growth in how farmers and roasters work together, the relationships they have and how one can benefit the other. The trip is a chance for me to meet people in the industry and more directly farmers i know, to find out about their ideas, how links could be improved and what they need to run a sustainable farm.

For now is just research im basically hoping to get as many peoples opinion as i can.

Thanks again for replying.