Honoring Coffee Farmers

I've had the privilege of working in the coffee industry for over 25 years-mostly on the consumer and retail side of the business model. I have been to Costa Rica and Guatemala and visited with farmers and their families and have experienced the full spectrum of just how hard it is to sustainably grow specialty-grade coffee.

Recently I had the opportunity to experience the art and science of roasting coffee and learn first-hand how difficult and challenging roasting with excellence is as well. In fact, I created some really poorly roasted coffee (it tasted awful!) and I actually felt guilty that I had let the farmers down that picked that coffee!

Even today, with few exceptions, every single coffee "cherry" is picked by hand. By some estimates that "hand" is most likely female, in some countries almost 70% of all coffee is picked by female hands. Coffee is generational; grandparents, parents, children, aunts and uncles...it is truly a labor of love.

Quite frankly, there's nothing easy about the coffee industry at all. With commodities prices near historic lows, disease, bug infestations, global climate change, access to capital...growing coffee is a challenging endeavor.

In fact, farming in all its forms is hard and largely unseen by the public. So if your drinking coffee today as millions of people do, consider the many steps that coffee took to get into your cup-and for a relative bargain when you really think about it.

Savor the privilege...