Photo credit MSC.
We thought it would be highly appropriate in our "seed to cup" photo series to feature the freight this month (considering that's where our coffee is.......still). The transport chain often involves a lot of middle men and the farmers and final (end) customer become very disconnected (not to mention each individual taking their cut). Our chain is simply a cooperative of farmers working with one exporter (who we have met), freight, and then us. The logistics of importing is not straight forward and Wilmer, our CEO, is often rather busy at this time.
There are a number of current challenges that we are facing, the pandemic continues to impact worker numbers both here and at export. It has also destabilised the markets causing unusual spikes and falls in supply and demand which then impacts shipping logistics. Brexit has sadly affected the coffee industry in many ways with extra paperwork and administrative costs at port slowing the process. We also have checks on our coffee to ensure certification is correct as well as random UK border police checks and given that we import coffee from Central America we are often a target! We continue to learn and adapt to make the process as streamlined as possible, thank you for bearing with us!
Blood. Passion and Coffee.
On the 8th of June Wilmer had the opportunity to present the vision of Caribe Coffee Co. at the viewing of the Honduran film “Cafe con sabor a mi tierra” in London, invited by his honourable Ivan Romero Martinez, Honduran Ambassador, Dean of the Latin American Group and Chair of the International Coffee Council. The film details the difficult reality many farming families can face producing coffee in Honduras. It is important to relate this effort and the tenacity of these families to our cups of coffee. Something we are proud to say we strive for with Caribe Coffee Company; To value their work and never take them for granted.
Ebay Roadshow
Elle had a great day June 9th at Newcastle for eBay's Small Business Roadshow. She was asked to join the seller panel also featuring other NE small business Tian's Gifts and Jo Smedley of Red Herring Games, they chatted about their business stories, challenges and successes. Here is a picture of Elle pointing randomly on the panel. Seriously though, it was great to see so many people passionate about starting their own business.
Total Warrior
Co Founders Elle and Wilmer joined 100's of participants in the Leeds Total Warrior Run on Saturday the 25th June. They faced gruelling challenges all in the name of raising funds for Heel & Toe Children's Charity The charity provides a range of therapies to children with physical and complex disabilities and is close to their hearts given that they accessed the centre when their little boy was younger. The donation page is still up and running if you would like to support this worthy cause.
