We are an origin-based coffee sourcing company
specializing in the region of Huila, Colombia
Most our team lives year-round in the region where we source coffees, which allows us to be in constant interaction with the farmers we work with.
Every week we drive up to the farms to share a traditional sancocho lunch and chat all things coffee.
Farmers also visit us in the lab in Pitalito to discuss their coffee’s quality, get feedback from international clients, or join a cupping session.
As a roaster, what are the advantages of working with specialized, origin-based coffee sourcing companies ?
Traceability of information and money
We can bring you genuine, constantly updated context to each coffee. The traceability we offer is based on our year round presence in a small geographical region that allows us to be in constant interaction with the producers we buy coffee from.
Since we pay producers directly, we fully control the farmgate prices and can guarantee how much producers get for each coffee.
Finally, being immersed in this coffee culture allows us to understand the intricacies of coffee production, and the uniqueness of each harvest, thus developing empathy and sympathy for the people who grow our beloved morning brew; after all this is all about people and this should be why specialty differentiates from commodity.
Quality assurance
In just a couple of weeks, one producer can have several lots to sell. If you don’t have a team onsite in the lab, those small lots often get blended blindly, resulting in inconsistent blends and missed opportunities for producers and roasters.
Being on site in the lab every day of the harvest means we can individually cup each lot and provide valuable feedback to producers so they can adjust their processing, decide what varietals works best for them, etc.
Cupping all those small lots makes us specialists of this region’s cup profiles. Each lot delivered get evaluated and allocated either to the microlot category, or to one of our blends according to its cup profile. This meticulous QC allows us to offer consistent profiles season after season and safe forward contracting.
Supply chain supervision
Sourcing isn’t just about visiting farms and cupping coffees. There are many steps to coordinate until we can export: drying, dry milling, bag printing, vacuum packing, storage, ground transportation from farm to warehouse, mill, and port, and fiscal compliance and logistics administration.
Being based in Colombia year-round means we work directly with reliable service providers at every step. It’s not the most glamorous side of the supply chain, but any misstep here can jeopardize the coffee’s quality or export process. Choosing the right partners is key to ensuring the quality producers bring us arrives intact to roasters worldwide.
