Living and working in coffee origin countries allows to understand the coffee world on a whole different level. It is not very common to choose this path in a coffee career. Observation over a longer period of time permits to grasp the true reality of coffee production. Being the ground person and having a direct access to producers, coffee and its processing lets in on a lot of coffee secrets.
I have spent most of my coffee time in Latin and South America with the biggest focus on production of specialty coffee in Bolivia and Guatemala. Opportunity to observe and experience the local culture, meet and work with the local people enabled me to find the most important values that helped me understand these particular levels of the coffee trade a little better.
Coffee discoveries..
The main value that I found across my whole coffee journey ended up being always the same: human relationships. Coffee world is in a larger part about people and relationships they create across the whole coffee chain. Without good and trusted relationships there is a high risk of losing the quality somewhere on the way to the cup.
So, what are some bases for a good relationship with coffee producers in countries like Guatemala? Well, the first thing would be probably learning and having a better understanding of culture. It is a crucial element of coffee production in this particular country. Guatemala has 24 registered indigenous groups that not only have all different histories but also use different languages and have completely different customs that sometimes might create challenges.
In recent years Guatemala has been struggling with the growing number of people leaving the country and heading illegally to the United States, particularly males. In 2017 around 50000 migrants left producers with many questions and concerns. Regions like Huehuetenango, because close to the Mexican border, give more opportunities to find a way to the US illegally, leaving no hands to work. Producers are left helpless and looking for the solutions that are going to help them face this challenge not only for this harvest, but also for the years to come.
“The main value that I found across my whole coffee journey ended up being always the same: human relationships.”
This season some producers couldn’t finish their harvest on time and lost a lot of their crop because there were not enough hands to pick the cherries. Some of them have been able to hire people from other regions. This solution does not always work well though, as some of the indigenous groups don’t get along with each other and it might create problems that sometimes lead to violent acts. Bringing people from other countries like Nicaragua is another idea but it as well might create new cultural barriers and clashes.
Future coffee challenges.
Lack of workers is not the only challenge that Guatemalan coffee producers are facing. Leaf rust, a common coffee fungus, is yet another important matter to mention. In 2012 it hit and devastated 40 per cent of the coffee crop. Since then the producers have been struggling to recover and some of them couldn’t do till this day.
Having a direct contact with buyers helps the producers gain information and support on how to handle this particular fungus. Most of them just didn’t know and still don’t know what to do about it or they don’t have sufficient funds to address the issue. You must remember that the producers get paid once a year and they need to figure out a way to survive, reinvest and pay for coffee production for the next harvest which means next year. The educated producers are able to plan and strategise but the ones lacking the information and knowledge, are not able to look at things analytically and make a budget for years in advance. Their focus is around present day only. In rural regions, where you often find coffee, there is no access to information from the outside. The producers relay greatly on people that come to visit from other countries, neighbours or any local associations that might provide some insight. Green bean coffee buyers won’t be able to gain this type of information without having a direct and transparent relationship with a producer. It requires a little effort, time and dedication but it can flourish into a greater value of understanding and support of sustainable coffee production on both ends.
Importance of the family.
Guatemalan coffee production has a long history that involves family generations. A large number of producers were born into coffee world and they take a lot of pride in who they are and where they come from. They dedicate their lives to work with coffee and pay respect to their great grandfathers and families. They respect their land and the coffee they produce and it’s priceless for them to know where their coffee is consumed and it’s even more special if they know exactly which cafés and people are serving and representing them, their coffee and values they share with it. Full traceability to both ends would be impossible without having a direct and trusted relationship. There are so many important values that both the producer and the consumer can share, which can be communicated across the whole chain. Having a direct relationship gives an opportunity to understand and learn each end in depth and detail as well as look at challenges of coffee production with the right approach and respect that will hopefully lead to joint work towards sustainable coffee production and consumption.
