coffee business strategies

6am alarm goes off. 6:09am, hit the snooze again, roll out of bed, blindly approach kitchen heading solely for the Mr. Coffee nestled in the corner near the microwave. Sound familiar? For many of us its like clockwork. Wake up, make coffee, collect yourself, make more coffee, work, coffee, work….you know the routine. But what we don’t all wake up and think about is what, and more importantly who, makes this simple routine possible. Who makes it possible for 53% of Americans to wake up daily to a hot cup of joe from any corner of the earth?

The people whom I regard as the crux, backbone, crutch, insert thesaurus word here of the coffee industry are the men, women, and children that live on, work on, and survive on coffee farms worldwide. These are the people who, using their bare hands, make it possible for Americans, Japanese, Europeans, and anyone anywhere to drink gourmet coffee any day of the week for under a dollar a cup. These people, Marta in Costa Rica, Rodrigo in Brasil, Avani in India, or Budi from Indonesia all have one thing in common; their common bond is not only physical (all pick coffee cherries for processing into coffee beans) but also emotional and sometimes cultural–their livlihood is coffee and they are proud of their heritage.

These people are more than just workers. These people are more than just faces. These people are people like you and I and they are people who, without, would be gravely missed. These people affect global supply and demand as much as companies like Microsoft and Dell. These people are as important as the roaster who receives the beans and turns green into greenback (pardon the aweful pun). These people are our brothers and sisters, distant relatives closely related through a commodity bond. They have hand picked our Organic Hondurans and Ethiopian Harrars. They have hand washed our Indian Monsoon and Java estates. These people touch our lives everyday without asking for one thank you in return.

These people are our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, mother, fathers, close friends, and these people are every bit as important to this industry. These people live in poverty, survive natural disasters, overcome drought and lack of resources. These people wake up each morning and drink coffee the same as anyone else…and I would be willing to bet it all that they always do it with a smile on their face.

God Bless, remember our brothers and sisters abroad. Happy holidays and remember, to give is much better than to receive. Also…remember to pray for those less fortunate and adversely affected by Hurricanes Wilma and Gamma.

Thanks, Jeff.
Mountain State Golden Roast, LLC
Englewood, CO