Would you be surprised if I told you that more than half of all coffee consumers would let go of a morning shower instead of the morning cup of coffee? I sure wasn’t. Especially that I got to know that coffee is a close second in the list of the world’s most consumed beverage.
These facts were among the factors that pushed me to make the Plug get into the coffee project. A rich industry like this is not only worth utilizing, but perhaps even improving. The question that followed this idea was what can we add to this already satiated industry?
I started scouring for this project with a trip to Colombia, as the second largest nation exporting coffee and being geographically close to Canada, I found that starting there would have been a great advantage. During this trip I met with numerous business owners from all stages across the supply chain of Coffee to the world to understand the industry from its source. I started by speaking to front line suppliers who usually own large farms, or even small ones and partner up with other small farms to be able to supply in large quantities.
I also met with packaging companies, and exporters to get to know more about the market. These meetings were made for two important goals. The first being that I wanted to do what I do best make connections in that exclusive industry in Colombia. Secondly, I was trying to brainstorm what was actually missing from the market, looking for the X factor that I could add through the Plug.
During all these meetings, I got to understand the mechanisms of this market, and how I would be able to integrate my company into this market and capitalize on its benefits. Through multiple connections, and procedures that I understood that people got through I got to understand that we as the Plug had the economies of scale to be able to make a move in this market.
However, one of the most essential goals of my trip was still not achieved. Which was the idea of finding a missing part of this market’s puzzle to be able to make a difference in the market and not only gain from its size and connections.
However, after being done with my business deals, I decided to go on a trip with my team as a way to blow off some steam, which you can read all about in detail in our blogs page. During that trip which was to the Sierra Nevada mountains to meet the locals there and get to know about their lives, and simultaneously experience the beauty of life in nature.
Behold! A generous and vast land of coffee farms all around the tribe’s homes, being freshly harvested with a full-on natural content. Upon conversing with the tribe members, I found that they are used to farming these lands with coffee as their primary source of income, which pushed to understand more. I then started talking to the farmers and make take me through the farming process that they go through.
I have clearly found what I believe could be added to the market, why should a buyer settle for a grade of coffee that they not want? Why should they settle for anything that is not as good or as fresh as they exactly want it to be? What if a buyer wants to hold onto the advantages of farming their own product? The answer to all these questions turned out to be contract farming, the process in which you can gain all the advantages of farming your own product without the hassle of managing a farm, cause through our partnership with the Sierra Nevada tribes we can make sure that the products are being planted fresh and to your specific needs without tweaking.
You know what is even more beautiful? With this contract you would be helping out hardworking people with extremely underrated products and in need of increasing their income to preserve their place on these sacred lands. It is at the end of the day a joint successful partnership and a worthwhile social cause; there is nothing better than making money while helping others do the same.