Caravela's Coffee Talks

In this episode of Origin Compass we look at how a focus on agronomy impacts coffee producers. In producing countries we see agronomical assistance come in many forms. Who is offering the assistance and their motivation behind this will often dictate how useful it will be to producers.

Starting off with an overview with regards to why agronomical help is essential at origin, we later focus in on the Caravela approach and why agronomy is so important for our model.

Listen to all this plus an interview with our Peca Coordinator Hector Calderon as to what he feels are the important areas in terms of helping producers achieve goals and become sustainable farming businesses. 

 Listen to the latest episode of Origin Compass. Here Salomé speaks with our new North American sales manager Rich Futrell about his initial Caravela origin experience. Reflecting upon his recent visits to Peru and Colombia, we also gain insight into what it's like to view the work we do from an outsider's perspective, as Rich notices aspects of our export operations that may seem unremarkable to the seasoned Caravela employee at origin. Listen to this interview to learn more about our work with producers and experience a bit of origin for yourself, wherever you are.

This episode of Origin Compass is a little different. At Caravela, it is of paramount importance that our customers know where their coffee comes from. But this is not only about location, name of farm and name of the producer, but it is also about the story behind each farm and everyone involved. For this reason, any time anyone buys a single farmer lot, we like to give all the credit to the farmer and tell their story. Although many of these stories seem similar and many producers come from traditional coffee-growing families, the motivations are always different. 

A couple of weeks ago we received a request to create a brochure regarding a coffee grower in Nicaragua. While we were reading the interview that was carried out by our PECA team, we decided we wanted to find a way and space for Edwin Duarte to tell his story himself in more detail. Edwin's life hasn't been an easy one, he went from having it all to having nothing and, in the end, his love for coffee helped him find himself where he is today.

Entrevista completa en español con Ratibor Hartmann, usada en el Podcast "How Geisha ruined coffee". Ratibor habla sobre sus experiencias produciendo cafe y como ser exitoso con las variedades y procesos exóticas.

In this episode, we talk to Peter Ebdrup from The Coffee Collective and producer Jaime Andres Casallas, on how they forged their partnership. Both speak at length about what they have learned, their respective challenges, and ultimately what has led to the continued success of this enduring relationship. 

Listen to two stories describing very different worlds, and why each could not survive without the other.

In this episode hear about how the exotic variety boom has not been all that positive for small-scale producers and why. Also listen to an abridged interview with Ratibor Hartmann regarding how he has made his success in the exotic variety game.

Listen to the original edited interviews in Spanish that were translated for the podcast “how SHE makes the difference at Origin”. These interviews were recorded in working locations, including warehouses, the Coffee Producer and Roaster forum in Guatemala City and in Caravela’s Bogotá cupping lab.Escucha las entrevistas originales y editadas en español que se tradujeron para el podcast “How SHE makes the difference at Origin”. Estas entrevistas se grabaron en espacios de trabajo, incluyendo bodegas, El Foro de Productores y Tostadores en la Ciudad de Guatemala y en el laboratorio de catación de Caravela en Bogotá.

In this podcast, in a series of translated interviews, we showcase the stories of various hard working and successful women based at origin. Although working in the same industry they have all come from very different backgrounds and have had great success professionally and personally with coffee. Listen more to hear a snapshot of their lives and how they overcame various obstacles to arrive at where they are today.

Discussion about the effectiveness of community-focused projects in the Central American coffee industry.

Sierra de las Minas, Chiquimula, Guatemala.