¿Sabías Que?... Coffee is an immigrant.

Welcome to a new edition of “Sabías que…?”  Where we drop a little knowledge with our community. This week, we're talking the supply chain of coffee - and it's a long one!

Did you know coffee is an immigrant?

These little frijolitos (beans) we love so much started off in the faraway lands of Ethiopia hundreds of years ago. Discovered, or so they say, by a shepherd-monk named Kaldi who noticed his goats eating some cherries that made them run in circles for hours.  Before we really knew what caffeine was, this goatly superpower struck Kaldi as pretty useful, so he decided to start eating the cherries too.

Over several hundred years, coffee frijolitos immigrated from North Africa to Europe and the Middle East, across oceans to Southeast Asia, and finally to the Americas. Coffee is not from here, originally, but it's certainly become a big part of our community. And, similar to many of the beauties and hardships immigrants face as they move to new places, these frijolitos became adept at adapting to new cultures, climates, and diets, remembering their roots while remaining open to natural evolution, and designing whole new flavor profiles and bringing their own sazón everywhere they go. 

As humans all around the globe shared convivios over crowded tables for years and years, we somehow figured out how to go from cherry-eating goats to single-origin pourovers and oat milk lattes.

Did you know the coffee supply chain is convoluted?

And as long and complicated as the journey of coffee from cherry to dirty chai latte is, the modern-day global coffee supply chain gives 'em a run for their money. Coffee still grows as cherries, and those cherries have to be loved and cared for for about 3-5 years before they can be harvested, then de-pulped, then the pits cleaned and dried, then de-husked, then dried again.... all before we ever get to the roasting and brewing part.

In the traditional supply chain, farmers do 90% of the work and bear 90% of the risk, but keep just 10% of the profits from the end product. Ouch. It looks a little something like this:

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At Convivio, powered by the caffeine fix of these little frijolitos, we’re trying to flip that model.  We buy as direct as possible, keeping as many steps of the supply chain in the country of origin (Guatemala), including roasting! It looks a little something like this: 

Believing a new way is possible

We're passionate about this for a couple reasons. The first is economic: most coffee in the world follows a colonialist model of extraction from producing countries - farmers do all the work, and then coffee is extracted in bulk as green, un-roasted beans, with the highest value processes (roasting, retail) happening in consuming countries. It leaves most farmers in poverty and food insecurity while the global industry is booming.

The other reason is cultural. We love it - that aroma of subtle sweet chocolates and caramels that sings us awake each morning. Farmers love that too - it's their product after all! They want that good stuff, but oftentimes farmers are forced to export all the quality coffee, and then rely on imported, chemical-ridden, cheap coffee for their daily brew. In fact, many farmers - thousands in Guatemala - have never tasted their own coffee.

We're often down to pay extra for an estate-owned and produced wine from "Francois" in the Bordeaux region, simply for the name and region on the bottle. Why can't we pay fairly for a farmer-owned coffee, straight from their land, and put their name on the bag!?

Thank a farmer. Thank an immigrant.

Coffee is not native to the Americas, and it can't grow in Colorado's climate. We literally wouldn't have our daily brew if it weren't for coffee itself immigrating across oceans and adapting to new climates over hundreds of years, making its way to Guatemala, where thousands of farmers work hard for years on end to bring us our favorite, delicious cup.

At Convivio, this all happens with our farmer-roaster partners in Guatemala. If you want to learn more, check out Finca de Dios, Tres Pasos Coffee from Leo and Luis in Antigua, or Chica Bean, where we bring in an exotic natural processed coffee once in a while. 

So next time you power your morning with these little frijolitos, thank an immigrant, and thank a farmer for what they've made possible.