Origin Trip to Colombia! #MindTheBean

COFFEENATE colombia origin trip

Colombian Origin Trip

When you think of Colombia, you think of coffee. I was recently invited by Café de Colombia, to visit the country and learn more about what they are doing, and to visit a coffee farm. I quickly jumped at the chance to meet the people behind Colombian coffee, farmers, co-op workers, and the folks at Cenicafé. My time in Colombia was only a few days, but the experience will last a lifetime. It was truly an inspiring and awesome adventure!

I will go into more depth in future posts, but this post will be a general collection of my pics and some initial thoughts. I was really struck by how advanced the coffee industry is in Colombia. The coffee industry in this country is in sharp contrast to less developed origin nations. There are many resources available to the farmers, who largely own the land they work.

American Consumers Are Changing The World!

Another thing that I found interesting is the impact that the western marketplace is having upon the country. As consumers have become more aware of the production of coffee from seed to cup, and not just the product on the shelves, it is having a significant impact upon this producing nation. There is more emphasis on quality, sustainability, and an increased focus on all-around ethics. I began this journey thinking it had the potential to become an exposé, what actually happened was quite the opposite. I listened and learned.

The Pictures!

Here are many of the images that I took during my visit to Colombia. I met some amazing people along the way and of course consumed some of the world’s finest coffees!

 
Click to see the pics! [Read more…]

CoffeeNate Episode #3 : Why Fair Trade?

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Welcome back to CoffeeNate.com!  I’m glad that you’ve stopped by to spend a few minutes watching my videos.  I’m having a great time doing this site, it’s been a blast already!  This week I am featuring one of my favorite coffee companies, Green Mountain Coffee. These guys offer a huge variety of Fair Trade and Organic coffees to choose from.  I have yet to try one that I don’t like, but I will keep searching to see if there is one. 

There are over 2 million small scale coffee farmers that depend on the trade to provide for their family’s well being.  All too often these farmers are literally forced to sell their fine products to middle men at a huge discount, either because they are under educated, or because they are not allowed to trade as an individual.   The concept of "Fair Trade" came about to [Read more…]