Posted on: 2015-06-26 12:00 AM

So you want to get your beans from a grower directly and make sure that the farmer is getting a fair price for the coffee. While it sounds like a noble gesture the realities of a micro roaster getting beans directly from a farmer are more challenging that it would seem.

We did a little experiment here to see what's involved and we were surprised at how the process is theoretically simple but acutally complex. Here are some (not all of the challenges) that we encountered.



Sourcing
So the first challenge that we faced was finding a farmer that was both willing and able to ship coffee to North America. Once we found a source we ran into many logistical challenges that included but were not limited to communications, shipping, negotiations and payment. We take communications for granted and expect everyone that we deal with to have a phone number, email address and possibly a personal website. In many of the places where the coffee is being grown access to these things is a luxury or a technical impossibility. Once we established a communications protocol we found the farmer eager to get a better price but needed us to buy most of his crop for it to be a worthwhile endeavour. 
Economy
Getting Fedex to show up in the middle of Africa isn't a simple as it sounds. In order to make this a viable adventure we needed to acquire enough coffee to fill a container. Anything less than that was going to cost almost as much and drive the cost of the coffee up to where it was not really viable. So what do we do with a container full of green coffee beans?
Shipping
So we decided to push this forward to see what's involved in having a shipping company make arrangements for us to visit the farm, do an inventory transport the coffee to the docks so that it can be loaded on the ship. We identified several points along the way where bags might get damaged or disappear. Trust is going to be the operative word. Insurance is going to be something to consider here.
Quality Assurance
So you've figured out how to find the farmer, neogtiated the contract, and figured out the shipping. Now what are you actually going to receive.  These are beans that you negotiated 4 to 6 months ago when they were coffee cherry blossoms on a tree. Now that they are green beans waiting to be shipped are you going to be getting a  premium coffee or something undrinkable. So you'll either have to fly over and roast a batch or have someone visit the farm and ensure that you're getting what you're about to pay for.

Payment
So you've found the beans, found the boat, found someone you can trust to ensure that you are getting qualtiy merchanidise now you have to pay for them. Do you pay for them when they leave the farm, when the get on the boat or when they arrive in your warehouse?  The answer is that it's all negotiable but you have to figure out how to get your Dollar's, Euro's, or Pounds converted and delivered to someone who may or may not have a bank account. And you need to make sure that it gets where it's going.

Summary
While the idea that buying direct from the farmer sounds noble and glamorous there are many obstacles to overcome. In my exporation I've determined that if you can sort things out it's going to be worth it. I'd suggest that you consider sharing your risk with some of the Co-Operatives in the micro roaster community where several roasters are banding together to buy containers from trusted sources. The benefits of this approach are shared risk, smaller comittments, and the collective use of agents, shippers, bankers to reduce overall fees and to ensure reliable service delivery.  Several of these supposed collectives have turned out to be rebranded agents and brokers so you'll need to do your homework.

If you have any interest or questions I'll be happy to share some names or contacts.

Post your comments on the bottom of the post and I'll get back to you.