At Vote, we may be a small team, but we’re passionate about building strong relationships by connecting directly with producers and our import/export partners. Once a year, one of our team members journeys to the source to meet with farmers, capturing not just stories but unforgettable experiences. We’re excited to share Mars’s reflections on her trip and the memorable moments she shared with the farmers whose coffees we roast.
Enjoy the read, and happy brewing!
Photo courtesy of Sol Sphinx
Mexico - Women-Powered Coffee Summit 2024
“I arrived in Veracruz, Mexico at the venue Ex Hacienda Toxpan of the Women-Powered Coffee Summit (WPCS) in the evening. It is a beautiful historical sugar mill in the magic town called Córdoba. We attended the opening ceremony and had dinner together.”
WPCS is a 4-day summit hosted by Bean Voyage, connecting women in different sectors of the coffee industry. It is an inclusive event and a safe space for women to share their experiences and knowledge.
Photo courtesy of Iva Alvarado
“The next day was the official first day of the WPCS, the “inspiration day”. There were many amazing and inspirational speakers in panel talks, individual presentations and workshops.
I had the honor to be one of the speakers and the moderator of a panel talk with the topic “Competitions as a market-driven solution? Insights from COE and WCC Champions”. We shared our experiences as competitors in different coffee competitions, including Cup of Excellence (green coffee quality), National/World Barista Championship and Roasting Championship. We also shared the challenges of these competitions and the impacts on our career. It was very nerve-wreaking and challenging for me as a first-time public speaker and moderator in a bilingual panel, yet it was very enjoyable. It was really special that some producers and roasters came up to me after my presentation, telling me that they resonated with my story and would like to share their coffees with me.”
Photo courtesy of Iva Alvarado
“On the second day there were more talks and workshops happening, the “action day”. Today I was much more relaxed and settled into the environment, hence I could focus more on the activities. I attended a workshop led by Laurel (my dear ex-colleague at Vote, friend and coach), with the topic “SCA Equitable Distribution Workshop”. We were sat in groups to discuss a couple of questions raised by Laurel, then to present them to everyone:
It was very interesting to think deeper into these topics, discuss them in a group, and hear from other groups.”
“On the last day of the summit, we were separated into groups and visited different farms. Laurel and I visited the farm “Musa Café”. It is a very diverse farm with a small river flowing through. We had some interesting conversations with the producer Blanca, as she also attended the WPCS.”
Mexico - Ombligo de Luna
For about two years now we have been buying coffees from Jhonatan and his project called Ombligo de Luna. We have been amazed since day one about his diligence and real passion to make a difference through transparency and hard community work. Here is what Mars experienced on her days with Jhonatan:
“On the first day staying in Xapala, I visited the Rincón Toningo Cooperative with Laurel and Jhonatan. We met with a few producers of the community, including Margarita Zapata, whom Vote has purchased coffee from this year as an exclusive coffee to Isla.
When Jhonatan first approached the Rincón Toningo Cooperative, some producers in the community were considering leaving or had already left the cooperative, some even abandoned their farms. It was because their coffees were not sold with sustainable prices and it was hard for them to make a living with coffee. (Margarita had pretty much abandoned her farm) Since Jhonatan helped them with selling their coffees with better prices, improving quality and education, the community started to see hope and some producers re-joined the cooperative.”
“We passed a small gift to Margarita (Her coffee roasted by Vote, packed in Isla coffee canister) and expressed our appreciation of her work. Margarita was very happy and surprised, we had an emotional moment as Margarita expressed that it was very special for her to be able to connect with us, this motivates her to keep growing coffees and improving the quality.”
“On the second day in Xalapa, we got up super early in the morning to arrive at the nursery at 6am. Today we had to move 3600 baby trees from the nursery to the community. (ODL plants 2 coffee trees per kg of coffee sold) It was good timing for us to witness and experience this, as they only move the baby trees to the community once a year when the trees are ready to be planted. They happened to be ready when we were there.
It took us 4 hours just to load the truck with baby trees. The team said they were happy to have us helping becoz normally there are only a couple of people loading the truck and it would have taken them much longer.
When we arrived, the whole community came to receive the trees. They formed 4 long human chains to pass the plants along and divide them for different producers. It was amazing to experience the enthusiasm and team work of the community. After a day of hard work, we all shared some nice moments together with food. The community expressed their gratitude towards the work of the ODL project.”
Colombia - Azahar & Raw Material
After her trip to Mexico, Mars made her way to Colombia. We are purchasing coffees from Colombia since day one of our existence. We are extremely grateful to have been able to work with like minded importers and exporters that we constantly keep learning from. We have strong ties with colombian coffees thanks to the work of Azahar and Raw Material. Mars managed to get in touch with both exporters / importers and visited producers that we buy from frequently as well as the infamous El Fenix Community Coffee Wet Mill.
“After I arrived at Bogotá, I met with Azahar team member Ignacio (based in Colombia) and had a cupping session in their lab. After some tasty coffees, we flew to Pitalito and met up with Federico (who has been handling Vote’s purchases in the past years).
We visited Luis Alberto Jojoa’s farm Finca Perla Del Otun, whom Vote has been buying coffee from for 3 years. Jojoa is super sweet and always has a smile on his face.”
“Jojoa processed his coffees at his house. He is very intelligent, organized and experienced. He adds cherries to the fermentation tank that were picked on different dates and dry them for 10-30 days depending on the weather conditions.
It is a very steep hike up to Jojoa’s farm. You can imagine how hard it must be to carry 20kg of cherries on your back, picking coffees whilst trying to stay balanced.”
“That evening, we stayed the night at Rafael’s farm, another producer whom Azahar is working with.”
“Next morning, we walked around Rafael’s farm with his business partner Dima (former Russian barista champion). They built a cable car together for easier transportation between two sides of the valley.
In the afternoon Ignacio and I traveled from Pitalito to Neiva and the next morning we visited Azahar’s Neiva buying point/Office, to learn about their new Picker’s Project (Manos Grano). They explained that normally pickers are paid by day payment or per kg of cherries, but Pickers project gives them a fixed salary, healthy benefits, pension and bonus. Currently, 97% of pickers don’t have health protection if they are sick or have an accident.
It was time for me to leave Huila and fly to Armenia, Quindio. The next day I met up with Miguel from Raw Material. He works for Raw Material, but also a coffee producer, Q grader (and many other hats) himself. He is very hospitable and knowledgeable. I had very nice and meaningful conversations with him.
We visited the Villamaria community. I was introduced to Rubiel (the driving force behind the Villamaria project) and his family. The farms were very beautiful, probably the most diverse farms I’ve ever seen. We also visited Raw Material’s wet mill to see how Villamaria’s coffee is being processed.”
“In the evening I stayed at Raw Material’s farm, El Fénix. It is a farm that serves to be an education center and guest house for producers and roasters. They grow a lot of different varieties and processing, when producers are visiting they can learn about the pros and cons of growing each variety and processing method.”
“I’m really grateful to have the opportunity to visit all these wonderful places. As much as I could read and hear about coffee things from books, the internet and other resources, it was not until I visited producing countries and farms to really start to understand what it is about. Connecting with people who produced and moved your coffees in person, is also never going to be the same as through phone calls and emails. These precious memories will always stay deep in my heart.”