Latest / Coffee People Podcast / Pablo Lara, Trader at InterAmerican Coffee (NKG)

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Pablo Lara, Trader at InterAmerican Coffee (NKG) · Coffee People Podcast

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Hey there everyone. I'm Ryan Wolf, the host of The
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Check them out on rostar.com. And now it's time for the show.
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Again, nobody's here with us. It's just it's just me and you.
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And I'm going to jump into this fancy read that I wrote down so
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people see me looking away. That's why.
2:02
Hey there everyone. Welcome to the Coffee People
2:04
podcast. I'm your host, Ryan Walt.
2:06
Our show is presented by Rostar Coffee Packaging, which you can
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find online@rostar.com. Our podcast, Coffee People is
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part of our Roast West Coast Coffee network.
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You can go to coffeepeoplepodcast.com to find
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the recaps of this episode, all of our other shows, including
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Coffee Smarter. And if you haven't poured
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yourself a coffee yet, now would be a good time to do that.
2:29
Our guest today is Pablo Lara, a trader at Inter American Coffee
2:33
based in San Diego, CA, where I'm also based.
2:37
You can find interamericanonline@interamericancoffee.com.
2:41
And you can find Pablo online on social media at Coffee Playtime.
2:45
Those links, of course, in the show's podcast notes and in our
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newsletter, which we send out every week.
2:51
Pablo, welcome to Coffee people. I'm glad you're here and we're
2:56
finally getting a chance to do this.
2:58
Yes, thank you, Ryan. We have a lot to cover today and
3:03
you have a very unique rolling coffee and a different viewpoint
3:07
than a lot of people that we talked to on the show from your
3:10
position as trader for Inter American.
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Inter American is part of a larger coffee green coffee group
3:17
as well. Could you tell explain what it
3:21
is, what your role is? What is a trader do?
3:23
What does that mean? Yeah.
3:26
So I think at the most basic level, basically a trader is
3:30
just a like a salesperson, right.
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I feel like that's, that's the main role that I I play in this
3:36
supply chain. But giving the complexities of
3:40
specialty coffee and how unique of an industry it is in the
3:45
grand scheme of commodities, there's there's a lot of other
3:50
things that I feel like make up the majority of my job, as you
3:58
know, with any sort of person in coffee is about the constant
4:03
state of learning and research and staying up to date.
4:07
And especially for me, what I like to see my job as is the
4:13
person that's connecting the roasters with specific coffees
4:19
and kind of helping roasters navigate this very complex world
4:26
of the green coffee supply chain and have fun doing it.
4:32
Like keep, keep, keep the energy of excitement of like interest
4:38
and but also at the same time keeping that real, you know,
4:42
keeping the education happening and giving my perspective on, on
4:50
how things are, are going. It is a very like complex supply
4:55
chain because there's all these countries involved, there's
4:58
climate change happening, all the political things that affect
5:04
all these different countries that we bring coffee from, Even
5:08
internal politics, like things happening at the ports, these
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all play a part into my daily communication with roasters.
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So like just a normal day, I get to the office, you know, I burn
5:23
my coffee. And then I would say like the
5:25
first hour or so, I'm like reading articles, keeping up
5:28
with news from Latin America. And I read all these reports
5:33
that I get from our sister companies all over the world.
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And, and it's really cool because my background is I went
5:40
to school for history. So it's really cool that I get
5:43
to like almost create this daily narrative of what I'm going to
5:47
be talking about with my customers.
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So there's that part. But then at the same time, I,
5:54
you know, I'm at the forefront of what people are asking, what
5:59
people are wanting to buy, the trends as, as you know, some
6:03
people call it. So I also have to be the
6:06
receptor of that communication and then translate it into
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actually changing the direction of certain purchases or coffees
6:15
that we're buying. So that's also part of my job is
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updating the what we're purchasing, right?
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I don't really like to call it sourcing.
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I feel like it's more of a communication between what the
6:30
roasters are asking for, what's available and what we can make
6:35
happen. And it's this dialogue.
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So it's a lot of connecting the pieces of that front that people
6:43
call sourcing. And then, you know, also a big
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part of it is obviously quality control, cupping, staying in the
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loop of how the coffees are tasting, cuz that personally get
6:56
is what gets me excited, right? So, so there's all these things.
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And then I think the most important part that I feel like
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a lot of people don't get to see or understand about being a
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trader is just like all the staying organized and all the,
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you know, office work, all the logistical work that takes to
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every morning. I take a look at everybody's
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contracts, you know, and make sure everybody's like, good,
7:23
Like the coffees are there ready for the people who I know are
7:27
going to order. And then you kind of create this
7:28
mental map of everybody's profiles and, and, and usage and
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what they're, and you're, you almost get to the point where
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you're like predicting what people are going to need.
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And I constantly find myself like emailing people like, hey,
7:44
you know, you're going to want to book this now.
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And then they, they're like, dude, Pablo, thank you so much.
7:48
I was literally about to, you know, check up on that.
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And it's crazy how you just go into this like almost organic
7:56
state of, of communication with so many people and things just
8:01
kind of work out and it's, it's really magical.
8:03
But yeah, a part, big part of that is just like staying super
8:06
organized and generally caring about the people that you're
8:10
working with. Also this what I'm hearing is a
8:14
like an incredible ability to multitask at a, at different
8:18
paces because each of these different clients on both sides
8:20
are going to be at different points in their daily business
8:23
or their monthly business. And you're somehow managing to
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kind of shift between those as you are talking to each
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different one or when you're talking to one connecting that
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in your brain to go, oh, my other customer over here, that's
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who's gonna benefit from what you're working on.
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How do you build trust with these clients?
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I should ask first, is there any average on like say I work with
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roughly this many people at a time.
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Is it 5 roasters and farmers? Is it 100?
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Is it, you know, is it just, is it a much?
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I don't know where that number is.
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Yeah. So I, and I meant to look at
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that before I got on the, but it's around.
9:00
So I have like under my name, I have like around probably like
9:08
200 to 250 like customers that are assigned to me, people that
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have either previously bought from me or are just somehow
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under my my scope. But last year I ended up selling
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from those 250 like around 270 customers that like I sold to,
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which is a lot. It's a lot of roasters.
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They're all like smaller to medium and some some, you know,
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bigger customers. But yeah, it's a lot of people.
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And I truly know everybody obviously by name and by
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preference. And it was funny.
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Like every at the end of every year, I write like a, a card,
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like a little holiday card to all my customers.
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And I literally like, it was crazy how I knew everybody's
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name just, you know, just writing it up.
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And I was like, yeah. And I ended up sending like 160
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cards. Yeah, did you I just have to ice
10:07
your hand afterwards? It took like 3 days so well that
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was it was like slow pace. That leads me back to that
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question of, of trust with so many clients and customers who
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are all gonna have different personalities and different, you
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know, attitudes towards what they're doing.
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How do you build that over, you know, does it just take time or
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when you're approaching a new customer, what is it that what
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is the feeling that you get when you go?
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This is going to be a good relationship.
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No, that's, that's a good question because I feel like at
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least for me, it's really important to feel respected and
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the best kind of business is when it doesn't feel like
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business. I don't know where I heard that,
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but I feel like I heard that from somebody.
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I'm, I don't, I don't know how much you know about me, but I'm
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very much true to myself and my personality, my values, who I am
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is very much like at the forefront of like when you meet
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me. So I always feel like if, if
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people are open to working with me or they're interested or
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reach out or they're like, oh, I've heard of you.
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I want to work with you. Clearly our value system is
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going to be somewhat similar aligned or, you know, obviously
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I try to be super professional all the time, but I'm also going
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to be myself and people, there are certain people with certain
11:35
roasters that do tend to gravitate towards that and then
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the ones that don't totally fine.
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But I, I do try to work with people whose values, you know,
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we, we align and, you know, even for the customers who follow me
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on Instagram or whatever, like it, there's no filter.
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It is the same Pablo that you see on the streets.
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And, and I'm open about it. And I, I, I want people to
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almost like realize, you know, who I am and so on.
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That part is like if, if, if I'm transparent on, on who I am and
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then people still want to work with me, then like, OK, we're,
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we're set. Not that I'm crazy or anything,
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but I don't know, you know, there, there are some, you know,
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certain situations where it's just not going to be a match.
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And that's totally fine. And it's just not worth to, to
12:31
invest my, my energy and time and, and something like that.
12:35
The, the trust gets built over time.
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You know, it's nice when you get to the point where a lot of the
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conversations that you end up having with your customers is
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not about coffee. In fact, there when there are
12:48
days where like I talk to my customers and we, you know, we
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don't really talk about coffee. That's probably one of the best
12:54
days just because I like to feel part of their companies.
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Like I like when people reach out to me and they're like, hey,
13:02
you know, look at our new packaging.
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What do you think? Like those are things I live
13:06
for. And that's when I know we've
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reached that point of like, OK, we trust.
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Like if, if you feel like I'm part of your company, then like
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solid. You know, I think what I'm here,
13:18
what I hear when we're, when I'm listening to you talk about it
13:20
is it's a good reminder. I think for anyone listening to
13:23
the show or any entrepreneur in general, It's the person on the
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other side of any business relationship is a, is a person.
13:30
It's a human being who's got, you know, their personality and
13:34
their their life and, and all of that brings value and it's all
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their collected experience is going to be reflected in their
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work. And if you can communicate on
13:43
that level, it's only going to enhance your business
13:45
relationship. Early, early in this chat, I'd
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say earlier is only a few minutes ago you were talking
13:52
about all the reading you do learning about what's going on
13:56
around the world and in your industry and, and things that
13:58
would affect you. Right now there's just a
14:02
boatload of content coming out about coffee prices.
14:08
If it's not coffee prices, it's how climate is impacting our
14:13
coffee farmers and the cost of coffee prices.
14:16
It's how our politically, maybe not direct as coffee, but like
14:20
we're in a period where no one's quite sure how the United States
14:24
in particular is going to be trading with other countries or
14:27
impacting trade. What are some things that you
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see is going to be impacting your role as a trader and the
14:35
coffee industry in general as we're kind of moving forward
14:38
into this next 2025 and beyond? Yeah, well, like, like we like
14:43
to stay in the office. It it's never a dull day in
14:46
coffee. I feel like, especially after
14:49
COVID. And it truly just made for a
14:55
very interesting, just very fast-paced changes.
15:01
And it's been not normal for whatever normal means, But I
15:06
feel like for a very long time, things are very, you know, there
15:10
were a certain way that didn't really change much.
15:15
And then after COVID, everything has just been very different,
15:20
which I've personally like, really enjoyed the problem
15:24
solving is definitely like all those challenges are they're
15:29
intense at that moment, but they keep it interesting.
15:32
And like I said, because of my backgrounds and in history is
15:36
just like to, to live it, to live these historical times is
15:40
just really interesting. And, and I love explaining to my
15:43
customers like what exactly is happening and how we're creating
15:46
solutions. And obviously NKG and Inter
15:49
American Coffee, we just have like this huge network of being
15:52
able that facilitates us to like navigate these like crazy
15:56
issues. You know, I feel like the, the
16:00
Red Sea thing that was huge, like having to reroute so many
16:04
coffees, I think that was huge. And we got through that.
16:10
And then on the topic of of like climate change.
16:13
I mean, is that something you guys talk about in the office
16:16
regularly or within your group, you know, whether it's outline
16:18
or persons? Yeah, no, forever.
16:22
Yeah. I mean, I feel like, like I
16:23
said, I feel like it's been, it's been a long time.
16:25
And I did want to talk about on this topic of climate change
16:29
because it was probably, I want to say maybe like seven years
16:34
ago that I was invited to give a talk at Modern Times by Bartleby
16:41
and Tessie. And they invited me and they
16:45
were like, OK, Pablo would like you to talk about climate
16:48
change. And like I said, this is like
16:50
seven years ago and I was, that was probably the first time I
16:57
heard about it. That was the first time I like I
17:00
was kind of thrown off 'cause I was like, what am I gonna talk
17:02
about it? I was like very new to the
17:04
topic. I was kind of nervous, but I did
17:07
my research. I like called different farmers
17:10
from like 5 different countries and I asked them.
17:13
I was like, hey, have you noticed any changes on the
17:16
weather or whatever, 'cause nobody was talking about it back
17:19
then. And literally every producer
17:22
that I talked to from like Peru, Honduras, Colombia, Mexico, they
17:26
were all like, yeah, like rains have been super different.
17:29
But I it's only a Honduras problem.
17:31
And then in Peru they're like, Oh yeah, the, the dry season's
17:34
longer, but it's, it's only here in like Peru.
17:37
And then I was like, OK, everybody's having issues, but
17:40
they, since they're not talking to each other, they don't see
17:42
how it's like a, a global thing that everybody's going through.
17:46
So then that was super insightful and I'm forever going
17:50
to be thankful for for that team at modern times to have asked me
17:54
that question. And then so I feel like I was
17:58
almost like prepared because I I had that information set.
18:02
And then after that, every year I kept checking in.
18:05
And then little by little now I see how it's actually become
18:07
part of the daily conversation and green coffee.
18:11
But it was something that was brought on to me as a question
18:15
from from the modern time scene, which was super cool.
18:18
So yeah, I mean, it's been something that has been
18:22
affecting producers and it's one of those things that's like very
18:27
incremental, very slow. And but we're definitely at a
18:30
point where either harvests are delayed or they come early or
18:34
the, you know, smaller crop. Obviously we've seen with Brazil
18:38
huge impact and now it's affecting the prices.
18:42
So for people that say it's not real, it is now part of the sea
18:49
market, so. Sure.
18:51
I think, I mean, my feelings on climate change are pretty well
18:55
known. You know, I'm, I'm a believer, I
18:57
think I grew up in farm country in the Midwest and farmers I
19:02
think have always talked about changes.
19:03
Now, what causes it, you know, may be up for debate in that
19:06
area, but the fact that it's happening isn't is is isn't up
19:11
for debate. You know, this is affecting
19:13
farmers. I think people who are, when you
19:17
talk about the sea market, there's a reason why the cost of
19:21
coffee, you know, even just in your local coffee shop is going
19:25
up. It's not just because, I mean, a
19:27
lot of things are going up, but like if you're somebody who's
19:30
upset or complaining because your coffee is $5 or more than,
19:34
you know, $3 or your pour over is 8 or nine, well, that's I
19:38
think an indicator to say what is the reason for that?
19:41
What is causing this thing? It's not coffee.
19:44
People in general, I haven't found to be terribly greedy.
19:47
If anything, they want you to have the coffee and they're
19:50
willing to take a hit on it. How do you then translate to
19:55
your roasting partners? Hey, you need to prepare 'cause
19:59
they're thinking ahead. They're thinking six months, a
20:01
year, 2 years ahead, unlike what their product that they're going
20:04
to buy as I assume or you're thinking it on their behalf.
20:07
I'm thinking of it, yeah. How are you then kind of
20:12
translating that to them to say, hey, you need to prepare, 'cause
20:15
this is where the cost structure is going And if they're on the
20:19
other side of that, introducing new pricing changes for their
20:22
customers is also going to be challenging.
20:25
The communication conversations that I'm having at the moment is
20:28
just like, OK, we everybody needs to talk to the traders
20:33
more. Like the communication needs to
20:35
be like it's got to change and we all have to be flexible.
20:42
Those are like the three things I keep telling everybody and
20:44
that's going to mean different things for different people.
20:47
The price of coffee in general is like a very broad thing.
20:52
You know, there are coffees that are priced against the sea
20:54
market that are coffees that are flat price.
20:59
There are coffees that have their own pricing thing because
21:02
of, you know, I'm talking about like coffees from like Africa.
21:06
There's like the direct trade pricing.
21:08
So it's, it's a complex, you know, to, to just talk about
21:12
pricing in general. But yeah, people are going to
21:16
have to adapt. But I always like to start the
21:19
conversation. But just saying, you know, this
21:22
is where prices of coffee should have always been.
21:25
So it's almost like we are right now being forced to readjust to
21:29
our reality that is probably more equitable for for
21:33
everybody. This is probably going to be
21:35
like the first year that farmers are truly going to be able to
21:38
like reinvest in their farms because we've had these like
21:44
just, I mean, I don't even know what to call them slave wages.
21:49
Like, I don't know for, for, for farmers for the past ever.
21:54
So yeah, it's, it's more of an adjustment.
21:59
This is a business. So new countries will come in to
22:04
take in, you know, to any gaps of production.
22:08
I feel like there's going to be like readjustments and changes
22:12
and we all have to work around that structure.
22:14
We're not at the center of the universe.
22:16
So if we have to change the way we we buy coffee or the coffees
22:20
that we offer in order for businesses to survive, this is
22:25
business. But I think, you know, there are
22:28
certain coffees where, you know, like right now Brazil is more
22:33
expensive than coffee from Colombia.
22:36
So switch to that or there are coffees that are going to be,
22:40
you know, some countries are going to artificially try to
22:43
keep low to take advantage of, of, of just the pricing.
22:48
So just be smart about the communication with your trader.
22:51
If, if you have a wholesale account, this is what they need.
22:54
Like talk about the pricing where you need it, don't you
22:57
know? And, and obviously be smart
22:59
about it. Talk to different traders.
23:00
I always suggest people like, don't just talk to me.
23:03
You'll have to talk to other people, get the best pricing out
23:06
there. If, you know, if you really want
23:07
to maintain the relationship with me, then like let me know
23:10
and then I'll see what I can do. But yeah, just communicate and
23:14
be flexible. And, and you have to realize
23:17
that this is a global thing, phenomenon that's happening like
23:19
around the world. So if you have to communicate to
23:22
your customers as well about any changes in pricing, you're not
23:25
going to be alone. It is super important for
23:28
people's businesses to also stay afloat.
23:31
So it's, it's a balancing act, you know?
23:35
People are, when I say people, roasters and coffee shops and
23:39
customers are expecting to some extent, coffees that take on a
23:45
something beyond just flavor and price.
23:47
And that is the idea that they're ethical or they come
23:50
from sustainable sources. What does sustainability in
23:54
coffee mean to you? And does that word still have
23:58
meaning to kind of the industry? I feel like I just hear it from
24:01
everyone at this point. I don't.
24:02
I can't even think of the last time I looked at somebody's
24:05
roasting company website and didn't see that word on it.
24:09
No, that's true. I do see where you're coming
24:12
from with like the word losing the meaning, but the word still
24:15
like obviously means a lot to me just 'cause I feel like
24:18
sustainability is such a important word in different
24:23
levels. What I obviously, I, I, I love
24:28
for roasters to focus on sustainability at the farmer
24:31
level, but I almost wish roasters would focus on
24:36
sustainability on like just holistically.
24:39
So from, you know, from like, if you're going to be super tight
24:44
on cost about like, do you drink coffee, then like be smart about
24:47
all your other things that you're buying.
24:50
If anything, cut costs on like all these other things so you
24:53
can invest more on your coffee. And if you want to be a
24:57
sustainable coffee buyer, ask questions, like ask questions to
25:03
your importer. Be super nosy about it.
25:05
Like we don't care. We, we want to answer the
25:07
questions. But to me, it's still surprising
25:09
how little questions roasters ask.
25:12
I also do understand a lot of the roasters that I work with
25:16
are like, you know, smart, like you.
25:19
They're roasting, they're doing the hiring, they're doing the
25:21
training, they're training the wholesale accounts, they're
25:24
covering shifts. Like it's crazy the amount of
25:26
work that these people do. And obviously that's why I feel
25:29
like they rely on me to do a lot of, you know, this filtering for
25:33
them. But I do wish people were less
25:39
scared or nervous to like, just ask questions, ask you know
25:44
what, where the coffees are coming from.
25:47
And like maybe the structure of the Co-op, like all these things
25:51
are really important for you to ask for you to call yourself a
25:55
sustainable green coffee buyer. Those things are, are important.
26:00
But yeah, as as far as sustainability, it's like it's
26:02
not just how much you're paying for the green coffee.
26:06
Obviously that's super important.
26:07
But are you working with the same people year to year?
26:11
Are you visiting the people and actually working on some sort of
26:14
project with them? Are you, how smart are you with
26:19
your sampling? I feel like if you're asking for
26:22
20 samples to meet a little a poor over niche, like you're,
26:27
you're being very wasteful on, you know, the consumption of of
26:31
different things. So it's like you're consuming.
26:33
I feel like we tend to pick on the producer so much about like,
26:37
OK, are you using chemicals? Are you doing this?
26:39
But it's like, how many cups of plastic are you using as a
26:42
roaster? So and even the concept of
26:45
sustainability seems to be colonialized.
26:48
Sure. Yeah.
26:49
What you need to turn that that light around and focus it on all
26:53
the aspects of the business, not just the.
26:55
Most of the most of the unsustainable practices what
26:59
happened are in the coffee. Shop, we get a local farm box
27:02
here and I was talking at the farmer's market.
27:06
I, I met the farmer that the farm, the farmer representative
27:10
and I was like, well, is it organic?
27:12
You know, like, how are you growing this?
27:14
And like, you don't have any of the certifications they have
27:16
over there. And his answer was, well, we
27:19
couldn't afford those certifications.
27:21
Like we, if we can't afford that, we're certainly not
27:23
affording the chemicals that you're worried about.
27:26
Here's here's what we do. We set up a video camera.
27:28
If you want to check in on what we're doing on any given day,
27:31
you just log in. And I thought that was such a
27:33
smart way to answer that question because I immediately
27:36
was like, oh, wow, I'm going to actually, if I not that I do
27:39
check in on it because I trust that they're doing it now.
27:41
But it was a nice way to say, oh, like the challenges you're
27:45
facing are the same challenges as a customer that I'm facing
27:48
that I'm concerned about, you know, the cost of it and where
27:51
it comes from and how it's grown.
27:54
You have this kind of large network of this large community
27:58
in coffee. Is that you we've, you've talked
28:02
a bit about being true to yourself and, and who you are.
28:06
Does your coffee community and your personal community overlap
28:09
a lot? Or do you find that you need a
28:11
break from one side or the other?
28:15
Yeah, I feel like it was like maybe a couple years ago where I
28:17
was like, OK, I can't have my life be coffee.
28:20
And FYI, I, I feel like everybody who's listening to
28:24
this, like don't forget about that.
28:26
I feel like it's super important to keep this, this balance.
28:29
Even if we do a bad job at it, at least you have the intention
28:32
to like separate ourselves from coffee sometimes.
28:34
It's super important. It will make you happier.
28:36
It will make you a better coffee person if you at least try to
28:41
have a world outside of coffee. I promise.
28:46
But but yeah, at the same time they do a lot of the times
28:50
intersect and it is beautiful. It is as as cliche as it sounds.
28:55
It is the community that that keeps me going and interesting
29:00
interested in in coffee because I feel like where the
29:07
intersections happen is with with creativity.
29:10
Like I'm drawn to creativity, creatives, all that fun stuff.
29:17
And I even creativity, I think in the intersects with
29:22
sustainability, like if we make sustainability cool and, and,
29:27
and and sexy and the, and the, you know, marketing sort of way.
29:31
Like I always tell like people how part of sustainability
29:35
should be creativity because the farmers want to see their
29:40
product being showcased in the most beautiful way possible.
29:43
And that when they, whenever I show producers like all the
29:47
creative packaging and all the cool events that shops do with
29:53
their coffees, like they get so excited and they get so happy
29:55
and they feel so proud of their, of the work that they do.
30:00
And like psychologically, that is such a huge part of, of, of
30:06
just making it sustainable for them to grow coffee if they're
30:10
excited and happy about it and then gives them the right
30:13
endorphins to, to want to keep doing it.
30:15
That's also, I feel like a sustainable practice, you know,
30:17
so I feel like there is this creative part that draws me to,
30:22
to coffee and, and I want to see more of it.
30:24
And I do tend to surround myself with, with these roasters and
30:29
people that, that like that. And I and I do think the beauty
30:34
about San Diego coffee is that everybody is creative in their
30:38
own way. You know, at all this new wave
30:40
of, of coffee roasters in the city that has proliferate, the
30:45
proliferation of these new roasters being ex baristas or
30:50
coming out of either the food or, or barista world and seeing
30:56
all their personalities just represented in their shops.
30:59
Like it gives me life. It makes me really happy.
31:04
And so, yeah. San Diego's coffee scene I think
31:07
is just in incredible, just in its growth.
31:10
I mean quality, absolutely, but also just growth.
31:13
I moved to North County from San Diego eight years ago and when I
31:19
go back, I was, I was down in Pacific Beach yesterday.
31:23
There's like 7 new coffee places for me to choose from that
31:26
wasn't there before. Or people ask me all the time,
31:29
oh, have you been to this place in, I don't know, Chula Vista or
31:32
Mission Hills? I was like, no, there's so many.
31:36
Like I could spend every day of the year going to a new one.
31:39
San Diego in particular, being a border town, I think has a
31:43
unique relationship with Mexico. And I feel that here in San
31:48
Diego, I see a lot more coffees from Mexico represented than I
31:51
do necessarily out in, in my travels elsewhere in California,
31:57
San Diego, Southern California. Do you think that that there's a
32:01
relationship that we have or should have with Mexican coffee
32:05
farmers that we do or we don't? I mean where do you see that
32:08
relationship and and how does proximity impact our support for
32:13
those farms? Yeah, this is a great question.
32:16
I, as some people know like I do have this particular interest
32:22
and passion for coffee from Mexico.
32:24
It's been maybe like, so my first supplier visit to Mexico
32:32
was eight years ago to Veracruz and with Samuel Ronson of La
32:38
Jolla Coffee. And that really opened up my
32:42
eyes on where coffee from Mexico was heading.
32:49
And the history 'cause I, I got to visit some like really
32:51
historical farms and mills in Mexico and just kind of seen the
32:56
history of coffee from Mexico being commercial.
32:59
But then the, the newer generation of coffee farmers
33:02
really wanting to, you know, that come from that history and
33:05
those families to, to progress into the specialty world.
33:10
And and, you know, they them having almost realized how they
33:13
were maybe behind the times or just, you know, they they
33:17
weren't at the level where like all the other Central American
33:20
coffee producers were, were heading to because of historical
33:26
reasons, right. And that trip was very
33:31
insightful. At the same time, I was working
33:33
for a company that was heavily investing in Oaxaca and I got to
33:36
work with Israel Baz now of dental coffee.
33:43
And together we came up with this like selection of Oaxaca
33:47
and micro lots, again with the creativity twist of making it
33:52
Lotaria themes. And it was super cool.
33:54
And honestly, it was modern times that was like the 1st.
33:57
And I bring them up again, they were the first ones that were
34:02
really interested in carrying these micro lots.
34:05
And I think because of their beer background, they understood
34:10
the market of what people wanted.
34:13
Where I feel like a lot of the roasters were like, oh, coffee
34:16
from Mexico is not specialty. They were more open minded about
34:23
where the coffee from Mexico could go.
34:26
So it was truly because of their interest that I was like, OK, we
34:31
can make this happen. And it was a success.
34:34
And then from from that background now at Inter
34:38
American, I feel like I understood the potential and
34:43
I've always been interested in in Mexico.
34:45
I grew up here in San Diego. And yeah, like you said, it was
34:48
like this. There's I'm not Mexican.
34:50
I'm from Ecuador. But having grown up at the
34:52
border, you, you feel that connection.
34:56
And I feel like that is true for a lot of people in San Diego.
35:01
You don't necessarily have to be Mexican to want to carry Mexican
35:04
coffee. You see it at all these shops
35:06
here because we all resonate with the culture.
35:10
Yeah. So those are all reasons why I
35:14
have this passion for coffee from Mexico.
35:17
Then obviously I've been able to do different trips to visit
35:21
different, you know, I visited Oaxaca, Veracruz, different
35:25
parts of Veracruz, Chiapas in Mexico and just seeing
35:29
everything that's happening and especially these last few years,
35:34
getting more of a sense of the political situation and all of
35:40
that reality as well. You know, it's a very complex
35:45
supply chain down there as well because of the cartels and all
35:49
this other stuff that's happening in, in Mexico
35:52
surrounding violence and immigration.
35:56
It's been truly cool again with my, my history like brain like
36:00
just to, to see it all and then get to write about, I write
36:03
these reports and, and then yeah.
36:06
So all of that is I feel like it's really interesting.
36:08
Also for me, it's like there are all these coffees producing all
36:13
these coffee producing countries.
36:15
I truly can't wrap my brain around every country.
36:19
I'm not going to say I'm an expert on all the countries
36:22
because it would, you know, people that say that I'm like,
36:25
are you really? I, I, I feel like I, I, I like
36:29
focusing on, you know, less is more.
36:34
So I with Mexico for sure. I feel very passionate about
36:38
also Peru. I've I've loved making
36:42
connections there. The reason why you see all these
36:45
different coffees from Mexico all over San Diego is yeah, is
36:49
that connection. And I do feel like that earlier
36:52
work that I don't want to say like I did.
36:54
It was like a team of people that we did almost like opening
36:57
the door for Mexican coffees of, you know, 84 plus to come in
37:04
and, and for people to want to carry them because people were
37:08
very apprehensive at first. It was like a hard no on Mexico.
37:13
And then now to see it at almost every shop in San Diego is is
37:17
beautiful and it makes me so happy and I just want to see it
37:20
more of it. That's a good example of how
37:23
representation works. People see it in other shops,
37:26
they get a chance to try it without the risk of being the
37:29
one bringing it in. And then in the future they're
37:31
running their own shop and going, oh, you know what we
37:33
should do, Talk to Pablo about Mexico coffees.
37:38
My first coffee farm experience was actually in Ecuador.
37:42
And I was unfortunately, fortunately and unfortunately
37:46
not terribly well versed in coffee at the time.
37:49
And so I just kind of took it in as this as this fun experience.
37:53
You were instrumental in something called the Cold Brew
37:57
City Fest. Is there any chance it's, I
38:00
don't believe it's currently happening, but is there any
38:01
chance a cold brew festival comes back that you're part of?
38:07
Well, so first I, I do want to like because I, I get this
38:11
question all the time and just for people to understand what
38:15
this was for me, this festival was a creative concept.
38:19
It was almost like an art piece that came together because of it
38:24
was three people, right? It was it sell Isla's in the
38:28
creative front. She's an artist here in San
38:30
Diego. And Kane Adams was the organizer
38:35
of the actual competition, logistics and all things like
38:39
structural judging of the Coffee Cobra part.
38:44
And then I kind of was the glue to bring all of it together and
38:47
actually make it happen. Yeah.
38:49
It was just like a very particular time where like the
38:51
three of us were in San Diego and division came up.
38:56
But it just the creative part was such a big component of it.
39:00
And it was a coffee festival. But I like to think of it as a
39:04
as a yeah, as a more of a creative sort of thing that
39:09
happened. And.
39:11
And yeah, unfortunately, like, because you know, if, if not all
39:16
of the members are, are here and you know, our jobs have changed
39:21
and all this, it's made it very hard to kind of bring it
39:24
together. Also now we have the, you know,
39:27
we just had our first San Diego coffee festival.
39:30
And honestly, when I, when I saw that I was at first, I was like,
39:34
oh man, cuz you know, it was on my password, at least bring it
39:36
back at some point. But it is just a massive amount
39:40
of work. We really, truly did it out of
39:43
passion and all the little details that we put in.
39:46
It was because we wanted to create this like artistic almost
39:51
experience for people to come and create this moment of, of
39:56
happiness that, you know, 'cause every, every festival had a
39:59
theme and we did a video, we did a song.
40:01
We did all these fun things that really were just us trying to
40:06
like express our creativity through coffee.
40:10
Which again, I feel like it's something that is very important
40:13
to me. So yeah, to bring it back, I
40:15
feel like would be. I don't know, would be
40:17
difficult. If anything, I've been trying to
40:20
channel that energy and everything that I learned from
40:24
that experience into new events, new ideas, new concepts.
40:29
What I like to call my new Pablo era is like almost, you know,
40:34
not not amateur different, but it's like now I learned so many
40:38
things from putting that festival on from my different
40:43
team members, like specialty, especially like, you know,
40:47
diversity, inclusion. And those were big takeaways
40:51
from from putting the the festival together, being
40:56
proactive about the creating a diverse group of people.
41:01
Everything that you do needs to truly represent what is
41:05
happening, right? We wanted to create like a
41:08
little micro environment of, of the actual coffee scene.
41:13
So we, we were inviting people from Tijuana, from LA women
41:17
roasters and all that. So I feel like now that I get to
41:22
plan a lot of events for Inter American coffee, it's like I've
41:26
taken that into now, you know, we're, we're about to host our
41:32
third women's month mixer. And I feel like when I do events
41:37
like that, I try to incorporate all those different things and
41:42
doing collaborations with like a roaster and an ice cream maker
41:47
and, and have it at the event or like a pastry chef and one of
41:51
the roasters and create a pastry together for the event.
41:53
And all these things come together and now I get to do, do
41:56
them for, for Inter American coffee.
41:59
Also, you know, when I host events for SCAA or anything like
42:03
that, it's still in a sense alive.
42:08
And the cuppings that I do here at the office when we do them.
42:13
But to bring it back, it was just a very particular moment in
42:16
time. You are through that back then
42:22
and and the events you do now and through your role as a
42:24
trader, you're engaging with a lot of people.
42:28
Sometimes you're going to be coming across somebody who is
42:30
new to buying coffee, somebody who is not trusting in
42:36
themselves. Is there a piece of advice that
42:39
you might offer a roaster who was looking to not just buy a
42:44
good coffee or an excellent coffee, but to, you know,
42:49
anything that if they were aspiring to be good at it for
42:51
the long term, what would you say to them?
42:54
The specific customer that I deal with is like the new to
42:59
medium sized roaster, right? So I'm literally talking to new
43:02
roasters every week. So this question is perfect.
43:06
Yeah. So, yeah, I, I feel like I
43:11
always kind of, you know, make very direct questions on like
43:14
what they enjoy or what, what their take on coffee is.
43:20
I try to assess like what they're, what they value from
43:23
coffee. You know, a lot of people that
43:25
come from like the restaurant scene, like for them, it's more
43:29
I, I, I kind of understand exactly what they're looking for
43:33
as far as like the profile of the coffees.
43:35
If you come from a coffee background, I feel like, you
43:38
know, you're going to want more of the more fun stuff or what we
43:41
consider fun. So I, I gear them towards that.
43:45
So it's really just like, you know, if you call a company an
43:49
important company and you're like, Hey, I'm new.
43:51
Like be be sure to like talk about your personality and what,
43:58
what you're truly seeking from, from coffee.
44:00
And just be very also mindful about don't ask for like 10
44:05
samples. First of all, like I don't do
44:08
that. I'm always very clear about
44:10
like, OK, let's narrow this down.
44:12
Let's let's, let's not be wasteful And let's, you know, I
44:16
understand people want to like try it all, but you know, if let
44:21
let your trader kind of at least guide you through the first
44:26
round. You know, and I do like to have
44:29
people come to the office to cut to kind of get a sense of, of
44:33
what they do. But it's really important for
44:34
you to communicate like what your vision or your dream for,
44:37
for the company that you, you want to start or you're
44:40
starting, but definitely like shop around, talk to different
44:44
importers. I do feel like it is crazy to me
44:46
how San Diego has, you know, we're, we're here in San Diego.
44:50
We have a cupping lab. We're very welcoming.
44:52
It's a very like cool office. We're very happy to have people
44:57
come and and do coupings here. So so that's that's I feel like
45:01
something that if you live in another city, you might not
45:04
understand that that's not something that everybody has.
45:08
You can't go to like even LA and have a cupping not an importer
45:12
because no importer there has an office.
45:14
So we're in a very particular city that has a few importers
45:18
here that you can just go walk in and cup to take advantage of
45:23
that. If you're in San Diego, yes, it
45:26
is very overwhelming all the offerings.
45:32
So, yeah, I, I, I feel like I also as AII try to for my own
45:40
sake, not have that FOMO of like, you know, I'm constantly
45:47
on Instagram and I'm like always looking at what everybody else
45:50
is doing. And I feel like this is true for
45:53
everybody, right? Same for roasters.
45:54
It's like you, you get like this FOMO of like, damn, I'm not
45:58
doing enough. Or like, did you see that other
46:01
importer doing all these other cool things?
46:04
But that could easily drown you down.
46:08
Right now I'm mostly just focused on like, OK, this is the
46:11
supply chain that we have and that we're working on.
46:13
I'm clearly, obviously seeing what everybody else is doing,
46:16
but my job is to, you know, be proud of the people that we're
46:21
working with. And if anything, like if I see
46:23
something cool, I'm going to want to discuss it with, with
46:26
who we're working with and, and see if we could do something
46:28
similar or we could focus or even have the conversation about
46:34
different varietals or something like that.
46:35
But I feel like, yeah, work, work within your, your network
46:41
and and if you're new and starting out, have a clear
46:46
vision of what you you want to be as a roaster.
46:51
I'm I'm assuming you try a lot of coffees.
46:58
Do you ever get a chance to just go and drink a coffee without
47:01
having to think about it? Is that even possible for you?
47:05
It is. It is possible for me.
47:06
I'm not going to say where I get coffee sometimes because it
47:09
might be controversial. Well, if you were out and about,
47:13
you know, let's say you were, you were just headed around, you
47:16
saw a coffee shop and you stopped in.
47:18
What do you order when you look at the menu?
47:20
Well, OK, to be truthful. So Monday through Friday, I, we
47:25
have amazing coffee here at the office because I, you know, I'm
47:29
able to, to order or buy coffee from, from, from our customers
47:34
or they send us coffee. So Monday through Friday, like
47:38
I'm set. We're always brewing the Chemex
47:40
and it's, it's always really fun and everybody here is really
47:43
picky. So we always have good coffees
47:47
and, and great discussions. And on top of that, we cup.
47:50
So, but, and then on the weekend, I realistically just
47:54
got two days to to venture out and drink coffee.
47:57
And that's why sometimes if you follow me on Instagram, you're
48:00
like, they'd probably really just go to three shops and on.
48:06
And it's because it gives me such happiness to like go to
48:10
customers and then drink a coffee that I somehow help be a
48:13
part of or like, you know, to sit there and just drink it and
48:18
taste it and be like, OK, I went to this farm earlier in the year
48:21
or, or, you know, I suggested this coffee or that is probably
48:27
one of my favorite things to do. So since I do work with so many
48:31
roasters here in the city, it's like, I mean, I that's, that's
48:35
really all I do. I very rarely just walk in to a
48:38
coffee shop. You know, not to say that I
48:41
don't go to coffee shops that don't carry coffee, that I do
48:46
try to venture out sometimes. And I mean, shout out to so many
48:50
cool people doing things out there.
48:52
And I and I generally I am a coffee like I do do it because I
48:57
like it. So I will be curious and want to
49:00
try a different thing so. Yeah, I don't want to put you on
49:02
the spot and ask you for your favorites.
49:04
I wouldn't be fair to everyone and I do go.
49:07
Somewhere I mean I, you know, if I know I, I generally drink
49:13
espresso, you know, if it's going to be a single origin or
49:17
if somebody's really excited about a blend.
49:20
I do enjoy my espressos and you'll see me post about, you
49:24
know, an espresso and then I put the notes because I, I love
49:26
doing that I've been doing that for years and I do love drip.
49:29
I love getting a little side of mini cortado glasses of drip.
49:34
I'm always bothering the burritos.
49:36
I'm like, hey, can I get a little tease like they already
49:37
know I'm going to do that and during the summer, like I love
49:41
cold brew. I like to have a little so I
49:44
always end up with like all these little cortado glasses
49:46
around me. I like to sample everything and
49:50
then if I haven't had breakfast and I'll have a cortado for
49:53
breakfast. Oh, perfect.
49:56
Something we've been doing this year.
49:57
You know, we've talked a little bit about giving back already,
49:59
but for the last couple years we've been kind of making
50:03
donations every month just as something that we do, and we
50:06
wanted to incorporate that into the show.
50:08
So I've just been asking guests if there's any sort of
50:10
charitable or nonprofit efforts that have been important to you
50:13
in the past or are important to you now and stuff that we can
50:16
share with our audience and hopefully grow that sense of,
50:20
hey there, even if it's just a little bit, we can help out.
50:25
Yeah, well, I don't necessarily have like a, a, a charity that
50:30
you know, that I can think about.
50:31
But if this is a topic that I do want to briefly discuss is how,
50:39
because now there are all these smaller roasters.
50:42
I feel like something that I'm noticing that I want people to
50:47
be aware of is that if we and we come together as a community and
50:54
we can create an impact. Sometimes I feel like roasters
50:57
think because they're so small, you know, they're not going to
51:01
be able to do things that like maybe bigger roasters can do
51:04
regarding projects, you know, in the producing countries.
51:10
And I do want people to know that outside of me selling you
51:16
coffee, I can also help you come together with people down in
51:23
these countries. And why not like let's put some
51:27
money together and let's buy some depoppers or like some sort
51:30
of equipment or if, you know, a producer needs something like
51:35
let's let's come together and let's make that happen.
51:37
Like I want to see more of that. I don't see that enough.
51:43
I feel like I missed that from the Bird Rock direct trade era.
51:48
That was kind of like a very important part of the specialty
51:52
world that I feel like we're losing because we're being so
51:55
focused on the quality side of things or like the what's fun,
51:59
what's new? Oh, that is great, but in
52:02
moderation because we also need to.
52:05
For me, coffee is a medium for social change.
52:09
Like that's why I'm in it. I truly believe that it can be
52:14
something that can bring 2 worlds together and communities
52:18
together. I want to see San Diego as a
52:20
community, be connected to communities in the producing
52:25
countries and create this, you know, international community.
52:31
Let's do it. Like let's focus on that.
52:34
I feel like the year starting, if everybody comes together on a
52:38
project or if you know, because even if you're a small roaster,
52:42
like you can afford to buy a producer some sort of equipment
52:45
and then if we all do it, that's a huge impact.
52:49
I recently collaborated with genteel and Ortrea coffee and
52:54
together we did 10 depopers. You know, that's, that's more
53:00
than then I'm, I'm sorry, that's more than like a lot of the
53:03
bigger roasters are doing. And these are two roasters here
53:08
in the city. So you can do it.
53:11
And if you and I do, would love to find a way for all of us as a
53:15
community to come together and do like one big project like
53:18
that would be super cool. That's on my To Do List to
53:23
hopefully be able to do. I remember one time we also put
53:29
together a project to help build coverings for for like to dry
53:38
the the the coffee and that was a cool project we did a while
53:44
ago and same. It was like people, even
53:46
baristas donated and stuff. So we we can do it and we need
53:49
to do more of it. That's a really, I think,
53:53
rewarding way to support producing country too, or
53:57
producing farmer because you actually will see the change
54:00
that you're trying to enact as opposed to sometimes when you
54:03
donate, whether it's money or clothes or help or whatever it
54:06
might be, there's a little bit of a, OK, I pushed it out the
54:11
door and now it's just sort of gone.
54:13
And I'm assuming it went to a good cause or it went to a good
54:15
thing that I, you know, trusting that they did that in this
54:18
situation, what you're talking about, you're actually making a
54:21
connection with somebody on the other side and seeing how that's
54:23
going to impact them. So if I have an idea, if anyone
54:27
has an idea, we could route it to Pablo and we see where we can
54:31
go. Anything I missed today that you
54:34
want people to know about you, about Inter American, about
54:37
anything that's on your brain? Well, I mean, I just as a
54:41
conclusion, I just want to say like how happy I am with the
54:45
current state of all the the small roasters popping up in San
54:50
Diego. Because like I said, I feel like
54:53
everybody that is opening up their shops has this coffee
54:57
background. And, you know, they're former
55:00
baristas that maybe I worked with in the past.
55:03
And then not to see them have their shops and showcase their
55:07
personality in the products. And now, you know, having worked
55:12
with people as baristas and now I get to sell them.
55:14
Coffee is just such a beautiful thing.
55:17
And we have a beautiful thing going.
55:19
And let's remember, like I said, to come together, even if you
55:26
don't work with me, like let's do a project together.
55:28
Let's let's not forget how coffee can have such a big
55:35
social impact and have that be the conversation or be part of
55:41
the conversation. Yeah, support each other and,
55:45
and, and we have such a beautiful community.
55:47
I truly feel it and I feel like so many people from different
55:51
cities always reach out to me and they're like, man, it just
55:53
looks like you guys are having so much fun down here and then
55:55
and we are. And at least that's that's what
55:58
I see. So let's, let's keep it doing,
56:00
let's keep it going. Pablo, I, I, I appreciate the
56:03
sentiment. I appreciate you.
56:04
We've gone long. I've taken an hour of your life
56:07
away from, from coffee and work and everything else that you're
56:10
doing. I just really appreciate you
56:12
taking the time. Thank you, Ryan.
56:15
Thanks for having me. And is everyone else listening?
56:18
You'll find all the links that we chatted about in today's
56:20
episode, including the one to interamericancoffee.com and
56:24
Pablo's Instagram that he's always on constantly in this
56:28
podcast show notes. And we'll also include that our
56:31
newsletter, which you can sign up for
56:32
orfollow@coffeepeoplepodcast.com. This podcast is part of our
56:38
Roast West Coast network and can be found on all your favorite
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56:44
search for coffee people. Shout out to our presenting
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sponsor, Real Star Incorporated. Their support has enabled us to
56:49
keep doing this to keep telling these stories and and talking to
56:52
people like Pablo. So thank you.
56:56
Thank you for listening and letting us share these stories.
56:59
Tip your baristas, be sure to drink, you know, good coffee.
57:03
Thank you. I did want to expand on what
57:10
projects I've been currently working on in Mexico.
57:14
And you know, the last two years I've been able to take roasters
57:20
from San Diego to different parts of Mexico and, and you
57:27
know, naming off it was like Otrella coffee, Genteel, 7 Seas,
57:34
Caffeine and Green and some other roasters.
57:37
But those are the ones from from San Diego.
57:40
And I feel like, yeah, so the these last two harvests, right.
57:46
And then creating those relationships with certain
57:50
coffees, like the first year we were able to visit Chiapas and
57:57
Veracruz, where our headquarters are located.
58:01
And the region of Zangolica is where we work with a lot of
58:05
women producers and we have a very cool women produce lot.
58:10
So that coffee was sort of new to us at that point.
58:15
It was probably like the second harvest, but it did really well.
58:20
And I would definitely wanted to visit because I'm always really
58:24
interested in coffees from female producers.
58:27
And I just like that representation aspect of, of, of
58:32
coffees when you can have a single producer that's a woman
58:35
or a group. And so we went there and then
58:39
it's cool, you know, then the next year that has grown.
58:41
And now for this third year, you know, we've seen such a growth
58:48
of popularity in that coffee, the women's Zangolica coffee,
58:54
super popular coffee that we that we carry.
58:57
And then that that year also the first time we went to Chiapas
59:04
and we started working with a single producer for the Dragon
59:09
Law Natural. And that also has been a very
59:12
popular coffee that has continued to grow and working
59:17
with a Co-op called Mokave and Chiapas, we've visited them two
59:22
times. So yeah, it's it's that like
59:27
going back and bringing these roasters and seeing the growth
59:32
that I've been working on. And especially now with the last
59:37
year, we started visiting Finco Esperanza, which is a single
59:42
producer farm. And we brought really fun
59:45
coffees from them that you can find them Genteel and Seven Seas
59:51
and a few others. The most exciting one,
59:55
personally, I feel like it was the Finca Tierra arenas that
1:00:01
provecho carries this year. There's a a woman produced micro
1:00:06
lot natural super fun. So again, it's just it's it
1:00:11
seems like it would be an easy thing to just kind of accomplish
1:00:14
bringing Oh, a micro lot. I just like pick.
1:00:16
But these are these are things that like we're going there,
1:00:20
we're visiting the farms, we're cupping at the table.
1:00:23
At the same time, I have to like very quickly think of customers
1:00:26
that are going to like want these differentiated lots 'cause
1:00:29
we're taking on this risk and it's like opening the ground for
1:00:33
for new coffees. Another one, for example, like
1:00:36
with Finca Esperanza, this is the first time that coffee has
1:00:39
ever been imported into the United States.
1:00:43
So, yeah, that's kind of like the work that I've been doing
1:00:46
also with Finca Mux Bal that's been a super popular one too.
1:00:50
And again, I feel like it that's been like three to four years in
1:00:55
the works. You know, we started buying 20
1:00:57
bags, then 30 bags and then now, you know, this this crop we're
1:01:02
talking about like possibly bringing like our full, our
1:01:05
first full container of this lot because we just have so many
1:01:08
customers that that like it. But it's like this work takes a
1:01:12
lot because I have to constantly like remind the, the, the
1:01:15
roasters, you know, how special this coffee is and the work I do
1:01:19
calls and, and, and just try to keep everybody in the loop.
1:01:22
I have calls with the producers like this last weekend I had a
1:01:25
call with Jorge from Pinka Mooksball.
1:01:27
And I happened to be a genteel 'cause it was a Saturday.
1:01:31
I was just on my day off having a coffee.
1:01:33
But that was the the best time for me to be in like a good mood
1:01:37
and just in the clarity, mental clarity to like be able to have
1:01:41
a conversation with the with the producer and what better to be
1:01:45
talking to him while at the same time like drinking his coffee.
1:01:49
So I was drinking it and I messaged him and he was like,
1:01:51
hey, let's talk. And I was like, actually I was
1:01:54
like, hey, this is a good time. And then we, we talked about how
1:01:56
this year is going to go. So yeah, I know it's, it's kind
1:02:03
of a lot, but you have to have that drive and passion to want
1:02:07
to have to make it a thing and make it happen and, and make it
1:02:11
grow. So when you ask like, why do we
1:02:13
see all these coffees from Mexico all over San Diego?
1:02:17
Yeah, it's been a work of of many years and it continues to
1:02:21
change and it has its up and downs, but yeah.
1:02:28
So that's that's basically. What I you've been building, you
1:02:31
know, a market for it, essentially, you know, you've
1:02:33
been teaching people about it. When you say that you bring
1:02:37
roasters to Origin, which is a really cool experience for
1:02:41
anyone who gets the opportunity, what do you see when you bring
1:02:45
somebody that maybe hasn't been to Origin before?
1:02:47
I mean, we all see YouTube videos of Origin and we all
1:02:52
understand the farming idea in theory, but do you see a change
1:02:56
in the customers you're working with when they're actually at
1:02:59
the farm and seeing the physicalness of it and the
1:03:01
physical labor of it and understanding, you know, feeling
1:03:04
the dirt? I mean, is there, what is that
1:03:06
experience like when you have a group of people who are at
1:03:09
origin and those are the people that someday will be roasting
1:03:12
and brewing the coffee? Yeah, so First off, like I feel
1:03:16
like I make it always extremely clear how this is a another
1:03:22
concept that has been like colonialized the whole like
1:03:26
origin visit. I just, I hate the term and I
1:03:29
just feel like for the longest time there was this like
1:03:33
exoticism behind the concept of like people from the global N
1:03:38
going to the third world to find through jungles that, you know,
1:03:43
that whole thing I, I, I hate. So the, the message I try to
1:03:47
convey is that we are literally going to go have business
1:03:50
meetings. You're going to go meet your
1:03:52
business partners, which is why I like to call this like
1:03:55
supplier visits, right, 'cause you're same as if you were going
1:03:58
to go visit your, the factory where they make your cups, like
1:04:02
where you're going to visit your supplier.
1:04:04
You're going to have conversations about business
1:04:07
'cause this is what we're doing. And yes, you're going to have a
1:04:10
cool experience, but that is a byproduct of the experience.
1:04:16
This to me is not the whole point is not to show you how
1:04:19
beautiful a farm is, is for you to meet the person that you're
1:04:22
doing business with. But at the same time, obviously,
1:04:27
it creates a very important memory for the roasters to just
1:04:32
remember all the work. And everybody's always so
1:04:35
impressed by the amount of work that it takes to create your
1:04:37
coffee. And they do think that is super
1:04:41
valuable because, yeah, if something happens, if there's
1:04:44
some sort of delay or something, like people here sometimes don't
1:04:48
have a concept of all the work and all the people that go
1:04:51
behind getting your coffee here. We've gotten a lot better at
1:04:56
that. I feel like especially during
1:04:58
COVID, it was like a big reality check to a lot of people.
1:05:01
So we are at a better point than where we were as far as like
1:05:05
understanding the complexities of getting coffee to another to
1:05:09
this country. But I think the most important
1:05:14
take away is just for people to, for me, it's for people to
1:05:18
realize that if you're going to go on one of these trips, it's
1:05:21
to build a connection with a coffee that you're probably
1:05:23
already purchasing or with, you know, with the intent that
1:05:27
you're going there to do business because that that's
1:05:31
what this is. If not, why would these people
1:05:33
open the doors to their farms? And they usually like give you
1:05:37
food and give you, you know, and, and it's their time.
1:05:39
And usually the visits are happening when it's like their
1:05:42
busy time. So yeah, you got to, I feel like
1:05:45
not enough people are like mindful or respectful sometimes
1:05:47
on that. So I'm always very careful.
1:05:49
Like I I take people to these countries when I know that these
1:05:53
people already have bought the coffee or have some relationship
1:05:56
with the coffee or have the intent of like growing their
1:06:00
presence and with these coffees. It's an interesting, I feel a
1:06:04
little chastised, but I think it's an interesting point on the
1:06:08
language of how we talk about it.
1:06:09
And you mentioned the term origin trip and I just wasn't
1:06:14
thinking of of how people listening might be like, oh,
1:06:17
this is what they're talking about.
1:06:19
I like the term that you used supplier visits.
1:06:23
It makes a lot of sense. I mean, I don't mean to dismiss,
1:06:27
I don't mean to dismiss that side of it.
1:06:30
Certainly I think the people that are also visiting are
1:06:33
thinking about it in terms of their future product and how
1:06:37
they're going to be selling that story at some point.
1:06:39
The same way that you're selling a story and the farmers are
1:06:42
selling a product. And it's an interesting thing to
1:06:46
think about, not just as a, I'm not a roaster, but when I'm
1:06:52
talking to roasters or when I'm visiting a coffee shop and
1:06:56
drinking a coffee from Mexico. I'll certainly be thinking about
1:06:59
that the next time I find myself sitting there.
1:07:04
Anything else that we missed you wanted to shout out?
1:07:10
I know you can't like say your favorites, but you mentioned
1:07:12
that you were at at Genteel. What are you?
1:07:14
What do you order on the menu at Genteel?
1:07:17
Yeah, so I, I, I love going to genteel and honestly like they
1:07:21
so they never do a blend. I don't think they've ever had a
1:07:24
blend. So they always have two single
1:07:26
origin espressos and yeah, so when I go there, they know it's
1:07:31
espresso time and they have like Alfon espresso and a chill
1:07:35
espresso. So that's how they they classify
1:07:38
them. So I was having a shot of
1:07:40
espresso from a Pinko Esperanza and anaerobic washed and it was
1:07:45
delicious. It was like perfectly fruity and
1:07:48
chocolatey and yeah, super nice. I need a chill espresso
1:07:54
tomorrow. That's for certain.
1:07:58
I've been needing a lot of chilling lately.
1:08:02
Thank you for coming back. I appreciate it.
1:08:04
I also appreciate that you reached out.
1:08:05
I'm going to stop. The.
1:08:49
The.