Rafael buys each bag of coffee directly from the growers. This means we are able to avoid the middle men and give a better price to the growers. We have built relationships with good producers, though we also try to buy from at least one new supplier each year.
In the future we would like to link the little growers into a co-operative. Instead of simply making one payment to them for the washed coffee, we could instead make regular payment throughout the year which would provide them with a more stable income. Keeping things personal would allow us to take greater control of the wet processing and stabilize the fermentation times which can sometimes be rushed by small processors desperate for a quick sale.
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