Kissick, C., King, C., and Maggio, D.

This two-part episode conducted by Sourceress dives into the reality of the coffee supply chain. Firstly, it investigates renowned Ethiopia and its singular producing, exporting and trading structure. In this interview, Heleanna Georgalis confront us to the current financial stress endured by Ethiopian smallholder producers. At this stage, it seems vital to raise farmgate prices without which high-quality Ethiopian coffee, as we know it, may rapidly disappear. The economic struggle translates into social and environmental damages involving massive deforestation and the loss of coffee lands in favour of Khat cultivation, an alternative harmful cash crop. Secondly, Nick Kirby introduces a new sustainability initiative coupling geospatial analysis and field surveys in order to build-up a comprehensive database capable of supporting smallholder farmers on their practices and assessing diverse sustainability outcomes locally. Finally, Mike Nelson shows that efficient communication and innovative education tools can be a way to increase awareness among consumers. However, it emerges that cultural habits and historical low selling prices at retail level may restrict changes and social acceptance even though farmers’ poverty is acknowledged, thus highlighting the importance of strong community leadership. This podcast is recommended for anyone looking into sustainable and innovative strategies.

Rolf, P.

In this podcast series, Patrik Rolf from April Coffee hosts a succession of interviews with leaders of the specialty coffee industry around the world. This series provides the coffee community with individual experiences, insights and approaches when dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and gives an understanding of the current specialty coffee landscape. A common key aspect that stands out to effectively tackle those challenges is communication and how human relationships shape the outcomes of strategic decisions, business core identity and partnerships. A great example of sustainable relationships, flexibility and mutual understanding is the support given by certain producers to buyers, accommodating green beans volume and premium rates as per up-to-date market situation when possible. The pandemic set a difficult environment to operate in and those extreme conditions have been testing the values, structural organization and process efficiency so far implemented by those businesses, thus speeding-up the introduction of changes or consolidating the existing vision. The growth in digital presence from a marketing, collaborative and environmental perspective is discussed and introduces the likely impact of distant interaction between consumers, roasters and producers. This series shall be particularly interesting for business owners and leaders from every level of the coffee chain

Solis, L.

This podcast series held by Lucia Solis is an extensive and resourceful library covering coffee processing microbiology, her personal experience in the coffee chain and desire to help creating more value at the producing level. As a former winemaker turned into coffee processing specialist, Lucia is able to highlight the misconceptions surrounding coffee fermentation. She does so by providing a common core of knowledge, clarifying the definitions of standard [and more specific] terms and illustrating the objective of various processing techniques. Her approach to support growers in improving quality, consistency and flavour enhancement is driven by the wish to rebalance the existing power dynamic. While coffee researches and scientific notions are brought to the fore, Lucia also takes us into her coffee travels and projects at origins, enthusiastically shares her discussions with growers and other specialists, draws a well-needed parallel and distinction with wine and tea, and constantly brings a fresh look at the topics by including feedback from the podcast listeners. This podcast is strongly recommended for the coffee growers as a comprehensive education resource and for anyone encouraging a fair distribution of value in the coffee chain.

Carlson, B. and Fabre, A.

This podcast series held by Ben Carlson and Abby Fabre focuses on remarkable coffee producers from Honduras, Colombia and Brazil. Each episode is dedicated to a particular leader and enables us to understand the story, vision and impact they have on their local communities and beyond. It also gives us a clear picture and practical examples of individuals who are implementing alternative models they believe in to overcome challenges that many are facing in the coffee industry. It does so thanks to wonderful, entertaining and friendly interactions between the guests and hosts! Among other topics, in Honduras, the producer-to-roaster single relationship model is weaken by the global pandemic impacts and puts specialty coffee farmers in difficulties. In Colombia, developing the local specialty coffee culture to avoid global market volatility and macroeconomic issues is encouraged. Eco-friendly organic practices, farming innovations supporting biodiversity and coffee tourism related activities are also discussed. In Brazil, another take on organic techniques and financial viability is given while highlighting women’s leadership. This podcast series is highly recommended to anybody who advocates for sustainable coffee and wants to get an insight from producing countries key actors.

Weinhold, K.

This video series gives a detailed introduction to the coffee supply chain economics. Thanks to his international business background and experience with Cedro Alto in Colombia, Karl Wienhold guides us through the complexities of the coffee supply chain processes and demystifies the economic notions behind it. With a growing demand for transparency and traceability in the coffee industry, it seems vital to equip all actors from the farmer to consumer with the tools to understand the distribution of value and strengthen sustainable economic models. This educational series provides a description of essential terms and principles and illustrates them through practical examples applied to the Colombian coffee chain context. The content highlighted shall be of interest for most coffee stakeholders and particularly for buyers concerned about sustainable sourcing strategies.