MEDELLÍN, Colombia — We aren’t consuming coffee like our grandparents did, why are people still sourcing it like them? Those Coffee People is a Medellin based Colombian company, co-founded by Connecticut resident Jennifer Poole, and Medellin resident Andres Diez.
The young entrepreneurs are looking to shake up the dull Colombian coffee exporting scene by making the process of sourcing green coffee beans extraordinary for the coffee buyers- finally aligning the supply chain with the latest trend of consuming coffee through “experience.”
Starbucks famously began the second wave of coffee consumption by bringing people outside of their homes and into cozy coffee shops. They started a global trend of selling the entire experience of going out for a coffee.
Orders that once were complex and difficult (remember the days when we all didn’t know the difference between cappuccino, macchiato, latte, and frappe?) are now common household names, and even outdated by more modern methods such as nitro and cold brew.
According to the March 2018 Report: Global Coffee Market – Growth, Trends and Forecasts (2018 – 2023):
“About 44% of the United States coffee demand comes from the millennial. In eight years, through 2016, the daily consumption among 18 to 24-year-olds increased to 48% from 34% while, it is increased to 60% from 51% among the population aged 25 to 39 years, as reported by the National Coffee Association in New York.”
Millennial consumption habits have been the leading force towards experience consumption and the trend is not stopping at the second wave model of Starbucks.
A third wave and potentially fourth wave of coffee consumption is among us and is placing a special focus on the origins of the beans, the social impact of doing business with coffee farming communities, and the stories of the journey our coffee beans are taking from farm to cup.
With these changing expectations, small local cafes and roasteries are gaining popularity as they can provide a more unique and extensive experience to their customers than the big chain cafe’s can.
Although the end customer is being directly shown these third wave principles by these cafe’s, unfortunately little has been really changed in the supply chain. Large importers and exporters haul massive quantities of beans from warehouse to warehouse around the world, letting the beans grow old, and lose their originality by combining many regions or origins’ beans together.
Therefore, Those Coffee People have established themselves as a true third wave sourcing and exporting company.
They create personal direct trade relationships between roasters, importers, and producers so they can once and for all escape some unnecessary middle men that have plagued the specialty coffee industry.
It certainly won’t be an easy feat, but breaking the barriers of traditional routines never is. You can find out more about their processes, stories, and adventures at their website www.thosecoffeepeople.com or instagram those_coffee_people.
