NEW YORK, U.S.- Raising the traceability and transparency bars for third wave coffee roasters, Devocion – the Colombian brand that entered the U.S. market in November 2014 with the debut of a roasting facility in Brooklyn, NY – yesterday announced the inauguration of its new Exclusive Farm Program for wholesale clients.
The game-changing initiative affords operators the truly unique opportunity to claim the global exclusive for coffee made from beans grown on a single Colombian farm, one whose beans will not be available to any other end user.
Devocion will act as the facilitator to establish the operator / farmer relationship, drawing from its network of 400 small growers throughout Colombia, and will: process the beans at its Bogota mill; fly them to New York for roasting; package; and ship them to their exclusive designated destination.
And those beans, grown under the purest, most natural conditions to assure their singular high quality, will be roasted within 10 to 30 days after harvesting to assure the unparalleled level of freshness that is the hallmark of Devocion.
At a time when transparency is key, when people want to know the origins of what they consume, according to a recent “What America Eats” Report from Nation’s Restaurant News, having an exclusive partnership with a Colombian coffee farm is a valuable distinguishing element for an establishment.
A distinctive feature that can be showcased for public and press alike with captioned pictures of the farm and the people who work it on-site and in social media. In fact, the farm can provide ongoing social media fodder with updates on growing conditions, harvesting and improvements made possible by the partnership.
As Steven Sutton, founder of Devocion, notes, “The relationship between the operator and the farmer can be as close as the former would like.
We can facilitate ongoing direct communication between them and make arrangements for an operator or senior management to spend time at ‘their’ farm to get to know the farmer and his family.
A very special experience that can be shared through various social media platforms.”
In its role as facilitator, Sutton says Devocion will also work with operators to co-brand their coffee, with its traceability to the farmer that grew the beans, and package it for retail sale in their stores. He reiterates, once forged, the operator / farmer relationship can be developed as far as both parties wish to take it.
However the relationship progresses, it will begin with Sutton conducting tastings to determine what flavor characteristics would best define a proprietary coffee for an operator’s brand and to ascertain the monthly quantity required, so he can identify the best farm pairing.
Sutton describes the minimum coffee commitment for participation in the program to be somewhat flexible, depending on the size of the farm partner, but that as low as 25 pounds a week is a general benchmark.
In addition to being the only purveyors in the world of coffee from their individual farms, participants in the new program will have the benefit of Devocion’s industry leading wholesale client service including: technical support 24 /7; no charge for labor on machines; monthly equipment cleaning and maintenance; and complimentary professional coffee service and culture courses.
The new Exclusive Farm Program is the second coffee industry precedent-setting initiative Devocion has implemented in the U.S. The first being its redefinition of “fresh coffee,” by tying the word “fresh” to the age of the beans when roasted.
Devocion roasts beans at their most intensely rich flavor profile prime at only 10 to 30 days out-of-their-natural-parchment young, as opposed to the industry norm of four months to a year old.
This new definition of fresh coffee is made possible by Devocion’s partnership with FedEx, which flies its beans to New York weekly and translates to Devocion being the source of the freshest coffee brewed in this country.
