The article Edwin Martinez wrote about Baristas visiting coffee farms inspired a newanalogy for describing the coffee supply chain: coffee as a baton in arace. The farmer does the very best he can to produce coffee that isgood enough to pay its own bills, and hands the coffee via exportersthen importers to the roaster. The roaster does the very best he can and hands it to the barista. Thebarista is the anchor in the race and has every chance to make or breakall that went before him. I think it is really important that peoplerespect the teammates that ran before them. The reason I like thisanalogy is that the importance lies in the total transfer of ownershipfrom Farmer to Wet Miller to Dry Miller to Exporter to Importer toRoaster to Barista and finally to the Consumer. Not all coffees followthe hand offs described above. For example, co-ops typically fit inbetween the Farmer and the Exporter. Coffee is utterly complex and eachcoffee has its own story. Even Direct Trade coffees often follow thosesteps above. Remember Roasters are not Millers, Exporters or Importers.They are Coffee Roasters.
It happens often enough that the coffee baton is dropped. For example, thefarmer allows some under-ripes through or the wrong Jute bags are usedor the green coffee sits in the port too long or the roaster "sleeps"on the roast or the barista doesn't dial in the grind or any number ofreasons. At those moments, it is important to realize in this smallSpecialty Coffee Industry we are all on the same team. We have to dealwith what is at hand, not every coffee can be mind blowing-ly good. Ipersonally don't believe in bad people. People do bad things, andsometimes coffee can suffer the consequences. If we are handed asub-par coffee, we have to deal with what is at hand, no amount ofcomplaining or finger pointing will actually make that coffee better.The coffee supply chain operates in a one-way transfer of ownership.Once a product is sold, the prior owner has no control over it. Thatwould be like selling a bicycle and then telling the new owner how itcan be ridden! When I sell my green to a roaster, I have no recourse ifhe roasts it poorly. Now, if we decided to change the dose weight orshot volume or pick up the phone and call the teammate before us,coffee will get better, and I guess that is the point of SpecialtyCoffee.
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