The coffee industry in Colombia is unique in its production process. To describe the social and environmental conditions of the commodity chosen for this project, Juan Valdéz café, we have to understand the complex system of the coffee production in Colombia and how coffee in general, and Juan Valdéz café in particular is brought into fruition. Juan Valdéz café is an internationally renowned brand of Colombian coffee that…
As far back as 1860, coffee had become the major export in Colombia (Equal Exchange). By the 1920s, however, the coffee industry in the country was undergoing difficult times as a result of unstable international market forces. Thus, coffee growers were not guaranteed a steady income. Out of these circumstances arose an
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Juan Valdéz café includes both it’s own brand logo (the signature) and the Juan Valdéz character, which informs the consumer that it’s 100% Colombian coffee.
Juan Valdéz café is 100% washed Arabica coffee produced within the “Coffee Triangle” of Colombia. Ideally, the coffee is grown within 1200 to 1800 meters above sea level, temperatures between 17 and 23 degrees Celsius and a precipitation level of 2,000 milliliters. Moreover, the coffee is produced in soil originating from volcanic ash, thus it possesses high content of organic material that enhances the quality of the coffee. The specific seasons and methods of coffee growing can vary slightly depending on the region. However, for the majority of coffee growing, the flowering period is from January to March, while the main harvest is from September through December. Certain areas yield particular qualities. For example, places such as Sierra Nevada, located in the north of Colombia, expose coffee to more solar radiation. These coffees tend to be less acidic and have a fuller body compared to the regions of southern Colombia like Nariño in which the coffees are more acidic and sweet. Cultivation processes can vary by region and include traditional plantations with lower productivity or more advanced methods that make use of total sun exposure, partial shade or full shade. To meet the high demands of consumers and the quality standards of the
From the New York Times the article: “Coffee’s Economics, Rewritten by Farmers”, illustrates how Kenneth Lander, a lawyer in Monroe, moved with his family to a coffee farm in San Rafael de Abangares, Costa Rica. Mr. Lander was looking for a more balanced life between work and his lifestyle. Mr. Lander started growing his own coffee from 12 acres of land that yielded 6,000 pounds of specialty-grade coffee beans a year. But in 2008, his financials started to dwindle, and he quickly struggled to support his family. Farmers in his similar financial situation usually turned to organizations like Fairtrade International who typically bailed them out, but for Mr. Lander, he sought out innovative ideas. He began to roast his own beans and sell them
In Columbia, there are numerous industries. Most of them are natural ones such a coffee growing or sugar cane. Columbia is developing new forms of sustainable growing practices for their primary crops, as it not only benefits the environment, but also the profits of the major agricultural companies. These are beneficial for the environment because instead of tearing down beautiful forests to put up a building, the sustainable farming methods are helping to preserve the forests while increasing the quantity of crops of coffee and sugar cane. While organizations are working to improve sustainability, an already existing issue exists, a lack of workers. Although Columbia may be facing challenges such as a lack of workers,
Coffee had lots of demand, but little supply. The country that could grow and export the most coffee had a substantial economic advantage over other countries in terms of commerce.
There are a number of significant competitive barriers within the coffee bean and coffee grind industry. While virtually any firm can purchase the raw materials or even the finished product in the form of ground coffee, the packaging and distribution of the product is a much more sophisticated endeavor. The most significant
Juan Valdez is a well-known character which was created by the NFC to promote and place Colombian coffee on a global scale. Colombia has been an iconic producer of quality coffee and this very character was an initiative to showcase the same in particularly United States. Juan Valdez was launched as a coffee chain in the year 2009 and before that it was seen as an
The United States wanted to expand its territory toward the West and the Southwest during the Market Revolution in search for raw materials. After gaining its independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico was left “destitute, reducing its ability to supply the establecimientos as before.” Aside from that, Native groups such as the Apache and the Comanche returned to raid its supply. They continued to raid Mexico, especially Texas. Eventually, the Native groups reached the outskirts of Mexico City. To create a buffer zone between Mexico and the Natives, the Mexican government opened its border in Texas and welcomed new settlers. Most of these settlers were Anglo-American. By the end of the 1820s, “Anglo-American outnumbered Mexicans in Texas 12,000 to 5,000.” The Anglo-American brought with them cash crops that helped flourished the economy of Texas.
In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, loneliness can be caused by race as shown in Crooks who is the only person on the ranch of color. When all the ranch workers left for the town Lennie stayed behind so he decided to walk around the ranch and he sees a man and wants to talk to him but, the man says he does not want Lennie to come in so they talk outside of his room. Lennie does not understand the idea of racism so he is different fromt the other ranch workers. Lennie starts to talk with Crooks and he says “well, I got a right to have a light, you go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room”(Steinbeck 68).
Coffee is an important source of income, and it is produced in more than fifty developing countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia . Moreover, requiring the labor to be intensive is the reason behind the initial production of coffee beans that includes farming, collecting, and processing, being performed in developing countries.The labor in the developing countries is more abundant to the circumstances necessary for the initial production of coffee. However, The roasting and branding of coffee is more capital intensive, and therefore is it is done in northern industrialized countries( COFFEE VALUE CHAIN & P3G ANALYSIS, n.d).
Coffee beans vary from different countries to regions they can usually be characterized by their differences in aroma, acidity, body, and aroma. Coffee history embellishes the culture of not only one country but basically different cultures and histories worldwide. Coffee is both produced by small farmers and large plantations, one-thousand to three-thousands pounds of
There’s not clear information about how coffee arrived in Colombia. The historic archive says that the Jesuits brought the seeds around 1730. The tradition says that the seeds arrived threw the east of the country, and the harvest where registries in Giron, Santander and Muzo, Boyacá. In 1835 the first commercial production produced 2560 bags and they were exported from Cucuta’s custom. Then the coffee extended to the center and west of the country in the departments of Cundinamarca, Antioquia and the zone of old Caldas. The consolidation of coffee as a product for exportation was from the second half of XIX century. The great expansion of the world economy in that period made that the Colombian peasants find an attractive opportunities in the International market. Between the end of 70s of the XIX century and the start of the XX century the annual production of coffee passed from 60.000 bags to 600.000 bags, this was made in the main big farms of the departments of Santander and Cundinamarca, having at the end of XIX century, 80 percent of the total coffee national production. There was a decline in the international prices in the first years of the XX century; this made a big change in the Colombian coffee cultivation. It can be concluded that in the period between
Over time, the tradition of taking the highly lucrative cash crop of coffee has become universal to the extent that its production is marred with interference from political, social, economic, and scientific concepts that affect its production. In Central America, the major countries that produce coffee include Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua. In these countries, coffee is among the largest traded commodities. Normally, this production takes place through small-scale farmers who are largely dependent on larger corporations to bridge the gap between them and the consumers. Coffee production in Central America is affected by social, economic, globalization and political factors that
In our society, we can see many different kinds of social setting and one of the most common settings is coffee shop. Indeed, there is at least one coffee shop on each block. According to Coffee Association of Canada, the market size of coffee industry in Canada is more than 6.2 billion dollars. It shows that how big and important this social setting is. Among a lot of coffee shops, Starbucks, Tim Horton, and Second Cup are the biggest and the most popular franchisers in Canada. If the purpose of visiting coffee shop is only for coffee itself, they might have not been grown like these days.
Cuba is a country that has a cuisine filled with an abundance of flavors and influences of the origins of its citizens and people that came by the island over the centuries. Filled with fruit trees and the perfect land for raising animals and growing vegetables, Cuban cuisine is unique and vast. A staple in a Cuban’s diet is, of course, their coffee. Internationally known for the strength and flavor of Cuban coffee it has made its way into many people’s morning routines.
The company focuses on unique customer’s experience through a number of a high quality products, distinctive coffee house in environment and customer’s service company Colombia Blend ranked # 1 by a leading consumer product search publication. It also provides an attractive environment to the customers’ .The store design reflects mountain lodge, featuring fireplace, exposed wooden beam and leather sofas and chair. The trained staff provides quality and quick service to customer having personal interaction with them.
The documentary Black Gold, is about the world coffee market and an Ethiopian fair trade cooperative. Ethiopia being the birthplace of coffee is the largest producer of coffee in the world, producing some of the highest quality of coffee beans in the world, like Harar, Yuban and Sidamo types of coffee. The significant problems pointed out in this documentary show what is wrong in the global trading system. Mainly, while most of us continue have our lattes and specialty coffees, the amount paid to the Ethiopian coffee farmers is so low that a lot of them have been forced to chop down some of their coffee fields and rely on other crops to help them survive. The Ethiopian people are malnourished; they have no clean water, no healthcare, and no schools for their families. As quoted in the film, “They are living hand to mouth”.