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From Soil to Sip: How Purpose Dictates the Coffee Supply Chain
My first job out of school was in the coffee industry, working on a farm in Panama. It was the beginning of an 18-month journey where I learned what it really takes to make a great cup of coffee.
To disperse any unnecessary suspense, I’ll get straight to the answer — which isn’t a fancy brewing contraption, too-cool-for-school baristas, or even Fair Trade. The world’s best coffees are the fruits of a philosophy — one where stewardship, consistency, and passion combine to form a unified system, guiding each seed carefully from soil to sip.
Now, surely that answer was a let down. Too lofty, perhaps? In industries where the supply chain produces such varied results, it’s the commitment to purpose and a value system that governs quality throughout a product’s journey to market. That journey holds valuable lessons, not just for would — be coffee producers, but marketers, brand managers and other professionals — who are hard-pressed to make sure the customer experiences they control live up to a brand’s promise.
So, let’s go a little more granular and look at what that unified system is by running through the production life-cycle of a coffee seed.
