what’s important to us
as a small specialty green coffee importer:
Understanding that coffee is rooted in inequality and power imbalances
Coffee is inextricably tied to and marked by colonialism, slavery, indigenous displacement and erasure, cultural domination, and forced economic dependency of producing countries on the US and Europe. The power that coffee consuming countries hold is not coincidental, but a result of centuries of intentional, systemic decisions. If we want to work in a way that goes against this system, we must first come to terms with the reality of the system and who it was built to benefit.
Recognizing and valuing
each other’s work
There’s no way around it - coffee is HARD work. It’s important to remember that the labor of growers, pickers, and other workers in countries of origin have historically been and continue to be under-valued and under-compensated. Although the C (coffee futures) market impacts all coffee businesses, including ours, it is not an effective mechanism for valuing coffee and sharing profits along the chain. For this reason, our green coffee prices do not fluctuate daily with the market.
At Kapeh Utz, we take the time to understand the capital, labor, and resources that go into coffee production and ask that producers be the ones to lead pricing conversations. If you’d like to learn more about how we buy and sell coffee, please ask - we’d love to tell you!
Prioritizing long-term partnerships
We are all more than the work we do and the products we produce! Knowing each other on a personal level can bring joy and richness to our lives. We believe that long-term partnerships lead to mutual trust and understanding, making all of our jobs easier and more fulfilling. This goes for all of our partners - coffee producers, roasters, warehouse and logistics providers, dry mills, customs brokers, and collaborating importers. Whenever possible, we love partnering with other small businesses that are rooted and invested in their local communities.
Owning what we don’t know,
and collaborating with someone who does
We want to approach our work from a place of open-mindedness and humility. As a small importer, this can look like:
Relying on the expertise of our partners instead of taking control over more steps in the process. Producers know how to grow coffee, mills know how to process and sort, roasters know how to run a cafe. Learning from and relying on each other makes us stronger!
Collaborating with aligned importers and exporters in origins where we don’t have a deep understanding of culture, local practices, and the country’s coffee industry. We believe that this knowledge is necessary for buying coffee intentionally, and recognizing when we lack this knowledge is just as crucial.
Being open to adjusting the way we think and operate. We seek to expose ourselves to a wide range of perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences because we believe it is how we grow.
Buying coffees that are versatile,
consistent, and knock your socks off!
The quality of every coffee is a result of many variables - altitude, rainfall, soil, care of the plants, harvesting methods, processing at the wet and dry mill, storage of the green beans, and much more. We buy specialty grade, mostly washed or natural coffees. Although we love a unique and fun processing method, they’re not always viable for smaller producers due to the high investment of time, resources, and space.
When evaluating quality, Q Scoring can be a concise tool for evaluating and communicating a coffee’s quality and characteristics. However, in our experience the potential of a bean shouldn’t be limited by a score. In addition to how it scores, we consider other aspects of a coffee as well: can it be a solid single origin AND blend well with other coffees? Does it have complex flavors and characteristics that can be brought out in different ways with creative roasting? Does the profile fit the needs of the roasters we connect with? Will we be able to consistently buy this coffee for the foreseeable future?
Solving problems creatively
Over the years, we’ve learned that every problem has a solution. We know first-hand that running a small business comes with many challenges. We embrace flexibility, understanding each other’s needs, and recognizing that not every client has the same business flow. It’s important to us to maintain open and honest communication in our partnerships so we can work to find solutions together!
Working towards an industry where we can all grow, reinvest, and thrive
Coffee is a multi-billion dollar industry - all of us should have what we need in order to thrive. More than anything, we want to see all people in coffee earning and living well. There’s not one right way to do this work - we continue learning every day and using our experience, knowledge and skills to get a little bit closer to an industry that serves us all.