Most of us (ME!) drink coffee to enjoy the taste, flavor and benefits of this magic in a mug. In fact, 85% of us drink coffee everyday. I want to take you beyond the personal satisfaction and take a few minutes to tell you the story behind “your cup”. It might not be yours per se but it’s all relatively the same if you drink coffee.
The idea for this article came to me last week when I attended the grand opening of a local roastery. A friend gave me a tour and told me about her experience in Honduras.
The struggle is real…
This story takes place in a little town in a little country called Santa Rosa de Copan. This is a very poor community in Honduras. Over 65% of the population are living in poverty. It is also known as the coffee capital of Central America and it produces some of the highest quality coffee.
Coffee is grown on very small farms. These farmers struggle to support their family and can not afford education or healthcare. Most people there do not even have an education past the 4th grade.
Most of these farmers are forced to sell their beans to middlemen for lower cost because they don’t have a way to transport their beans to buyers. That’s why it is so important to create a direct partnership with these farmers. That is exactly what Alma Coffee out of Holly Springs Georgia has done.
“We source DIRECT, no middlemen, just pure farm fresh coffee with a difference you can taste.”
Alma Coffee
Why direct trade?
Direct trade is when the roasters buy direct from farmers and cut out the middle man. This allows the farmer to make 25% more over fair trade price. Alma Coffee purchases green coffee beans that are grown on their family farm insuring the highest quality. They provide a years worth of income to these farms by purchasing their coffee beans DIRECT.
This is a great way to import green coffee beans to the US. Often times, big companies will pay very little to these small farms and sell them in our local grocery stores. The farmers only get less than 10% of what the companies make. This is because these small plantations and farms in other countries are competing for the business of these big companies. There isn’t a shortage on coffee beans so no “supply and demand”.
Seeing that we spend 75 billion dollars on coffee a year, I would say that not fair for the farmer who spends their time, day in and day out, working to provide these beans for us only to still be poor and without enough money to provide food for their family.
Coffee beans are purchased, transported, roasted, packaged, sold and enjoyed for our personal pleasure and benefit.
What can WE do about this?
Find a company like Alma Coffee that provides direct trade products. As coffee lovers (and consumers) buying direct trade supports relationships between the purchaser and farmer. It also provides better price for the farmer and a better product for us!
Visit them at www.myalmacoffee.com
A little about green coffee beans!
Did you know coffee beans are actually green? It’s until they go through the roasting process that they then turn brown. Green coffee beans have amazing health benefits! Chlorogenic acid is present in green coffee beans and this is why they are so high in antioxidants. Our bodies are able to absorb and metabolizes chlorogenic acid pretty quickly so this means we can easily take advantage of the health benefits.
They include:
- Antioxidant
- Improves mood and Brian function
- Protects against heart disease
- Enhances performance
- Boost metabolism
- Helps maintain healthy weight
- Anti-aging properties
This is a great product if you are looking for a Green Coffee Bean Extract Supplement becasue of the reasons below:
CHECK OUT COFFEE GENIC ON AMAZON HERE https://geni.us/SnZkHM
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2 Comments
Great article. I love coffee and hopefully one day will own a coffee shop. I fully agree that buying direct trade is the way to go and can really help small businesses and farmers.
I am obsessed with coffee. I used to work at starbucks, and before working there I thought all coffee was the same and just coffee. I had no idea I was so wrong! There is so much more to coffee then most people realize and I love learning more about it!