Normally, farm managers hold the key in ensuring the quality of green coffee. More than the farm owners, they are effectively the coffee producers. Macha is passionate, confident, and bursting with energy. He manages two farms, and his attention to detail is visible everywhere from the cupping room, processing facilities, and farms. People working in the farms were cheerful and truly enjoying their work. This may be just a one-sided, partial impression, but it seemed they were doing their job with pride.

Until this trip, all I cared about when sourcing green coffee were the flavor profile and price competitiveness. If I’m honest, the information I received about the origin was patchy and fragmentary at best. In a way, it only served as a certificate of the variety. At Peloso, we feel that coffee can sometimes give customers something that means more than just a cup of coffee. Through my interactions with Macha, I felt that coffee has some meaning to the producers, too.

This is a topic that needs some mulling over. Through these face-to-face interactions and the experiences I gained through TYPICA Lab, Macha and other producers are no longer just plain information: They’ve become information that has life of its own, they’ve become humans, and the people we can relate to. I want to bring home all the things I felt today to my customers back in Taiwan. That is what we can do to contribute to the producers in our own way.

We are going to visit Leon tomorrow. He is the owner of Acacia Hills Estate and Tembo Tembo Estate, and one of the leading producers in Tanzania. My heart is abuzz with anticipation.

Coffee has a way of bringing people closer together instantaneously. And this was evident at the lobby of the Golf Safari House. Thanks to a cup of coffee in everyone’s hands, we had a truly enjoyable conversation with roasters from overseas I met for the first time. We talked about coffee flavors, the current situation surrounding specialty coffee, and marketing methods.

Later on, while we were enjoying our conversation around a campfire, Shin told us that the mission of TYPICA Lab is to create an environment where roasters can run their specialty coffee business in a sustainable way through interaction with producers. I want to use this experience to understand coffee origins and producers, and share that knowledge with many customers.

I strongly felt how beautiful and important it is to communicate with each other through coffee – our common language – and to share ideas with everyone. We are going to visit the Burka and Mondul farms tomorrow. I’m looking forward to learning more about coffee origins.

This is the first time for Kan and I to visit a coffee origin. I’m feeling nervous and excited at once. Our first destination is Acacia Hills in Tanzania. I’ve been told they are in the middle of harvesting and processing.

I’m thankful for TYPICA Lab. I hope that I will be able to bring home many messages from coffee producers through mutual learning and interaction.