the Opportunity

To support direct knowledge interchange between baristas, roasters, and producers by creating, organizing, and implementing a work-immersion trip to Juan Pablos’ estate in Nariño, Colombia. During ten labor-intensive days in the field, baristas and roasters deeply understand the coffee process, from cherry to green and everything in between; producers and farmers, on the other hand, learn about tasting, flavor notes, and experimentation: direct relationships are born, and the value chain gets tighter and shorter. 

WHERE: Génova, Nariño, Colombia

WHAT: Ten days of picking and processing coffee for coffee professionals at the Argote Estate.

WHO: Argote Specialty Coffee, roaster & barista partners,  and This Side Up.

goals:

Working hours contributions:

To shorten the value chain: the creation of trustworthy relationships is essential to create more stable value chains. By offering a scope of the intense and labor-intensive work behind a coffee grain, the perspective of the baristas widens; new perspectives on the reality of the ground sprout. This knowledge can then be taken directly to the consumer since baristas are, ultimately, the direct link between the producers and the consumer. They then become direct agents of change by activating relevant conversations with the final consumer. 

To facilitate an equal and direct learning experience:  throughout this project, baristas learn about coffee processing, and producers learn about flavours, tasting, and experimentation on the field, directly. 

To support producers dealing with a labor shortage during harvesting season: one of the most recurrent issues we find amongst farmers in our network is the labour shortage. This is due to many circumstances, such as migration, climate change, and others. The original goal of this project was to support our partner during harvesting season. It was indeed a practical matter. 

This is a non-lucrative project; parties involved (This Side Up, Juan Pablo, and the volunteers) contribute with what is available and possible for each one. The amount of working hours each party contributes is as follows:

PROJECT
timeline

FBP 2018

Jeroen, Maarten and Jelle

Although only one group of pickers arrives in Nariño, the experience as always solidifies relationships and future joint projects between Juan Pablo and roasters.

FBP 2019

By Juan Pablo Lasso Argote, the Argote Family, This Side Up Rebeca, Jelle, Jiske, Ardy, Ralph, Ana, Pascal, and Nadya.

Four groups of pickers arrive. Rebecca and her family, from Wanza, travel to Nariño. This is the first time a producer meets a producer on the ground in our network.

FBP 2022

Jiske and Maaike, Damian, Henning, Melodie, Bas and Richard, Margo, Sarah and Lieze.

Three separate groups attend the program. 

Background

In 2016, when the project idea was born, it aimed to solve a very practical problem our partner Juan Pablo was facing: labor shortage. This is a recurring problem we see in our partners, mainly due to migration but also irregular flowering due to climate change. Over the years, however, the Field Barista Project has evolved unimaginably, and unexpected results are visible.

New learning experiences for everyone. Although baristas intend to learn about coffee processing from the ground up, they also intend to share their knowledge and create new relationships with farmers. On several occasions, baristas have taught the Argote family about cupping and identifying tastes. They have even implemented experiments such as honey and natural coffees, cascara coffee leaf, and coffee flower tea.

UNEXPECTED RESULTS

Processing methods improved: by talking and exchanging experiences with baristas, Juan Pablo learned about the long-term benefits of organic fertilization and agroforestry techniques. Soon, he started implementing new processing techniques in the field. 

The Argote Community is born and evolves: thanks to Juan Pablo's conversation with Aukje, he soon felt inspired to create a community of farmers in Nariño. Today, Juan Pablo works with 16 families in the region. Most of them also practice organic fertilisation techniques and soil heaths management, which Juan Pablo felt inspired to undertake after discussing these themes with roasters at the Fiel Barista Project. 

Long-term relationships between roasters and producers are born: Jelle, who attended the FBP in 2018, established a long-term and safe relationship with Juan Pablo. This allowed Juan Pablo to experiment with new processing techniques, such as honey, anaerobic, and sometimes funky techniques. The safety this relationship has given Juan Pablo also allows the headspace to grow in new ways (such as developing new projects like the Training Hub and the use of organic fertilization) and to spread his vision wider.

Our network becomes stronger: one of our network's most fascinating aspects is how things usually evolve naturally and reciprocally. Soon after the birth of this program, Juan Pablo got so inspired by the talks with baristas that he decided to spend part of our 2016 price premium coming to Holland and learn directly from roasters and baristas how his coffee is roasted, brewed, and perceived by the final customer.  

For the first time in his long career as a coffee farmer, he could taste coffee from around the world: this means a lot to us since our goal is to empower the farmers by facilitating direct relationships with roasters. As a direct result, his goal in the next few years crystallized: to become a specialty coffee trainer and ambassador for the village's young folk, to make coffee exciting and profitable again- so that they will stay and help their rural community thrive.

Additionally, the knowledge interchange between producers also sprouts: In 2019, Rebecca, from Wanza, traveled to Juan Pablo's estate with her family. Relationships between producers in our network get stronger.