Volcafe Way

Genuine Origin has been closely following Uganda’s progression as a specialty coffee producer for years. We've done this with the help of our sister company and sourcing partner in the region, Kyagalanyi Coffee Ltd. Uganda continues to astound everyone with improvements in cup quality. Moreover, they show determination to create impact on every scale. This includes small and large initiatives…

Coffee in Costa Rica is as advanced as it gets. Smallholders here are highly motivated to keep Costa Rican coffee on the map for innovation, diversification, and a reputation for premium quality. They pay extensive attention to technical advancement, particularly in agriculture and coffee processing, and farmers don’t hesitate to experiment with new varietals and fermentation techniques. With Costa Rica’s…

Riley Thomson, head of the Volcafe Way program in Costa Rica, recently interviewed Carol Mata Gutierrez, a coffee producer in Tarrazú, about how coffee farming has changed — and what she hopes more producers will come to understand. In addition to agronomy strategies, a major focus of Volcafe Way is sharing business best practices with producers — a message that resonates with Carol, who has a…

There are some pretty flexible definitions in coffee, and microlots and macrolots (or community lots, as we refer to them) are among the terms that differ, depending on whom you ask. It’s easier to start with microlot. Coffee Shrub has defined it as “a lot produced separately, discretely picked or processed to have special character.” Similarly, The Roasterie blog uses…

“Profitability is good to chase, but hard to achieve,” Elizabeth Mbau said back in May, on a call from Costa Rica. In April, Mbau joined our team as the Africa coordinator for Volcafe Way, bringing with her experience from Technoserve, where she monitored a coffee initiative in Kenya; the Rainforest Alliance, where she oversaw the impact of a certification program…

“I got in touch with the IWCA chapter here in Guatemala, called Mujeres en Café, and I started talking to Celeste Fumagalli, who was then the president. We started talking, and we arranged a field trip for all the producers to learn about the Volcafe Way.” Maria Renee Morales, assistant manager at Peter Schoenfeld, GO’s sister company in Guatemala, recently…

Riley Thomson is based in San Jose and, after years in the field as a farmer support technician, now oversees the Volcafe Way Farmer Support Organization (FSO) in Costa Rica—a country he moved to as a boy, from Canada. Riley attended Costa Rica’s prestigious Earth University, which focuses on providing its global student body with sustainable-agriculture expertise they can apply…

What is a box of green coffee? We sell green coffee in 65-lb, GrainPro-lined cardboard boxes with handles, to make green coffee easier to move, store and stack. The boxes are packed and sealed immediately after processing and, stateside, are stored in a temperature controlled, food-grade warehouse in Pennsylvania. How does shipping work? Sample orders, and orders of 9 boxes or fewer,…

For a week in February, Volcafe Way Farmer Support Organization (FSO) leaders from Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala traveled together, playing host and guest in each other’s countries. They showed off their progress of the last year, considered what they do differently, and looked for successful practices to bring back to their teams. The day after their travels, we caught…

Matthew Harrison has a background in agriculture. And while he’s spent extensive time in the coffee fields, he now lives in the coastal city of Dar es Salaam, focusing on field operations and the trading side of the business for GO sister organization Taylor Winch. Last week, he stepped away from the cupping table to chat about coffee, culture and why there’s…