Green or roasted coffee? How a collective of organic producers challenges the quality construction by overseeing quality attributes, relational approaches and knowledge

ABSTRACT

This paper studies the conditions under which quality conventions in coffee can be revised. It shows how value is captured by a collective composed by Colombian producers overseeing coffee quality attributes, engaging in relational approaches and building knowledge with international buyers. Interviews were conducted with selected organic producers in Santa Marta, Colombia and buyers (e.g. in Germany, the Netherlands). Due to the sound relations between the staff of the producer organization and a German buyer, the manager of the collective proposed to also export roasted coffee in addition to green coffee. Although roasting at origin is not common in coffee exports, in the case analyzed existing hesitations were abandoned. Eye-level relationships, trust based on a relational approach and knowledge were key to achieving a collective quality construction and subsequent value capture by producers. Over time, these producers have improved their material quality techniques and become more familiar with the places where their coffee circulates and is valued, allowing them to influence the commercial spheres of the coffee business. The discussion is not about changing quality conventions, but on how quality conventions are institutionalized and the narratives behind them.

KEYWORDS:

• Coffee
• organic collective of producers
• international buyers
• quality attributes
• relational approach
• knowledge building
• Colombia
• Germany

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to all interview partners in Colombia, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States for their time and invaluable inputs as well as to the promotores who facilitated the visits to the farms in the Sierra Nevada and the members of the collective of producers. Further thanks are due to the assistance of Mateo Toro and Felipe Ovalle in preparing the transcripts. We kindly thank for the enriching discussions hold with Stefan Vogel and Gianluca Brunori. We warmly appreciate the feedback from reviewers. Likewise, we also kindly wish to thank Christina Roder for editorial assistance and transcripts.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 In the washed processing method, coffee cherries are picked and delivered to a facility (e.g. wet mill, washing station). Coffee fruits float in water to remove defective and underripe cherries. Machinery (automated or manual) is then typically used for depulping, e.g. removing some or all of the skin and fruit mucilage from around the bean. In the natural process, harvested ripe coffee cherries are sun-dried on drying beds, tables or cement floors. In the honey process, fresh coffee cherries are depulped, but left to dry without washing.

2 It is a physical space devoted to the manufacturing and storage of fertilizers and inputs based on bacteria, fungi and plants as bioinsecticides, compounds with rock flour and mineral broths. Many of these products reduce dependence on synthetic inputs and improve soil fertility (Anacafé, 2022).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Austrian Science Fund [grant number T960-G27].