Coffee With April

Welcome to the Coffee with COVID-19 Podcast. A series investigating the impact of COVID-19 on various different levels of the coffee industry. Our final episode is with Jean Heylen, founder of Top of the Crop NV. Jean is a Belgian based green coffee distributor with many years of experience in the coffee industry. In this episode, Jean reveals his thoughts on the current state of the industry as well as reflecting on his experiences building his most recent business venture. You can find timestamps to each question covered in this episode below: 2:24 - What was your initial reaction to COVID-19? 10:40 - How has COVID-19 affected your plans for Top of the Crop 17:53 - What challenges have you experienced during COVID-19? 21:50 - What is the current condition of the coffee industry? 28:43 - Will we see more diversity in specialty green coffee trading? 34:52 - Is this an opportunity to redefine our approach to coffee? 43:12 - Conclusions and closing discussion If you enjoyed this content, make sure to check out our Patreon as we have several different ways that you can join and support our community: www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Patreon enables us to work on projects such as this one, and we're very appreciative of your support which ensures that we can continue producing sponsor free media content. You can contact us or our collaborators using any of the channels below: *********************************** Instagram: www.instagram.com/aprilcoffeecph Webshop: aprilcoffeeroasters.com/ Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCPlsOYZ8ZEam57EUCf3DKjg? Podcast: @coffee-with-april Patreon: www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Email: patrikrolf@aprilcoffeeroastery.com / josephfisher@aprilcoffeeroastery.com Music by Andrew Blumhagen andrew.blumhagen@gmail.com @andrew-blumhagen andrewblumhagen.bandcamp.com/album/vcf-…7I1Ka7MClE

Welcome to the Coffee with COVID-19 Podcast. A continuous series investigating the impact of COVID-19 on various different levels of the coffee industry. Our ninth episode is a conversation with Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood. Founder of Colonna Coffee and three-time UK Barista Champion. Having opened Colonna & Smalls in Bath in 2009, Colonna has gone on to expand the realms of his business to include a roastery, compostable coffee capsule production, and a more recent focus on water filtration equipment specifically designed to improve the quality of water for coffee brewing. You can find timestamps to each question covered in this episode below: 2:32 - What was your initial reaction to COVID-19? 6:05 - How has COVID-19 affected your various different projects? 18:51 - How do you increase the diversity of your strategy? 23:44 - What are your predictions for the near future? 29:44 - Conclusions and closing discussion If you enjoyed this content, make sure to check out our Patreon as we have several different ways that you can join and support our community: www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Patreon enables us to work on projects such as this one, and we're very appreciative of your support which ensures that we can continue producing sponsor free media content. You can contact us or our collaborators using any of the channels below: *********************************** Instagram: www.instagram.com/aprilcoffeecph Webshop: aprilcoffeeroasters.com/ Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCPlsOYZ8ZEam57EUCf3DKjg? Podcast: @coffee-with-april Patreon: www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Email: patrikrolf@aprilcoffeeroastery.com / josephfisher@aprilcoffeeroastery.com Music by Andrew Blumhagen andrew.blumhagen@gmail.com @andrew-blumhagen andrewblumhagen.bandcamp.com/album/vcf-…7I1Ka7MClE

Welcome to the Coffee with COVID-19 Podcast. A continuous series investigating the impact of COVID-19 on various different levels of the coffee industry. Our eighth episode (even though we may say seventh in the intro) is with Lem Butler. Lem is the Co-Founder of Black & White Coffee Roasters, based in North Carolina USA. Black & White was founded in 2017 alongside fellow coffee professional Kyle Ramage. In 2016, Lem was crowned the US Barista Champion and has been a huge influence on the American coffee competition culture. You can find timestamps to each question covered in this episode below: 1:42 - What was your initial reaction to COVID-19? 6:06 - How has COVID-19 affected turnover? 15:12 - How has COVID-19 affected your private E-commerce? 18:46 - What are the main lessons that you will take away from this experience? 21:31 - What are your predictions for the near future? 27:06 - Conclusions and closing discussion If you enjoyed this content, make sure to check out our Patreon as we have several different ways that you can join and support our community: www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Patreon enables us to work on projects such as this one, and we're very appreciative of your support which ensures that we can continue producing sponsor free media content. You can contact us or our collaborators using any of the channels below: *********************************** Image Credit: Channon Hodge / CNN Instagram: www.instagram.com/aprilcoffeecph Webshop: aprilcoffeeroasters.com/ Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCPlsOYZ8ZEam57EUCf3DKjg? Podcast: @coffee-with-april Patreon: www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Email: patrikrolf@aprilcoffeeroastery.com / josephfisher@aprilcoffeeroastery.com Music by Andrew Blumhagen andrew.blumhagen@gmail.com @andrew-blumhagen andrewblumhagen.bandcamp.com/album/vcf-…7I1Ka7MClE

Welcome to the Coffee with COVID-19 Podcast. A continuous series investigating the impact of COVID-19 on various different levels of the coffee industry. Our seventh episode is with Joanna Alm, managing director of Drop Coffee Roasters based in Stockholm, Sweden. Drop Coffee has been hugely influential, both in the Scandinavian coffee community as well as Internationally. Joanna has been crowned Swedish Roasting Champion on 3 separate occasions, placing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th at the world championships. You can find timestamps to each question covered in this episode below: 2:35 - What was your initial reaction to COVID-19? 6:28 - What were your first actions and strategy? 13:31 - Have you seen differing impacts between your roastery and cafe? 18:45 - Will you continue with your current strategy? 23:55 - How has COVID-19 affected your green coffee purchasing? 28:41 - What are the key lessons that you will take away from this event? 33:56 - Conclusions and closing discussion If you enjoyed this content, make sure to check out our Patreon as we have several different ways that you can join and support our community: www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Patreon enables us to work on projects such as this one, and we're very appreciative of your support which ensures that we can continue producing sponsor free media content. You can contact us or our collaborators using any of the channels below: *********************************** Instagram: www.instagram.com/aprilcoffeecph Webshop: aprilcoffeeroasters.com/ Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCPlsOYZ8ZEam57EUCf3DKjg? Podcast: @coffee-with-april Patreon: www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Email: patrikrolf@aprilcoffeeroastery.com / josephfisher@aprilcoffeeroastery.com Music by Andrew Blumhagen andrew.blumhagen@gmail.com @andrew-blumhagen andrewblumhagen.bandcamp.com/album/vcf-…7I1Ka7MClE

Welcome to the Coffee with COVID-19 Podcast. A continuous series investigating the impact of COVID-19 on various different levels of the coffee industry. Our sixth episode is a conversation with Lisa Lawson, founder and owner of Dear Green Coffee Roasters in Glasgow. Lisa opened Dear Green in 2011, following an introduction to specialty coffee during a working holiday in Australia. Lisa is an SCA Authorised trainer, Q-Grader and a key contributor to the Glaswegian coffee community. You can find timestamps to each question covered in this episode below: 2:23 - What was your initial reaction to COVID-19? 6:09 - What was your first strategy during lockdown? 11:23 - How successfully have you utilised e-commerce? 17:30 - How would you describe your current situation? 22:15 - How has COVID-19 affected your green coffee purchasing? 30:48 - Do you anticipate a change to your wholesale/private output? 35:46 - What are your expectations for the near future? 44:13 - Conclusions and closing discussion If you enjoyed this content, make sure to check out our Patreon as we have several different ways that you can join and support our community: https://www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Patreon enables us to work on projects such as this one, and we're very appreciative of your support which ensures that we can continue producing sponsor free media content. You can contact us or our collaborators using any of the channels below: *********************************** Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aprilcoffeecph Webshop: https://aprilcoffeeroasters.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPlsOYZ8ZEam57EUCf3DKjg? Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/coffee-with-april Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Email: patrikrolf@aprilcoffeeroastery.com / josephfisher@aprilcoffeeroastery.com Music by Andrew Blumhagen andrew.blumhagen@gmail.com https://soundcloud.com/andrew-blumhagen https://andrewblumhagen.bandcamp.com/album/vcf-boi?fbclid=IwAR1PDDdujPgnH_PjDGs9Spjc37WpkhNnV3iLk6SxONgYUF6MZ7I1Ka7MClE

Welcome to the Coffee with COVID-19 Podcast. A continuous series investigating the impact of COVID-19 on various different levels of the coffee industry. Our fifth episode is a conversation with Nadine Rasch, founder, and director of Primavera Coffee. Nadine was born and raised in Guatemala, founding Primavera in 2013 (previously known as Third Wave Coffee Source Ltd) following studying and working in the UK. In 2016, Nadine opened La Central de Cafe, a sister exporting and processing business to enable vertical integration. Nadine is a certified Q grader and processor. You can find timestamps to each question covered in this episode below: 2:37 - What was your initial reaction to COVID-19? 4:35 - How have you experienced the effects thus far? 7:16 - How did quarantine measures affect the harvest and export? 11:35 - Has confidence increased since the initial outbreak? 12:42 - Tell us more about your COVID-19 farmer relief fund 17:31 - What have you learned from this experience thus far? 19:16 - What are your expectations for the near future? 26:15 - Conclusion and closing discussion If you would like to learn more about the COVID-19 Farmer Relief Fund mentioned in this podcast, please follow this link: https://primavera.coffee/coronavirus If you enjoyed this content, make sure to check out our Patreon as we have several different ways that you can join and support our community: https://www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Patreon enables us to work on projects such as this one, and we're very appreciative of your support which ensures that we can continue producing sponsor free media content. You can contact us or our collaborators using any of the channels below: *********************************** Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aprilcoffeecph Webshop: https://aprilcoffeeroasters.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPlsOYZ8ZEam57EUCf3DKjg? Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/coffee-with-april Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Email: patrikrolf@aprilcoffeeroastery.com / josephfisher@aprilcoffeeroastery.com Music by Andrew Blumhagen andrew.blumhagen@gmail.com https://soundcloud.com/andrew-blumhagen https://andrewblumhagen.bandcamp.com/album/vcf-boi?fbclid=IwAR1PDDdujPgnH_PjDGs9Spjc37WpkhNnV3iLk6SxONgYUF6MZ7I1Ka7MClE

Welcome to the Coffee with COVID-19 Podcast. A continuous series investigating the impact of COVID-19 on various different levels of the coffee industry. Our fourth episode is a conversation with Ibrahim Al Mallouhi, owner and founder of The Espresso Lab. Ibrahim is a key figure in the UAE coffee community, with The Espresso Lab prominent in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Ibrahim himself won the UAE Brewers Cup in 2018, and in this episode, we discuss the challenges COVID-19 has brought to the region as well as the recent evolutions of the business and the view to the future. You can find timestamps to each question covered in this episode below: 1:39 - What was your initial reaction to COVID-19? 6:28 - How has the lockdown affected your output and sales? 10:38 - What have been the challenges of opening the roastery at this time? 16:35 - What have been the main challenges of operating during COVID-19? 22:16 - How will COVID-19 affect your competition preparation? 24:10 - Have you changed your business strategy for 2020? 27:12 - What are your predictions for the near future? 33:21 - Where do you expect to find growth in the coming months? 35:57 - Conclusions and closing discussion If you enjoyed this content, make sure to check out our Patreon as we have several different ways that you can join and support our community: https://www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Patreon enables us to work on projects such as this one, and we're very appreciative of your support which ensures that we can continue producing sponsor free media content. You can contact us or our collaborators using any of the channels below: *********************************** Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aprilcoffeecph Webshop: https://aprilcoffeeroasters.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPlsOYZ8ZEam57EUCf3DKjg? Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/coffee-with-april Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Email: patrikrolf@aprilcoffeeroastery.com / josephfisher@aprilcoffeeroastery.com Music by Andrew Blumhagen andrew.blumhagen@gmail.com https://soundcloud.com/andrew-blumhagen https://andrewblumhagen.bandcamp.com/album/vcf-boi?fbclid=IwAR1PDDdujPgnH_PjDGs9Spjc37WpkhNnV3iLk6SxONgYUF6MZ7I1Ka7MClE

Welcome to the Coffee with COVID-19 Podcast. A continuous series investigating the impact of COVID-19 on various different levels of the coffee industry. Our third episode is a conversation with Stephen Leighton, founder and now director of coffee at HasBean. In 2018 Stephen became director of coffee at Ozone Coffee Roasters, and to date, Stephen continues to partner in both 3FE and Drop Coffee Roasters. As well as his participation in the operations of the aforementioned businesses, Stephen is also a familiar face on the coffee competition scene, often appearing as MC at the annual World Barista Championships. You can find timestamps to each question covered in this episode below: 3:32 - What was your initial reaction to COVID-19? 3:39 - What are the initial actions that you have taken? 7:24 - How has COVID-19 affected your e-commerce and private sales? 10:19 - Have you experienced differing impacts internationally? 14:09 - How do you expect COVID-19 to impact green coffee trading? 19:09 - Will this influence career decision at agricultural levels? 21:18 - How do you counter market uncertainty in coffee? 24:29 - What are your key reflections on your experience thus far? 28:54 - What are your predictions for the coming months? 36:32 - Conclusions and closing discussion If you enjoyed this content, make sure to check out our Patreon as we have several different ways that you can join and support our community: https://www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Patreon enables us to work on projects such as this one, and we're very appreciative of your support which ensures that we can continue producing sponsor free media content. You can contact us or our collaborators using any of the channels below: *********************************** Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aprilcoffeecph Webshop: https://aprilcoffeeroasters.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPlsOYZ8ZEam57EUCf3DKjg? Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/coffee-with-april Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Email: patrikrolf@aprilcoffeeroastery.com / josephfisher@aprilcoffeeroastery.com

Welcome to the Coffee with COVID-19 Podcast. A continuous series investigating the impact of COVID-19 on various different levels of the coffee industry- Our second episode is a conversation with Tim Wendelboe, founder and owner of the Oslo-based roastery and coffee shop Tim Wendelboe. Alongside his work in roasting and brewing, Tim also grows coffee in Colombia on his coffee farm, Finca el Suelo. Tim won the World Barista Championship in 2004, following up on this achievement by winning the World Cup Tasters Championship in 2005. You can find timestamps to each question covered in this episode below: 1:54 - What was your initial reaction to COVID-19? 10:16 - What has improved since the beginning of the pandemic? 12:57 - What changes have you made to your buying and forecasting? 17:51 - How has COVID-19 affected e-commerce and private sales? 22:27 - Can digital communication replace annual origin travel? 26:08 - What have been the biggest challenges and reflections? 30:43 - What are your predictions for the near future? 42:26 - Conclusions and closing discussion If you enjoyed this content, make sure to check out our Patreon as we have several different ways that you can join and support our community: https://www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Patreon enables us to work on projects such as this one, and we're very appreciative of your support which ensures that we can continue producing sponsor free media content. You can contact us or our collaborators using any of the channels below: *********************************** Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aprilcoffeecph Webshop: https://aprilcoffeeroasters.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPlsOYZ8ZEam57EUCf3DKjg? Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/coffee-with-april Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Email: patrikrolf@aprilcoffeeroastery.com / josephfisher@aprilcoffeeroastery.com

Welcome to the Coffee with COVID-19 Podcast. A continuous series investigating the impact of COVID-19 on various different levels of the coffee industry. Our first episode is a conversation with Sasa Sestic, founder and owner of the world-famous coffee roasters Ona, and green coffee experts Project Origin. As a coffee professional, Sasa Sestic was crowned World Barista Champion in 2015. You can find timestamps to each question covered in this episode below: 2:05 - What was your initial reaction to COVID-19? 9:20 - How have you navigated the uncertainty thus far? 13:05 - Were there differing impressions internationally to COVID-19? 26:00 - Are your companies improving as a result of COVID-19? 31:02 - How does the disruption of the competition calendar affect you? 41:26 - What are your predictions for the coming months and years? 45:59 - Conclusions and closing discussion If you enjoyed this content, make sure to check out our Patreon as we have several different ways that you can join and support our community: https://www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Patreon enables us to work on projects such as this one, and we're very appreciative of your support which ensures that we can continue producing sponsor free media content. You can contact us or our collaborators using any of the channels below: *********************************** Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aprilcoffeecph Webshop: https://aprilcoffeeroasters.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPlsOYZ8ZEam57EUCf3DKjg? Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/coffee-with-april Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/patrikrolf Email: patrikrolf@aprilcoffeeroastery.com / josephfisher@aprilcoffeeroastery.com

This week, we're bringing you the full discussion between our Costa Rican partner farmer Alejo Castro and April team member Rasmus Madsen. Rasmus is currently writing his master thesis, with his core focus based around hybrid vigour in coffee. To undertake this study, Rasmus has collaborated with our good friend and partner farmer Alejo, owner of FCJ Volcan Azul in Costa Rica. This interview covers topics from soil nutrients and the use of organic fertilisers to ecological diversity and expected yields. Whilst this project is not an April Coffee initiative, there are opportunities for us to learn a great amount of information, both from this discussion and the subsequent quality assessment of the coffee harvest. For more information on the project, contact Rasmus directly at rasmusmadsen@aprilcoffeeroastery.com or @rama.pdf

This week, Patrik joined Alejo amongst the gesha trees at Volcan Azul to discuss the updates to the farm this season. Alejo is the owner at Volcan Azul, currently overseeing the planting of new varietals as well as the upgrades to the farms capacity to dry coffee evenly and ferment coffee using anaerobic processes. The attention to detail shown at the farm level by Alejo translates seamlessly into the increased quality of the coffee that we cup year on year. In this video, you can hear from Alejo his views on planting, processing and more.

This week, we’re at the roastery discussing some of the challenges and opportunities that we face when sourcing coffee in Africa. We love African coffee. Ethiopia and Kenya are two legendary producing countries known for their high quality and distinct cup profiles; however both countries present unique challenges. Namely, the structure and scale of the cooperative systems, the existing coffee infrastructure, and the national systems for coffee grading. In this episode, we unpack some of the variables of Ethiopian and Kenyan coffee production, comparing how these systems differ from those of our partner farmers in Costa Rica and Brazil, as well as discussing the potential opportunities to increase the quality and traceability of our sourcing in the future. There is so much to unpack within this subject that we’ve recorded an extended discussion as an audio-only podcast episode. You can find that episode and more on SoundCloud, iTunes and Spotify, as well as on our April Media website.

This week, we're in the roastery testing the most recent development of our coffee capsule product line. During the two years that we've been producing this product, by far the most frequently requested query we've received has been "Can your coffee capsules be biodegraded or composted?" Until now the answer has been an unfortunate no. Whilst the technology did exist to a certain extent, there were far too many disadvantages relative to the quality of the product to contend with. Namely, the lack of a barrier protecting the capsules from oxidation as well as off-flavours produced from the materials used. With our latest run of coffee capsules, we're happy to announce that we've confidently overcome these previous hurdles. Our latest capsules are composed of a bio-polymer named Lignin, a wood derivative that can be biodegraded using specific forms of fungi. The material provides a barrier to protect the coffee from oxidation, whilst maintaining a neutral taste leaving the coffee within to shine through in the final cup. This does however mean that for the product to be fully compostable, it must first be separated from other waste products. Your local municipality must have the capability to accept this form of waste for specific treatment in order for product to be degraded responsibly. Whilst this does mean that not all of our customers will have the option to do this, we're confident that this is a step in the right direction and we're hopeful that the practise will become more commonplace in the future as more and more consumers look to find ways to dispose of their waste responsibly. Have you experienced Lignin before? Do you have any experience with alternative bio-polymers or other compostable materials? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. For more information on the products themselves, follow this link: https://www.aprilcoffeeroasters.com/products/april-compostable-coffee-capsule-ethiopia We're always interested in hearing what topics you're most curious to hear us discuss, and social media is a great way of reaching out to us if you would like to make a request. We welcome your thoughts and feelings on the topics raised in this weeks video, as well as other ideas you would like to see us discuss in the future. We really appreciate your feedback and support. You can contact us using any of the channels below: *********************************** Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aprilcoffeecph Webshop: https://aprilcoffeeroasters.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPlsOYZ8ZEam57EUCf3DKjg? Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/coffee-with-april Email: patrikrolf@aprilcoffeeroastery.com / josephfisher@aprilcoffeeroastery.com *********************************** Produced by April Coffee - 2020

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