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cashbox straight up coffee business Is Coffee Origin Travel Part of Your Successful Business Plan? Traveling to the coffee lands requires no small output of time and money. Is it worth it? And what should you expect from your trip? Written by Tracy Allen Yes, it's fantastic for people who typically work at the end of the seed-to-cup chain to see coffee at the start of its journey to us. But for the small business owners that make up the backbone of specialty coffee, traveling to origin must result in more than just a great experience—it needs to make financial sense. Tim Wendelboe's eponymous coffee roastery in Oslo, Norway, sends him to origin about a half dozen times a year. While he's a world away from his roaster and among the coffee trees, Tim's building relationships with farmers and his importer while negotiating coffee prices based on taste and quality. It seems to be working out, as Tim shows no sign of slowing down, and his coffees have a great reputation in both Oslo and the wider world. But in a 2010 blog post, he did acknowledge the questions that can arise from so much globetrotting: "My accountant may think I am crazy spend- ing so much on traveling, but I think it is totally necessary and a good invest- ment for the future. We are building rela- tionships with serious farmers and we are try- ing to secure a good supply of great coffees in the future. Wendelboe's " view tends to ring true across the specialty side of the coffee industry, but his accountant's head scratching about whether there is any return on invest- ment is valid. My own consultancy, Brewed Behavior, takes clients to origin to meet like-minded coffee producers, learn about coffee agronomy on working farms and see the milling process in person. Yes, it's fantastic for people who typically work at the end of the seed-to-cup chain to see coffee at the start of its journey to us, growing in its natural environment. But for the small business owners that make up the backbone of specialty coffee, traveling to origin must result in more than just a great experience—it needs to make financial sense. Roasters and retailers traveling to coffee producing countries must devise ways for making the time and cash commitment work for their companies' bottom lines in some way, and make sure the trip will use their strengths, build on them, and hope- fully even create some new ones. How do you know it's worth it? "Like everything else in business, (travel to origin) must be budgeted, " says Larry Challain, president of Batdorf and Bronson Coffee Roasters, which operates out of Olympia, Wash., and Atlanta, Georgia. "You must look at origin travel not as fun and exotic (though it can be), but as a busi- ness decision, and ask yourself, 'Is this important to my business success?'" And, remember that for a small roaster or retailer the cost is a much bigger part of your operat- ing budget than it is for a medium-sized or large business. For example, at a small roasting company, the person roasting the coffee is probably also in charge of buying the green. Noah Namowicz, marketing director at Minneapolis- based Café Imports points out, "If they are at origin, they are not in the shop roasting, solidifying their coffee profiles, and ultimately building their brand. " For larger roasters, the same time and financial commitments apply, "but there may be more flexibility in how those costs and staffing needs are spread out," he adds. "In the end, buying trips usually are not a cost-saving technique for a business, but they pro- vide valuable staff education and strength in marketing. Just as travel can broaden the mind and perspective for " the traveler, but not always in the fashion intended, com- ing face-to-face with the poverty of many coffee-growing regions, for example, is often unsettling. From a business perspective, too, travel offers rewards, but there are risks associated with it as well. If origin trips are being planned for buying purposes, Namowicz cautions, "A roaster could fall victim to price inflation due to inexperience with coffee buying, coffee-quality risk upon importation (this is a big one), lack of logistical support to get coffee out of origin, and then ultimately overextending the producers themselves." So roasters can (and should) pay a good importer to do much of this legwork for them. Namowicz notes, "Getting the top coffees is not a task to be taken lightly. The paperwork involved on the export and import of coffee is costly, and it's the same whether you're importing a container or a 15-bag lot. Buying it requires utilizing a supply chain that works effi- www.baristamagazine.com 65