There are more and more coffee lovers every day. Hundreds of people around the world are focused on learning and discovering everything new that coffee can teach us. This growth in coffee passion has resulted in a greater demand for coffee quality and the constant improvement of production and processes. Specialty coffees have become sought after by coffee connoisseurs, and thanks to this, micro-roasters have grown with this boom. It's time to understand their role in the coffee process.
What is a micro toaster?
Well the simplest definition to explain it is: a person dedicated to purchasing coffee in small quantities for roasting. But clearly, this activity involves much more than a purchase, and that's what we'll explore today. It's important to understand that, by being "micro," these roasters have the opportunity to better monitor and trace their beans, ensuring they can deliver specialty coffee to end consumers with every roast.
Normally, their work, It is roasting for different coffee shops or other not so specialized businesses , but they seek to deliver good quality to their buyers. Micro-roasters buy green beans directly from the producer or farm of origin, something that has become much easier over the years and with globalization, hence the growing trend in micro-roasteries worldwide. By connecting with producers, they can have greater quality control, and with local micro-roasteries, this process can be carried out in the country of the final consumer. This trend has grown so much that it's now quite common to see stores around the world roasting their own coffee.
The Preliminary Task of the Micro Coffee Roaster
One of the most important tasks of micro roasters worldwide is to know the origin of their coffee , but not only the coffee they are going to buy, It is very important to know the region and the functioning of the local market where the coffee comes from. Globally, there is an entity called the International Coffee Organization that regulates coffee bean prices. The problem for producers is that prices are standardized worldwide depending on the type of coffee they grow, without taking into account cost variations in some producing regions. That's why it's important for micro-roasters to understand the regions and understand that coffee is different in each location, and therefore, prices can vary. Micro-roasters must consider several variables besides quality and understand that, even if purchases are made in dollars, producers pay their costs in local currencies, and exchange rate fluctuations can benefit or harm them depending on the region and the country's socioeconomic situation.
But it's also important to know that even the seemingly direct trade between producer and roaster doesn't always allow for complete traceability when purchasing small batches of coffee, thus shortening the product's supply chain. Transportation from remote areas can raise costs or lead producers to prefer selling to more central intermediaries, which compromises the proper origin and care of the more specialized beans.
Understanding Micro Roasters
It's clear that one thing that can become a problem for consumers is the added cost of micro-roasters' intermediation. That's why it's important for them, as part of the chain, to find the right way to negotiate where all participants in the production process benefit, and end consumers don't feel such a heavy price hit. The way of working with small quantities also makes obtaining profits more complex, which influences the increase in the final values of the products.
Another thing we must understand about this work is having to know about Coffee and its producers, which is why it's common to find people from all over the world in our country's coffee-growing regions, learning about and studying the crops, seeking to find the ideal coffees for their micro-roasteries and bringing the best coffee to their customers. Just as they do in our country, they should do so in many other coffee-producing countries. I think this could be the dream job, traveling the world to drink coffee.