Jose Osorio - Transparency

Farmer: Jose Osorio
Farm: La Solita
Exporter: Monkaaba
Importer: Semilla

Price we paid Semilla for the landed coffee to our roastery: 4,90USD/lb of green coffee. (Add 40 cents for shipping from the Continental New Jersey warehouse)

FOB price paid by Semilla to Monkaaba: 3,98USD/lb

Price Monkabaa paid farmers: 2,2 million Colombian Pesos per carga (one carga is 125kg)

The national farmgate price at that time was 1,7 million pesos per carga, meaning Monkaaba/Semilla paid 30% more.

(As a side note, 18 months ago, it was common to pay 1,4 million, and that is happening all around the world due to high cost for workers, fertilizers, etc. )

From Semilla

''Don Mosco (Jose’s father in law) had the tenacity to recognize he could do better for himself and, along with his extended family, formed a small group of growers who would bulk their lots together and sell as a union under a set name. Their main client for this type of coffee had been a well-known commercial importer who, though they purchased all their coffee, were often not true to their word on pricing.

This is a common story in Colombia, sadly, where pricing is set based on system called “factor” and is often used to deny producers the promised price at the last moment based on a physical analysis that lacks transparency and input from the producer.

With all of this experience, Jose made the decision to separate off a small portion of his crop to share with us from his main harvest. This small lot of Colombia variety represented the whole main harvest output from his 1 hectare lot separation.

We’re very excited to continue to work in the Tarqui zone and are happy to share this small lot with Rabbit Hole, Jose’s first international microlot client!''

About Monkaaba

Monkaaba’s goal then is to assist other growers in the area to not only find a better market for their coffee, one that pays a solid price, but also to invest in the knowledge and skill of producers in a way that ensures their future success.