EP 1054 Part 4 of 5 | Why $3 Coffee Still Isn't Enough for Farmers (Ana Maria Donneys) | Map It Forward
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Episode Description
This is Part 4 of a 5-part series on The Daily Coffee Pro Podcast by Map It Forward, hosted by Lee Safar.
Our guest is Ana Maria Donneys, a fifth-generation Colombian coffee producer, founder of Café Primitivo in Quindío, Colombia, and President and Co-Founder of IWCA Colombia.
Throughout this series, Lee and Ana explore how Colombian coffee farmers are navigating one of the most volatile periods the coffee industry has experienced in decades, discussing climate, politics, pricing, financing, and the future of the coffee supply chain.
In this episode, they tackle one of the biggest misconceptions in coffee today: the belief that historically high coffee prices mean producers are finally making good money.
Ana explains why that's simply not true.
Using examples from her own farm, she shows how lower yields, climate impacts, labour shortages, rising wages, and increasing production costs mean that even coffee selling above US$3 per pound may only be covering the cost of production. For many producers, there is little or no profit left.
The conversation also explores the important differences between industrial coffee farming and smallholder production. Lee and Ana discuss why comparing Brazilian industrial farms with Colombian smallholder farms creates unrealistic expectations and why the future of specialty coffee will depend on innovation, mechanisation, and finding new ways to support producers before labour shortages become an even bigger challenge.
If you've ever wondered why higher coffee prices haven't solved the coffee industry's problems, this episode provides one of the clearest explanations you'll hear.
Connect with Ana and Café Primitivo here:
https://www.instagram.com/cafeprimitivo/
https://www.instagram.com/anadonneys/