Part 3 of 5: What should quality education look like after the CVA? Lee Safar and Ian Fretheim explore whether today's sensory education is preparing people for real commercial environments, or simply producing more certificates.

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Part 2 of 5: What does "specialty coffee" actually mean in 2026? Lee Safar and Ian Fretheim explore how the industry's defining term has evolved, and why its meaning may no longer be as clear as many people assume.

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Part 1 of 5: How the coffee industry defines quality is becoming increasingly complex. In this opening episode, Lee Safar and Ian Fretheim explore why different parts of the supply chain often require different definitions of quality, and why that matters more than ever.

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Part 5 of 5: Lee Safar challenges the coffee industry’s claim that trade shows, competitions and public cuppings are enough to constitute real community. She explains how smaller, problem-solving business communities could help coffee professionals build stronger relationships, healthier businesses and a more resilient industry.

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Part 4 of 5: Lee Safar explains why coffee businesses across the supply chain often set prices without accounting for their full operating costs. She examines how producers, importers, roasters and cafés all become price takers—and why better supply-chain knowledge is essential to building responsible pricing models.

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Part 3 of 5: Lee Safar explains why many coffee businesses appear successful while their owners remain unpaid and their margins remain dangerously thin. She examines the difference between revenue and profit, coffee’s low barrier to entry and the surrounding industries that often make more money than the people handling the coffee itself.

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Part 2 of 5: Lee Safar examines why cafés, roasters and other coffee businesses routinely fall behind on supplier payments. She explains how fragile margins, weak cash-flow planning and irresponsible pricing transfer the cost of one struggling business to suppliers, employees and the rest of the supply chain.

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Part 1 of 5: Lee Safar examines the rise of branded coffee producers and asks whether the industry has started valuing visibility and hype over sound business fundamentals. Branding can create value, but it cannot replace a responsible business model or responsible pricing.

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Part 5 of 5: Weather isn't the only challenge facing coffee. Jonas Leme Ferraresso explains how fertilizer supply, geopolitical instability, global logistics, and changing trade relationships are creating a new era of uncertainty for coffee producers and the businesses that depend on them. It's a powerful conclusion to a series exploring why managing uncertainty may be more important than predicting the future.

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Part 3 of 5: Political decisions can reshape global coffee trade almost overnight. Jonas Leme Ferraresso explains how tariffs disrupted Brazil's coffee exports to the United States, how buyers adapted, and why Brazil has accelerated efforts to diversify its trading relationships in an increasingly uncertain world.

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Part 3 of 5: Political decisions can reshape global coffee trade almost overnight. Jonas Leme Ferraresso explains how tariffs disrupted Brazil's coffee exports to the United States, how buyers adapted, and why Brazil has accelerated efforts to diversify its trading relationships in an increasingly uncertain world.

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Part 2 of 5: Coffee inventories influence far more than many people realize. Jonas Leme Ferraresso explains what remains from Brazil's 2025 crop, why warehouse stocks have become increasingly important, and how declining inventories can amplify uncertainty across the global coffee market even while a new harvest is underway.

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Part 1 of 5: Many expected Brazil's 2026 coffee harvest to flood the market and send prices sharply lower. Instead, conditions on the ground are telling a very different story. Brazilian agronomist Jonas Leme Ferraresso explains why expectations have shifted, what producers are actually experiencing, and why understanding field conditions matters far more than following headlines or market speculation.

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Part 5 of 5: What should coffee roasters be doing now to prepare for the next phase of volatility? Ana Maria Donneys shares practical advice drawn from her experience as a producer, encouraging roasters to strengthen relationships, communicate earlier, understand how producers are financed, and plan ahead for lower yields and changing coffee quality. The conversation ends with a powerful reminder that paying producers on time isn't just good business, it's essential to building a resilient coffee supply chain.

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Part 4 of 5: If coffee prices are above $3 per pound, why are producers still struggling? Ana Maria Donneys explains why higher prices don't automatically translate into higher profits for farmers. From climate-driven yield losses and rising labour costs to the differences between industrial farming and smallholder production, this episode explores why today's coffee prices are barely covering costs for many producers and what that means for the future of coffee.

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Part 3 of 5: Politics doesn't stop at the farm gate. In this episode, Ana Maria Donneys explains how changes in government, security, labour costs, logistics, fuel prices, exchange rates, and international conflict are all affecting Colombian coffee producers. She also offers a thoughtful explanation of the role the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) plays in supporting producers and why its future matters to the entire coffee industry.

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Part 2 of 5: El Niño is no longer a future risk for Colombian coffee producers. It's already changing how farms operate. Ana Maria Donneys explains what producers are seeing on the ground, from higher temperatures and prolonged dry conditions to disease pressure, reduced cherry development, and growing concern about the second-half harvest. This episode offers an important producer's perspective on how climate volatility could affect coffee supply, quality, and pricing over the coming months.

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Part 1 of 5: Coffee producers entered 2026 expecting coffee prices to fall, but reality has been very different. Ana Maria Donneys explains how volatility, changing market conditions, and a growing liquidity crisis are forcing producers to rethink how they build resilient coffee businesses. This episode explores why relationships, understanding cost of production, and preparing for uncertainty matter more than trying to predict where the C Market is heading next.

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Part 5 of 5: In the final episode of this five-part solo series, Lee Safar explores why understanding harvest cycles and climate risk has become essential for coffee businesses. From global harvest calendars to the potential impacts of a Super El Niño, this episode examines why today's weather events could influence coffee availability, quality and pricing for years to come.

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Part 4 of 5: Coffee businesses can no longer afford to ignore global politics. In Part 4 of this solo series, Lee Safar explores how conflicts, elections, sovereign debt, currencies, freight, energy and fertilizer are influencing coffee production, pricing and profitability, and why understanding these forces has become essential for building a resilient coffee business.

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