How a Farmer-Owned Coffee Roastery Is Changing Coffee Trade (Bram de Hoog) - EP1706 Part 1 of 5 (Map It Forward)
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Episode Description
This is part 1 of a new 5-part series on The Daily Coffee Pro Podcast by Map It Forward, hosted by Lee Safar. Our guest on the podcast for this series is Bram de Hoog, co-owner of Paso Paso Coffee, a farmer-owned coffee roastery based in Hanover, Germany.
Three years after Bram first appeared on the podcast to introduce Paso Paso's alternative business model, he returns to explain how the business has developed, what they've learned, and whether their approach to coffee trading and roasting is proving commercially viable.
Paso Paso operates differently from most coffee roasteries. Five coffee farming families collectively hold 75% ownership of the company, while Bram holds the remaining 25%. The roastery exclusively purchases coffee from those farming families, creating a business structure in which producers participate in the consuming market and share in the value created through roasting and selling their coffee.
In this first episode, Lee and Bram explore what happens when a former green coffee trader applies the principles of international coffee trading to operating a roastery.
Bram explains a fundamental difference between traders and roasters: traders typically seek to secure buyers before committing to coffee purchases, while many roasters purchase inventory before knowing exactly how they will sell it. At Paso Paso, that distinction has shaped a business built around long-term relationships, detailed demand forecasting, and planning coffee purchases 12 to 18 months in advance.
The conversation also explores how Paso Paso has grown to supply approximately 40 coffee shops regularly, why securing long-term customers is different from securing individual orders, and how hundreds of small wholesale transactions contribute to a more predictable business.
Lee and Bram also revisit one of Paso Paso's earliest and most significant investments: branding. Bram explains why the investment has paid off, how packaging influences purchasing behaviour, and why Paso Paso deliberately makes the producer's name the most prominent element on its coffee bags.
Rather than continuously introducing new producers and coffees, Paso Paso aims to help customers develop lasting recognition of the farming families behind its products.
This episode examines how ownership, procurement, branding, and customer relationships can work together to create a different kind of coffee business, and what other roasters and traders can learn from the model.
Connect with Bram de Hoog and Paso Paso Coffee:
Paso Paso Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paso_paso_coffee/
Bram Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bram_dehoog/
Bram LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bramdehoog/