Aceh, Sumatra Flood Impact and Mutual Aid Donations
As you may know, at the beginning of the month, devastating floods and landslides caused by adverse weather and successive typhoons rolled through Indonesia. To date, more than 1,000 people have been confirmed dead, and many are still missing. This has had a huge impact in Northern Sumatra (Aceh province), which is home to the […]
Kenya Main Crop 2023: Interview with Ibero’s Christophe Brinker
The Kenya harvest is well underway, and we’re in the midst of our purchase planning process for 2023 shipments! To get a sense of how things are going on the ground, we reached out to our good friend Christophe Brinker with our primary Kenya exporting partner Ibero. Atlas: Christophe, thanks for helping us share updates […]
Peru Origin Trip 2022
In September 2022, we returned to Peru for the first time since 2019. We were extremely eager to see our producer partners in person again after a long hiatus. We spent time with both new and long-term partners in the regions of Cajamarca, Junín, and Cusco. While the logistics situation has been a global challenge, […]
Interview with Iris Alvarado
In honor of the landing of the Hermanas Alvarado micro-lots (also known as “Café Yaunera”) from the community of Yaunera in San Pedro, Copan, Honduras, I met with Iris Alvarado and Atlas Trader Chris Davidson, who provided insight as the Trader for Honduras and served as our translator. This independently-owned, small-family business is one of […]
The Impacts of Fair Trade: An Interview with Muungano Cooperative
October is Fair Trade Month, so we caught up via email and WhatsApp with Daniel Habamungu Chinyabuguma, General Manager of Cooperative Agricole Muungano (“Muungano”) in DR Congo. Atlas has purchased Kivu 3 (fully washed) from Muungano since 2013. For more background information on Muungano, please refer to this post about their harvest or their traceable […]
Coffee Forecast: July-September 2021
July 30, 2021 – Market Update After a week of volatility, arabica coffee Futures fell significantly today, closing in the 180 range. Several factors led to coffee prices dropping today, including weather in Brazil’s coffee-growing regions, and speculative trading changes. First, there is an easing of frost concerns at this time– patchy frost reached about […]
Colombia Protests
There have been protests throughout Colombia since April 28th over a proposed economic plan raising taxes that would disproportionately impact poor and middle-class citizens. Protests and clashes with police are mostly in the major cities. While most protests have been peaceful, the government has responded with a heavy hand and so far, 25 protesters have […]