{"id":13941,"date":"2017-06-30T14:21:20","date_gmt":"2017-06-30T21:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freshcup.com\/?p=13941"},"modified":"2017-07-10T10:18:08","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T17:18:08","slug":"guilder-cafe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/guilder-cafe\/","title":{"rendered":"Guilder \u00bb PDX"},"content":{"rendered":"

[S]itting at a table in the loft of his spacious new caf\u00e9\u2014operated with cofounder and wife Caryn in Portland, Oregon\u2014Nelson explains why Guilder<\/a> (named after The Princess Bride<\/a><\/em>) is the latest expression of his ongoing mission to push the coffee industry toward the marriage of scientific research and coffee production practices: “academia and coffee have always been inseparable for me,\u201d says Mike Nelson. <\/p>\n

As a PhD student at Florida State University<\/a>, Nelson studied human environment geography. His research focused on the effectiveness of the spread of information on coffee leaf rust in Costa Rica to coffee producers, and ultimately he ended up narrowing his attention to data on the cost of production. \u201cTurns out there\u2019s a lot,\u201d he says, \u201cbut it\u2019s hard to actually do something with that info.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Guilder\"
(Photos: Emily McIntyre.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Analyzing massive quantities of data is challenging; another problem is the difficulty of context. It\u2019s impossible, for example, to apply cost of production data from Guatemala to Ethiopia. These challenges are further complicated by a single truth: we should be paying higher prices for coffees, which is not yet a universally acknowledged fact.<\/p>\n

Much has been said about the plight of the modern coffee farmer, who often operates at a loss. Nelson thinks that understanding the cost of green coffee production and communicating it to each stakeholder in the value chain is essential to improving this problem. At the roastery level, this means careful selection of importing partners and applying his educational background to help the farmer. In the caf\u00e9, this translates into a commitment to breaking down price transparency with customers, to the point of eventually communicating Guilder\u2019s own costs to guests.<\/p>\n

Nelson\u2019s background makes him well suited to pursue these admittedly ambiguous goals. His barista, roasting, and consulting credits include Stumptown Coffee<\/a>, Heart Coffee<\/a>, Blue Bottle<\/a>, the American Barista and Coffee School<\/a>, and various Scandinavian specialty coffee companies. Most of the time, he\u2019s been enrolled in programs focusing on environmental sustainability while working in coffee.<\/p>\n

\"Guilder\"<\/p>\n

Nelson is taking the beginning steps toward applying cost of production analyses at the origin level, supported by Caryn\u2019s strong background in social enterprise and nonprofit work, as well as cofounder Toby Roberts\u2019s strong financial background\u2014after years as Director of Financial Operations for Pok Pok<\/a>, he is now President of the famous restaurant group\u2014and with full support of cofounder Carrie Lind.<\/p>\n

Guilder offers Junior\u2019s Roasted Coffee<\/a>, the roasting arm of the Nelsons\u2019 business endeavor. As a small roasting company, buying power is limited. Currently Nelson is in talks with two coffee producers, one in Guatemala and one in Colombia, about multi-year projects to track and analyze the costs associated with their green coffee production. These discussions are facilitated by Junior\u2019s importing and exporting partners, Terra Negra<\/a>, Fairfield Trading<\/a>, and Collaborative Coffee Source<\/a>. \u201cMy hope is that by embarking on these projects we can serve as an example. If it is successful working on a small scale, say buying ten bags, then hopefully down the road it scales to entire containers,\u201d Nelson says.<\/p>\n

Feedback from most importers on the project is mixed, since a lot of the data are trade secrets, and while the exporters he\u2019s spoken with give positive feedback, Nelson acknowledges the complexity of the industry and points out that coffee prices are universally too low for the cost of production. \u201cCompanies like Counter Culture<\/a>, Kickapoo<\/a>, and Onyx Coffee Lab<\/a> continue to be a beacon of hope in the industry. At Guilder and Junior\u2019s, we are working toward understanding the true cost of a pound of green coffee, and finding creative ways to support that.”<\/p>\n

\"Guilder\"
Cofounder Mike Nelson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the future, Junior\u2019s plans to offer microfinancing to producers, and envisions a model of sourcing for wholesale customers similar to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture): wholesale clients commit to purchasing a set portion of coffee from a particular farmer, who receives pre-financing for the coffee. Given the risks inherent in this structure, Nelson acknowledges it might take a while to get off the ground. \u201cWe are hoping the cost of production project will open the doors with producers.\u201d<\/p>\n

For producers, Nelson\u2019s willingness to apply his training for their benefit is a solid value-add, though, like all intercultural projects, it may take some time to launch. For consumers\u2014both wholesale clients and the guests at Guilder\u2014the benefits will grow as the caf\u00e9 and roasting company build the financial data to present cost analyses at the cup level.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Nelson hopes that the dialogue will catch on, and that other companies in Portland will join Guilder\u2019s attempts to return profit to origin and seek accountability.<\/p>\n

Other Portland-based companies, such as Nossa Familia<\/a>, are also releasing cost analysis in partnership with importers and producers (see the cost breakdown in this sustainability report). The hope is that a few such intentional coffee companies can tip the industry toward a more even distribution of wealth, and that momentum will increase with each coffee that is purchased with this in mind.<\/p>\n

\u2014Emily McIntyre is a regular contributor to<\/em> Fresh Cup, and the co-founder of Catalyst Coffee Consulting<\/a> and Crema.co<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Returning profit to origin and increasing accountability throughout the supply chain. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":13945,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"limit_modified_date":"","last_modified_date":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}},"beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[18,789,23],"tags":[4141,4475,5881,1028,5882,5885,5879,850,5335,4284,4894,5892,1125,5884,5028,5455,5883,5886],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGuilder \u00bb PDX - 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