Our Story.
We just kinda fell into coffee… or rather, it found us... not really sure! Nevertheless, it's been one heck of a wild ride and we're grateful to be a part of an amazing family of coffee professionals on both sides.
What started off with $8 in our pockets and a vision to support a school, has now turned into a family and collective of producers and roasters joined together to actively change the way coffee is being sourced meanwhile enjoying the coffee and the relationships we have all come to love. We really can’t take credit for much of our story because our story has been made possible by so many!
Our Start.
This is Colegio Berea. You might be thinking, what does a school have to do with coffee?
Ryan and Abdiel, Co-Founders of what was previously known as Yepocapa Coffee, became good friends here; working together and teaching English classes to the kids back in 2015. The afternoons were filled with soccer games where the 3rd-4th graders would literally school Ryan. (Either I’m terrible or they’re really good!)
After 3 months, Ryan and Abdiel wanted to find ways to better sustain this special school. Colegio Berea is a unique school because they provide a safe learning space for kids that would otherwise be turned away by some of the other public and private schools in town. (Not with bad intentions, of course.) Despite not always having the access to resources needed, Colegio Berea has always opened its doors to everyone with the mission to provide a safe learning space for their kids to flourish academically, socially, and spiritually.
At the time, the idea was to use coffee as a way to fundraise for Colegio Berea. Since coffee is one of Yepocapa’s primary agricultural exports, we liked the idea of using a local product to be the backbone behind supporting a local school.
As we began to spend time with farmers pursuing this direction, our eyes became opened to the vast world of challenges producers face. The relationships we formed in the coming months and years helped shape the direction, mission, and purpose behind what has since become Collaborative Origins Imports today.
Since then, we’ve set our focus on building producer-level opportunities, incentivizing quality, and pursuing transparent relationships with roasters. As a byproduct, we as Collaborative Origins Imports give a portion of our profits back to Colegio Berea to support their heart and mission in the community of Yepocapa.
Where We Stand Now.
We’ve loved getting to see some central themes emerge over the years like Better Relationships, Better Coffee, and our other biblical mantra to Give Honor Where Honor Is Due.
Producers have often been separated from the consumer level in so many ways; some intentionally and others unintentionally. We have the incredible privilege to tear down this dividing wall and to provide opportunities for producers to sell their coffee outside of the traditional C-Market in a way that makes sense financially, logistically, and also relationally.
It’s that latter part that has more value than most would think. The simple fact of producers knowing that their coffee will be exported and represented with their name on the bag, and with a provided Transparency Report really does change the way producers farm, harvest, and process their coffee. There’s a growing excitement with each year to improve and to provide a better crop because it’s going to someone they’ve come to know personally that’s advocating for them too.
We’ve found this relational aspect to be a higher motivator than just great prices alone. It becomes fun to sell coffee this way because it generates both gratitude and better coffee at the same time. It’s something we celebrate and get excited about.
Moving forward, we’re looking forward to growing and working alongside more roasters. This enables us the ability to reach out to more producers and provide a better means for them to sell their coffee; in a way that’s mutually beneficial. At the moment, we just enjoy getting to work at any level and making more friends in the process.