Ep #1 Farming & Producing - Systems Map Discussion Series
In the Systems Map Discussion Series, Kim Elena Ionescu and Julie Housh of the SCA speak with individuals working in key coffee system activities.
Episode #1 on October 21 at 8pm PST/4pm BST features three panelists working in farming & processing:
Daniel Cortés
Anggela Sara
Nima Tenzing Sherpa
Through this and the subsequent conversations, we hope to cultivate a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the intersecting activities in coffee.
Panelists
Daniel Cortés is an entrepreneur in medicinal cannabis and coffee. With degrees in journalism and social communications, he worked for several years as a journalist before returning to Colombia. There, he founded a company related to medicinal cannabis and then joined his father working in a specialty coffee family business one year ago. In 2007, his father, Rodrigo Cortes, planted 12 hectares of coffee in Timaná, Huila, Colombia, and start a specialty coffee production farm called Finca Los Andes. After retirement from the oil business, he moved from Bogotá to Huila to continue to work on the farm. Today, Finca Los Andes produces one of the best coffees in the region.
Anggela Sara was born in Villa Rica, a coffee city in Peru. She specialized in coffee and cocoa cooperatives management and this work eventually led her to work closely with many parts of coffee production in Peru. In 2014, she was integral in forming the Peruvian chapter of IWCA. She is currently the president of and an organizer of the national women's barista championship: "Espressate Mujer." She has also been a judge three times for the national barista championship in Peru and once in Chile. Three years ago, she became the first woman in three generations to lead IMSA, the foremost coffee machine manufacturer in Peru. A year ago, with her partners, she formed The Specialty Coffee Community. This company organizes coffee events, promoting consumption, and professionalization.
Nima Tenzing Sherpa is a first-generation coffee producer representing Lekali Coffee Estate Pvt. Ltd. He has been growing coffee since 2008 and has been an active member of the specialty coffee association of America since 2010. Nima is an active advocate for specialty coffee in Nepal and a producer since 2013, successfully exporting his single estate lots to specialty buyers in the US and Europe. He is passionate about coffee and has always been motivated to produce the best quality coffee from Nepal. Lekali Coffee has been awarded 90 points cupping score from the prestigious Coffee Review website in 2018 and another 91 points in 2019, which was the first coffee from Nepal to achieve this quality score. Besides working on his farm, he is actively involved in training coffee producers around Nepal to produce specialty coffees, from picking only the red ripe cherries to teaching them different ways of processing coffees.
Special Thanks to Savor Brands
The Systems Map Discussion Series is made possible with support from Savor Brands. Featuring packaging solutions at every step of the supply chain, Savor Brands is there for you. Want to create high-quality packaging that grows your business? Learn more at savorbrands.com.
