Have you heard of the
This initiative built by Julius Meinl are programs that can enact real, on-the-ground change, and improve the lives of the farmers they work with in Colombia.
Julius Meinl does this by helping farmers better their businesses through training programs, offering education programs for their children, helping them get their hands on the equipment they need, providing technical assistance and guiding them through the process of earning the relevant certifications.
The school support programme provides education programs and materials for farmer’s children, which Julis Meinl believes is one of the key elements of how they are striving to make a difference on ground level.
The farmers Julius works with consider future generations when they think of their businesses. Julius Meinl being a family owned business has the same kind of forward-thinking as these farmers, and so do we.
Julius is injecting this program with initiatives that will empower farmers so that they can earn higher profits on their end, and have everything they need to produce quality harvests, independent of any third party.
Julius Meinl has utilized a lot of farmers located in the Tolima region of Colombia. The terrain there is not easy to farm as it’s incredibly steep. There are also issues with how the region is managed. Let’s just say, the farmers don’t have it easy.
This is the reason behind the Agronomist Assistance program, which looks to upskill farmers with individual training sessions and technical support.
The Impact…
In 2020 alone, roughly 305 producers were trained, including families and farmers from 50 farms in the Tolima region.
Meanwhile, Julius Meinl also discovered that the farmers were lacking one of the essential pieces of equipment – drying machines. Without these, the farmers were being forced to sell the coffee cherries to resellers, meaning there was a loss of quality happening, and a chunk of their profits disappearing.
After identifying this barrier, Julius Meinl provided, installed and began maintaining 25 drying facilities thus increasing the farmers’ production of dried coffee by 85%.– and they won’t be stopping there.
To further help producers grow profitable and sustainable businesses, Julius is also guiding farmers through the process of acquiring the UTZ & Rainforest alliance certification.
Having these certificates will enable them to sell their product at higher prices, and ensure that they’re meeting certain economic, social and ecological requirements, which can only be a good thing for everyone.
By investing in farmers and their families, and adopting the same forward-thinking approach that Julius Meinl founder once did, they will be improving the quality of life for generations of farmers, creating a better and more sustainable coffee industry, and as a result, improving the quality of beans they deliver to the coffee-loving community – and in our humble opinion, these are all the key ingredients for a better future.
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