News - Finlays

Linking the Coffee Chain Alan Davies and Michael Pennant-Jones
Finlay Beverages is the largest private label roast and ground coffee packer in
the UK supplying private label coffee to major retailers. Colombia is important
to us, as the single largest origin for our business and a crucial component of
many of our blends. Finlay Beverages purchase over 700mt of Colombian coffee
per annum, and yet staff had little first-hand experience of how the coffee was
processed, sourced and marketed. Coffee Buyer and Blender Alan Davies and
CSR Manager Michael Pennant-Jones set off to explore the coffee chain.
The high Andean mountains stretch from
the borders of Ecuador and Peru in the
South to the Caribbean Sea in the North,
abutting the Pacific Ocean in the West and
the rainforests of the Amazon Basin in the
East. This vast area accommodates a host
of micro climates and soil types which
facilitate the production of a rich and
diverse variety of an important crop for
Finlays, coffee.
Colombia is the largest producer of fully
washed arabica coffee in the world, with
an average crop of over 11 million bags
(660,000 mt). The majority of the coffee
that we purchase comes from the Central
Andean growing areas, forming a triangle
cornered by Bogota, Periera and Medellin,
and marketed under the generic name of
“Medellin Excelso”. These plantations are
amongst the oldest in Colombia, being
established in the 19th century; they
produce a full bodied coffee with a nutty
flavour and light acidity.
Our visit took in meetings with the
marketing bodies, the Federation of
National Coffee Growers (FNC) and
Expocafe; the farmers’ representatives from
whom we buy our coffee directly; farmers in
both the Periera and Bogota areas; and the
mills where the coffee is sorted and bagged.
‘Our purpose is to serve our farmers’,
remarked an employee of the FNC during a
presentation at the Federation’s offices.
Typical marketing speak, some might say;
however, after a few days in Colombia we
realised that this philosophy genuinely
underpins the country’s coffee industry. It
explains why Colombia has one of the most
sophisticated and successful smallholder
systems in the world, renowned for its
consistent high quality of coffee.
Founded over 80 years ago, the FNC was set
up to organise small farmers in the coffee
industry. Its ownership is a complex web,
stretching between the farmers, their cooperatives
and mills to ensure that there
are checks and balances at all levels.
This cross-ownership gives a stable
platform but also allows freedom for the
farmer to sell coffee to anyone, and to do
what is best for him. Intense market
competition within a heavily organised
sector, focused at all levels on serving the
farmers, has resulted in growth and huge
benefits for the latter and for the country.
The FNC guarantees not only a minimum
price for Colombian coffee, based on
international markets, but also guarantees
to purchase that coffee at the minimum
price; this ensures that all competitors have
to buy above it. Guaranteeing a minimum
price is not enough to ensure that this
system works; thus, only high quality
coffees can be exported from Colombia,
after first being checked by the FNC.
An amazingly multi-functional organisation,
the FNC not only works as a support and
trading house for coffee, but also
undertakes shipment checks on all coffee
exported, to ensure that nothing of substandard
quality leaves the country.
Additionally, it also works on agricultural
extension, infrastructure projects,
purchasing coffee, trading and shipping
coffee around the world and has
shareholdings in all member co-operatives.
Interestingly, at the time when FNC
purchased 80% of Colombian coffee there
was a realisation that this was not good for
the farmer as there was little competition.
The solution was to set-up another
company, Expocafe, to compete with them
in buying coffee from smallholders. Today
Finlay Beverages source directly from both
these companies.
Overall, we were deeply impressed with the
professionalism and organisation of the
farmers who are truly passionate about
their coffee; also with the excellent levels of
quality control and, at the end of the day,
with a superb range of coffees. It has to be
said Colombian coffee will never taste the
same again.
Orlando, owner of a coffee smallholding on
a mountainside in the Risaralda, took us on
a tour of his property. The coffee grows on
steep slopes, with riparian strips by a
stream; bamboo is planted to absorb the
water and provide building material; there
are a couple of hectares of coffee and
washing and drying areas for the crop, all
laid out with good practices in mind.
On the plateau below, large areas of
grassland now under cattle were, until a few
years ago, largely coffee farms. These are
disappearing not only because the lower
quality of coffee they produce is prone to
disease, but also due to a growing economy
where labour costs have risen substantially.
On Orlando’s farm the extended family is
used to assist at cropping times; and the
personal attention he can give to the bushes
helps keep disease to a minimum and
farming sustainable.
In common with many smallholders,
Orlando is continually investing in his farm;
the standards he maintains compare
favourably with some of the larger farms.
Sustainable practices are well evident, with
minimal use of chemicals through increased
inspection and management of the bushes.
The FNC provides technical support even to
the level of developing mycorrhizas to
replace fertiliser. To support smallholders
like Orlando the FNC have been exploring
product diversification programmes
including the growing of fruit trees,
macadamia nuts, and bamboo for building;
also partnerships with large companies
such as Dole of the USA on plantain.
All this ongoing work and constant
improvement will, hopefully, assist farmers
like Orlando to continue to meet the
expectations of the market, yet allow him to
profit from his investment in and his
attention to a high quality product that is
the mainstay of Finlays coffees.
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