🌱 Behind every great coffee is a farmer working tirelessly, stretching every resource to bring their harvest to market. This month in Tarqui, Huila, Nick (our Director of Coffee), sat with 21 producers and heard something that stopped him cold: most wait four to five months to be paid after delivering their coffee. Imagine trying to feed your family or reinvest in your farm under those conditions. We’re working with our friends at @ositocoffee to import coffees from Tarqui. And when the growers in this meeting heard Osito pays within two weeks of receiving their coffee, they were floored. It doesn’t matter how exceptional the coffee is. Without timely (or fair) payment, farmers have no means of investment and no safety net. This is what “farmer equity” really means: making sure producers are not asked to shoulder all the risk while buyers, exporters, and roasters control the timeline. As coffee drinkers, it’s easy to chase the romance of flavor and origin. But the real story is here, in the lived reality of talented, hardworking producers.