Development Lot | Everything, Everywhere, All in One Coffee

This is the second year we have purchased the Development Lot from Unblended Coffee. This company is one of our long-time partners, and a consistent provider of our Colombian coffee. Beyond producing excellent coffees, they are doing excellent work in the region, and their signature Development Lot is a centerpiece of the work they do.

This lot helps new farmers in Colombia build their brand AND offers some financial security in a really direct way. For us, purchasing this coffee isn’t just about putting a high-quality coffee on our shelves (Though don’t get us wrong, it’s amazing), we’re buying into a program that does a lot of tangible good.

Last year, I sat down to interview co-founder Sofia Cuadros and learn more about their missions and objectives.

“We started Unblended because we wanted a way to promote the producer as a brand here in the US.”

Unblended’s mission is exactly that, giving producers a platform to compete in the global market. Cuadros highlighted the importance of this mission. Competing globally as a producer is daunting. It takes a lot of capital and a lot of risk. Unblended mitigates this by providing education and sales channels that small producers can participate in. Those sales channels give them a chance to experiment with new processes and build their brand.

“This lot is a coffee we plan to have year round and also allows the producers to experiment in extended fermentations and natural fermentations.”

How does Unblended encourage its producers to experiment? It all comes down to the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia (or FNC)—an institution that advocates for Colombian farmers and plays the role of a guaranteed buyer in the region. Farmers can sell their coffee to the FNC at a standardized base price, which gives producers a degree of security. The wrinkle is that the Federation only purchases washed coffee, which has not been put through any natural or extended fermentation process. A coffee processed any other way must be sold to private buyers.

The FNC surely plays an important role in the region, but this policy can de-incentivize experimentation and innovation. There are a wealth of ways to control the fermentation of a coffee cherry, which can elevate flavors in the bean, or even add new flavors. These processes can make a producer’s coffee stand out in a competitive international market.

The Development Lot brings all this together. Producers can experiment with new processes, often with lots too small to sell at scale, and Unblended will purchase them for the Development Lot. In addition to this, some of these experiments are also sold as single lots on their own, which helps to build that producer’s brand even further.

Regardless, the company blends these experiments into one big lot, and it brews an absolutely bonkers cup of coffee. It’s an explosion of red fruit, citrus, rich acidity, with a full body.

This program isn’t just about economic policy. It’s about generating excitement among the producers. Carolina Ramirez , a star of Unblended’s program, takes time away from her career as a lawyer to help her family farm, because of the opportunities the company offered. Now, Ramirez sells single lots of coffee, as well as contributing to Development.

According to Cuadros, the average age of coffee producers in the country is 65. By offering farms the chance to innovate, it reinvigorates their excitement about their work, and brings needed young people back to the industry.

The Development Lot will be on our shelves throughout the summer. Make sure to pick it up to try some incredible coffee and support valuable work in the region.