Ethiopia and Colombia Coffee Update
Recently, our coffee selections from Ethiopia and Colombia have been difficult to keep in stock for our customers, many of whom seek to purchase these origins specifically. Because we care deeply about our customers and providing a consistent product, we felt it necessary to address the current state in these countries as well as the industry as a whole post-pandemic. We hope that this information can provide some context and insight to our valued customers.
There is currently a humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia and consequently, the importers we regularly use are experiencing delays in receiving coffee from Ethiopia. This crisis has been building for quite a while and it is uncertain if or when things will improve. Attacks on the Tigraian population by Ethiopian forces have led to the displacement of millions of people, loss of life and the destruction of Tigray cities. These attacks have been described by many including the U.N. as ethnic cleansing. The crisis has created unbelievable challenges for Ethiopians as the country spirals deeper into chaos. So in light of the horrible events unfolding in Ethiopia, we’ve resigned ourselves to being patient, and we ask the same of our customers looking specifically for Ethiopian coffees.
image by Cafe Imports
Like many of our customers, we are in love with Colombia coffees and work hard to offer at least one selection throughout the year. While normally we would be eagerly anticipating fresh crops to arrive any day, we are patiently waiting longer than normal as much of the country’s infrastructure has come to a halt due to an ongoing state of civil unrest. As the state of national strike in Colombia rolls through its third consecutive month, we want to take a moment to not only call attention to the crisis but to ask our customers to be understanding and patient as we experience delays in receiving coffee. Normally we have a wide selection of incredible coffees from Colombia, but along with delays, we are seeing far fewer coffees to choose from. We expect things to begin moving again soon and we hope that select coffees will be arriving within 2-3 weeks. Just as we trust that our importers are working hard to uphold long-standing relationships with producers, we ask our customers to trust that we are doing our best to source the best Colombia coffees we can.
image by Cafe Imports
There’s no doubt we’ve all felt the economic impact of the virus in one way or another, and the Covid-19 Pandemic has created global material shortages and supply chain disruptions. We at Velo have been relatively fortunate to survive the fallout of the pandemic thus far, but we haven’t escaped completely unscathed. We are currently experiencing delays in the shipping of many products and are finding certain supplies scarce. We are humbly asking our customers to be patient as we work hard to source the items that are required for daily production, such as glass bottles and aluminum cans.
The bottom line is this. We are fighting hard to do what we can to provide the coffees that our customers love and enjoy, despite the repercussions of the pandemic and turmoil in the countries that we source from. We thank you so much for your continued support and your patience.
If you have any questions regarding these matters, we’d love to hear from you.
Please email contact@velocoffee.com.