MEDELLIN, Colombia,
Feb. 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Low
prices paid to coffee farmers and rampant speculation in the
market are jeopardizing the future of coffee. The industry is
increasingly looking to technology to improve transparency and
deliver more value. The iFinca platform streamlines trade to
deliver greater value to coffee farmers and provide coffee
companies with full traceability to the farmgate price.
"If we're going to make sure farmers get what they need to
produce coffee sustainably, we need to figure out how to better
distribute value," said Alexander
Barrett, CEO of iFinca. "With iFinca handling the heavy work
of sharing verified information, we're able to create efficiencies
across the supply chain that ensure that farmers are better
compensated and receive a living income."
While some new tech solutions use blockchain to trace coffee and
allow end consumers to 'tip their farmers,' the iFinca platform
turns the trading model on its head utilizing a network of verified
transactions where every actor in a supply chain has equal access
to information.
"The issue of transparency and being able to trace coffee to its
origin is very important. It means being able to understand the way
it was cultivated, how it moves around the world," said NĂ©stor
Osorio, former Executive Director of the International Coffee
Organization and former Ambassador to the UK and the United
Nations. "As a platform, iFinca is the answer to how we
innovate, to how we answer that question bringing producers and
consumers closer together."
Since its launch in October 2019,
the iFinca platform has grown to include 38 exporters, 14
importers, 26 roasters and 19 cafes, and 9,430 individual farmers
and 13 cooperatives across Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, El
Salvador, Honduras,
Nicaragua, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Coffee traded via the
iFinca app is currently available in the US, UK and will soon be
available in the EU, Russia and
South Korea.
iFinca's blockchain platform validates transactions from the
first delivery of parchment all the way to the cafe. In initial
trading, iFinca has demonstrated a verifiable increase in price per
pound for smallholder farmers. Consumers will be able to access
details about their coffee, including the price received by the
farmer, when they scan a QR code at the point of sale.
"The insight into our relationships through iFinca allow us to
have a direct connection with the farms we source from. This means
better coffee for our customers and better income for the farmers
we source from," said Ed Wethli,
owner of Crazy Mocha, a roaster/retailer with more than 25
locations in and around the Pittsburgh area. Crazy Mocha is the first cafe
to serve iFinca verified coffee from seven farms in Colombia.
More information +1 (888) 684-4220 or
info@iFincaCoffee.com
Download the iFinca app on Apple / Android
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SOURCE iFinca