James Harper, Author at Perfect Daily Grind

Prucer and buyer checking dried coffee cherries

June 16, 2020

Overcoming Logistical Hurdles to Strengthening Direct Trade Relationships

Direct trade establishes direct, mutually beneficial relationships between roasters and producers, cutting out all or some of the middlemen usually involved in the coffee supply ...read more

Written by James Harper

June 9, 2020

Producer Perspectives on Farmgate Prices & Technology

Increased coffee supply chain transparency could help farmers secure better coffee prices. However, few transparency efforts extend back to this group, which means that once ...read more

Written by James Harper

May 18, 2020

COVID-19 & The Coffee Trade: Exploring The Short- & Long-Term Impact

Containers, cash flow, and congestion: COVID-19 is causing unprecedented chaos in the coffee industry. Lee este artículo en español COVID-19 & The Coffee Trade: Exploring ...read more

Written by James Harper

Person carryig a jute bag with green coffee beans

April 9, 2020

Coffee Pricing: Why We Need to Know Farmgate And Not Just FOB

What did the farmer who grew your coffee get paid? Finding an answer to this simple question is challenging. So challenging, in fact, that most ...read more

Written by James Harper

March 25, 2020

Coffee Origins: A Guide to Mexico

On small, mountainous farms run mainly by indigenous producers, you’ll find an often-overlooked gem growing strong: Mexican coffee. When people list famous coffee origins, Mexico ...read more

Written by James Harper

March 4, 2020

How Can Roasters Target Luxury & High-End Markets?

While British high street coffee shops are criticized by politicians and newspapers for selling coffees at £2.35 (US $2.56), just up the road in the ...read more

Written by James Harper

February 12, 2020

Blockchain & Coffee: Separating The Marketing From The Reality

Blockchain. Bitcoin. Supply chains. These are some of the many buzzwords passing across people’s lips, often interspersed with the adjectives “revolutionary” and “game-changing”. Frankly, it ...read more

Written by James Harper

December 5, 2019

How Education Creates Opportunities in Coffee-Producing Regions

Social programmes, such as arts initiatives, are working to offer young people in coffee-producing communities better education and better work opportunities as they move into ...read more

Written by James Harper

December 4, 2019

Coffee’s Role in The Face of Yemen’s Humanitarian Crisis

“Yemen has become the largest humanitarian crisis in the world,” states the UN. It is also a country that has exported coffee globally for almost ...read more

Written by James Harper

November 28, 2019

How Can Roasters Market Sustainable Coffee?

Sourcing sustainable coffee helps you stay true to your vision and support a better supply chain – but how do you convince customers to buy ...read more

Written by James Harper

September 30, 2019

Pricing Coffee: Why Do Yemeni Beans Cost More?

Yemeni coffees can make headlines for their prices. And understandably so: they often sell for upwards of US $60 per kilo green. But why does ...read more

Written by James Harper

July 16, 2019

How Nicaragua’s Political Climate Is Impacting Its Coffee Industry

Nicaragua has a long history of growing coffee and an economy that is strongly linked to the crop. But recent political unrest is impacting the ...read more

Written by James Harper

June 27, 2019

Tracing Coffee’s Roots Back to Al-Mokha, Yemen

At one point in time, almost every coffee drank in Europe was from Yemen. Nowadays, Yemeni coffee exports account for less than 1% of global ...read more

Written by James Harper

April 24, 2019

How to Open a Coffee Shop With Limited Resources

Are you considering opening your own independent coffee shop but have a small budget to work with? Or maybe you’ve just launched and are looking ...read more

Written by James Harper

April 15, 2019

An Alternative Specialty Coffee Shop Tour of Berlin, Germany

Berlin’s specialty coffee scene is exploding. There’s an overwhelming amount of places to get a great cup of coffee here, and everyone you ask will ...read more

Written by James Harper

March 19, 2019

Understanding The Myth of Heirloom Variety Coffee

When we speak of Ethiopian coffees, we use descriptors such as “rosehips” and “magnolia”. But if you’re curious to know what specific variety produces these ...read more

Written by James Harper