Specialty coffee has been defined by a difference in quality and taste for a very long time. It is the central value that creates the markets that we currently operate in. The problem with this though is that taste as a value is, in the end, a subjective opinion. While quality, taste, and serving the desires of customer is always important, how we go about the practice of taste making will either include or exclude those most impacted by out judgments. How can we balance the need to serve and be effective in what we have not, while building a better way for the future? Well, to talk with us about these and many other questions regarding taste is Kosta Kalivoursis of ally Coffee.
Kosta Kallivrousis is a Senior Account Manager with Ally Coffee and has been a fixture in specialty coffee for a very long time. He spend a great deal of his time researching coffee, community, and social movements and putting together some very thought provoking posts that challenge us to evolve into a better industry.
One such article was recently featured in the latest issue of Standart Magazine called “Against Taste”. In it Kosta explore the idea of taste as a value that dominates and competes with the well being of those who produce the coffee we enjoy.
On this episode we will dive into this topic and tease out where we are, how we got here, and where we can go in the future if we move beyond the tyranny of taste.
We discuss
- The epiphany of the problem
- Why market access is not enough
- Dethroning taste as supreme value
- Who decides value?
- Balance of input and market demand
- The International Coffee Agreement + Solutions from the past
- Well being as a value on par with quality
- Can we co create?
- Allowing ourselves room for innovation
- Dialogue w/o threat
Links:
Kosta’s Instagram @espresso_patronus
Related episodes:
Sustainability Series #1 : The Farm
Sustainability Series #2 : Importing & Roasting
Sustainability Series #3 : The Cafe
Sustainability Series #4 : Consumer
288 : The Truth behind Cheap Coffee w/ Karl Weinhold
335: A Better Business Model for Coffee Farmers w/ Thaleon Tremain of Pachamama Coffee
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