E ceva ce nu ne face atractivi. Pe noi astia din Romania cu cafeaua noastra de specialitate. Cu comunitatile noastre frumoase. Cu campioni la concursurile de cafea. Cu asociatiile cu nume pompoase prezentate in ziarele quality. Pentru ca altfel nu imi explic cum a fost aleasa Lisabona ca oras gazda pentru finala mondiala de Aeropress.
E clar ca nu are legatura cu cafeaua. Sau cu cafenelele din acel oras. Sau cu prajitoriile locale de specialty. Pentru ca acele prajitorii au trasmis acum cteva zile un comunicat in care erau consternate ca a fost ales un roaster din alta tara pentru a livra cafeaua oficiala de competitie. Si desi le-au fost oferite spatii comerciale cu un discount semnificativ la eveniment, coagularea acestora ducea la un boicot (cvasi)total din partea comunitatii locale. Si pentru ca in era asta a social media power, vorba se duce repede, astazi a venit si raspunsul organizatorilor (L-am atasat la finalul articolului pentru ca sigur va disparea din acel google drive).
Un fel de “ne pare rau, am gandit-o cu spatele, hai sa mai incercam o data, dar de vina sunteti voi ca prajiti pe prajitoare de 5 kg”. Si aici dragii mosului mi-a sarit espresso-ul din mana. Cum ba sa alegi un oras pentru un CAMPIONAT MONDIAL si abia apoi sa te intrebi daca aia au posibilitatea sa livreze ceva important ca, cafeaua? Ce planificare faci tu ca organizatie ce colecteaza niste sume considerabile, in asa fel incat uiti acest amanunt super important? Daca nu comunitatea locala, cafenelele, prajitorii locali…..ce a contat cand ati ales orasul ala? Ce pub-uri sunt deschise? Ca poate il intalniti acolo pe Ronaldo? Ca aveti zboruri directe? CE?!?!?!
Si ma enervez ca, desi avem clar o piata mult mai dezvoltata decat saracii aia, cand prajitorii nostri rup norma pe prajitoare de 15/35/70 de kilograme, cand nu iti ajung zilele dintr-un concediu sa vizitezi toate cafenelele din Bucuresti (sa ma scuze colegii din tara), nu suntem suficient de atractivi pentru somitatile astea din industrie. Va dati seama, am avut 3 festivaluri de cafea in 45 de zile cu zeci de mii de vizitatori, dar nu am fost suficienti de buni pentru niste apasari de pistoane la aeropress. Nu e problema, urmatoarele editii vor fi in locuri suficient de indepartate incat nu vom avea ce pretentii sa mai ridicam……
A Message from Tim Williams, Director at World AeroPress Championship
Many of our community will already be aware of the dissatisfaction expressed by a group of coffee roasters in Portugal, upset at our decision to work with an international roaster for this year’s World AeroPress Championship in Lisbon.
Our goal since announcing this event back in December 2023 was always to work with a Portuguese company as our roasting partner, and we struggled to make that happen. Through dialogue with a number of local roasters, we now better understand how this goal was missed.
While we conducted a search for a local roaster who could meet our coffee requirements, and had some early conversations with several candidates, we just didn’t cast our net wide enough.
Furthermore, we were not flexible enough with the coffee requirements for this event to make sure we could work with a Portuguese roaster, many of whom are roasting on five or six kilogram capacity machines.
When our outreach efforts proved fruitless, we were too quick to look outside Portuguese borders.
We’re sorry for these mistakes, and the consternation they’ve caused. These mistakes are ours, and we’re here to own them.
Beyond that, we’re here to try to put things right.
Following on from many one-to-one discussions with local roasters, last night we enjoyed a productive call with representatives from the roasters group.
Together, we cleared some air, and unpacked the issues, rumours, and misconceptions further. We were able to share our outreach and selection process, and together with others on the call, understand why it failed to generate results in Portugal.
On the call, we advised the group’s representatives that we will no longer be working with an international roaster for the event in Lisbon, and that we had already let the previously-selected roaster know this earlier that day.
(I should add here that Nomad is in no way at fault; they’re an incredible roaster, and very much caught in the crossfire.)
As for this year’s roasting partner, we have now reopened expressions of interest, and are eager to hear from local roasters.
This streamlined process is based on both a revised selection criteria and a reduced roasting volume, giving a greater number of roasters in Portugal the opportunity to express their interest in being involved.
We understand that this might well be ‘too little, too late’ to win back the trust and support of the local roasting community, and if so, that’s on us. But we’ll never know without putting our best foot, in authentic good faith, which is where we stand before you today.
When it comes to coffee, there’s always hope.
Tim Williams
