Behind the Beans: Paul Lidy, CUMPA

I have been part of the cumpa team since February 2022 – a re-import from Vietnam, you might say. I was already working with coffee there when Daniel got to know me through a mutual friend in the coffee industry and decided to visit me in Vietnam. At the time, cumpa was already importing small quantities of green coffee from Vietnam and was looking to establish further partnerships on the ground. Back then, I introduced Daniel to Zanya & Tamba Coffee, with whom I was already collaborating through my small roastery in Saigon. The first full container load was ordered, and I was offered a spot on the cumpa team.

At that point, I had spent the majority of my adult life in Asia. For the first time, the idea of returning to Germany felt like a step forward. Everything just clicked! Today, I’m the Quality Control & Relations Manager at cumpa, continuing to strengthen ties with my second home, Vietnam, while working closely with roasteries across Europe.

When I moved out of Germany in 2016, I spent several months in the mountains of Kerala, India. Coffee cultivation is significant there, and I was already fascinated by it at the time – though purely from the perspective of a curious coffee consumer. Six months later, I traveled across Vietnam on a motorcycle, from north to south, and fell in love with the country, its warm-hearted people, and its vibrant culture.

For the next three years, I worked as a German teacher at a small school in Ho Chi Minh City, the bustling southern metropolis that is still widely referred to by its old name, “Saigon.” People spend much of their time in charming cafés, which can be found on every corner and in every alley. The coffee culture – dominated by locally grown Robusta coffee – is omnipresent! On a rainy monsoon day, while sitting in my favorite café, I made the decision to work with coffee one day.

I was captivated by the central role that coffee, and especially café culture, played in Vietnamese society, as well as the passion with which it was prepared and served. At the same time, I had met people in the mountains who grew coffee and spent several weeks with them during the harvest, helping out with production.

I had made up my mind: to open a roastery and tell the stories of the people behind the coffee. Two months later, in November 2019, I attended my first SCA Foundation & Intermediate Roasting Class and, just a few months later, co-founded my first small coffee business in Vietnam with a good friend.

The openness and passion of the people you meet in the coffee industry are unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It feels like a spark ignites when you exchange ideas. Both at origin and in Europe, I’ve met people in the coffee world who quickly became friends and who I now count among my most cherished connections. Coffee is a truly powerful common ground.

From the very beginning, my vision has been clear and remains unchanged: I want to tell the stories of the people who produce coffee. I want to build a bridge between cultures that goes beyond just enjoying coffee.

It’s important to me that coffee producers gain insights into life and coffee culture in Europe as well. Through visits by our partners to Europe, as well as our regular visits to origins and guided coffee trips for roasteries, cumpa provides an opportunity to address the vast information asymmetry in the industry.

By fostering long-term business relationships – in good times and in challenging ones – we build trust and create sustainable income sources that encourage people to remain in coffee farming. For most individuals involved in coffee cultivation worldwide, passion and pride in their work still play little to no role; that’s the reality. As importers with direct relationships to producers, we have the opportunity to change that.

From a consumer perspective, specialty coffee means being curious about the origin and processing of the coffee, asking questions, and experimenting with it to create an outstanding taste experience during extraction.

What makes a coffee a specialty coffee is multifaceted. It doesn’t always have to be super fancy. Traceability to the farmer, fair wages along the value chain, and a clean, delicious cup of coffee are what make it special(ty).

I’ve certainly come across plenty of strange or funny moments since working with coffee. One that I fondly recall happened before I became a coffee professional: the first time I was served a pour-over, I was deeply disappointed and complained to my friend, who had brought me to the café, that I had just spent five euros on what I thought was a pretty watery cup of coffee.

It was my first visit to a specialty coffee shop in Saigon after years of almost exclusively drinking traditionally brewed Robusta. It wasn’t until about a year later that I began to appreciate and understand the world of filter coffee, which I absolutely love today.

This probably won’t come as a surprise: Robusta. Canephora…

I “grew up” as a coffee professional in a coffee culture where there was no bias against Canephora. The 100% Fine Robusta was naturally the bestseller of my small roastery in Saigon, as the local coffee culture has always been shaped by Robusta. I encourage everyone to travel with us to Vietnam to explore the diverse preparation methods of this versatile coffee.

For me, Canephora, with its botanical potential, is already an absolute highlight and an essential part of specialty coffee’s future. With the creation of the Canephorum, we’ve laid a foundation to spark curiosity about this fascinating coffee species.

In January 2025, I’ll lead a group of roasters through Vietnam for the second time. We’ll visit four of our local partners, gaining deep insights into the world of coffee farming and processing. After this shared journey, I’ll continue on to another coffee-growing country where we are currently establishing new connections. Hopefully, I’ll be able to share more details with you soon!

Back in Europe, the festival season will kick off again, and I’m looking forward to meeting coffee experts from around the world.

During my last visit to Vietnam, I also successfully completed my Q Robusta Grader certification and am now excited to soon take on quality control for our coffees from Peru, Vietnam, Panama, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Getting to taste so many amazing coffees and then presenting them is truly a fantastic part of my job.