What a year!
What a wild year 2021 was? After we all thought that the pandemic would slowly calm down and calmer times would dawn, everything turned out differently. Covid continued to keep us busy, and on top of that there were a few other hot spots that really shook up the coffee industry. In July, there was a cold snap in South America. In Brazil, severe frost led to widespread destruction of coffee plantations, and Lukas also felt the cold firsthand in Peru in a weakened form. Civil war in Ethiopia, protests in Colombia, and continued logistical undercapacity continue to tighten the global supply of green coffee. Together, these circumstances have caused the price of coffee to nearly double compared to 2020 and now stand at a ten-year high.
Despite all the obstacles, we can look back on a successful year and are pleased that we were also able to import the best green coffee in 2021. This year, we imported a total of almost 70 tons from Peru and Vietnam. As usual, we were able to convince our customers of the exceptional quality and were very pleased to see what great end products our coffees went into.
Besides coffee, we were also able to celebrate some organizational and structural milestones this year. The year 2021 was the first full business year in which Lukas and Daniel were able to dedicate themselves to cumpa full-time. What sounds so trivial makes a huge difference for both of them, as they were able to put their full manpower into the further development of cumpa.
In addition, 2021 began for us with a move to the neighboring building. This was another important step for us, because the new premises opened up completely new possibilities for us. The rooms offer us what we have always dreamed of: a larger storage area for our coffee and a modern office with a professional cupping area, which also offers a super view over the Gäu to the Swabian Alb. Since then, we have been able to work together even better and also invite our partners and customers to join us in Herrenberg for a cup of coffee.
In 2021, we were also able to welcome two employees. First, Jakob was employed as a working student and supported us for 7 months on 2 days a week. Since he moved for his master studies, he unfortunately had to leave us. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Jakob again! At the beginning of November we could celebrate another milestone and welcome our new employee Julia, who supports us in marketing since then. This is also a big step for us, because even 200% manpower of Lukas and Daniel is not enough to do all the tasks that come up. Our newly established newsletter, for example, has only become possible with Julia’s support.
So there was a lot going on at cumpa in 2021, and we’re already in the thick of things for 2022. One thing’s for sure: the new year will be no less exciting than the old one.