At TBLO we are passionate about our clients and what they do. We are honored to feature our past and present clients, with our Meet Our Global Clients series.
This month we are featuring Stephany Hermeling, who founded Coffee Farmers Alliance (CFA). Stephany is originally from Santa Rosa, Guatemala. She grew up in the coffee industry, which later in life inspired the creation of CFA, which was founded with a goal of uniting coffee farmers to have a beneficial business distribution model for their coffee. Since moving to the United States in 2019, Stephany began roasting the coffee beans herself. The coffee beans that CFA imports are all grown by Stephany’s friends and family, insuring high small-batch quality of coffee beans and fair treatment of the coffee farmers.
Q: What is Coffee Farmers Alliance?
A: Coffee Farmers Alliance is a private label coffee roaster. We import the green coffee beans from farmers in Guatemala and Brazil, then roast the beans here in Portland, Oregon for a number of different companies. However, we do not just stop at roasting, we also create the whole brand for the company, including customized amazing labels for each company. We can create a brand in as few as 3 to 7 weeks. We prepare everything a company needs to sell their brand of coffee. All the company needs to do is put it on their shelfs.
Q: How did COVID-19 affect CFA?
A: As a coffee business we have always had to use extra caution when preparing our products, but since COVID-19 we have added additional protections to ensure all products have had no contaminates. We are entertaining getting into e-commerce by starting a virtual market place, but we will see what the future holds for us.
Q: What has it been like going through the immigration process in Oregon?
A: I have felt very welcome in Portland, but there was quite a culture shock. Portland is so welcoming to people of different cultures and backgrounds. I felt it was easier to be myself here than in some other cities in the U.S. that I had visited in the past. It took me about a year to become more comfortable with the language and culture to where I felt like I was properly communicating what I wanted to say. We are hopeful as well that CFA helps bring more understanding to what the culture of Central America is like, and it helped me bring a part of my life to the U.S. with me.