* Cartagena – Special Envoy
Almacafé today is the protagonist of each link in the chain, growing in operational income, lowering expenses and multiplying profitabilitywhich allow reinvestment in industrial capacities in the regions.
At the end of May, Operating income grew 18.1%, operating expenses decreased 9.8% and profits increased more than 305%.
Almacafé is simplifying all areas of coffee production, distribution and marketing through logistical reconfiguration. This reconfiguration, when fully implemented, will save more than $10,000 million in logistics expenses.
A critical point in this transformation is the implementation of refrigerated storage silos that will be implemented in Popayán, Pitalito, Armenia and Santa Marta. With this, it will be possible to make the movement of coffee from 23 departments and 603 municipalities more efficient.
Almacafé is increasingly closer to the coffee grower, each thresher in each subsidiary has become more efficient, since it is using the installed capacity in a better proportion. Germán Bahamón, manager of the Coffee Growers Federation, pointed out what progress they have made with Almacafé.
What is the reason for the increase in annual production?
What we are seeing is a recovery of a coffee park that is alive in our fields and that was waiting for favorable agro-climatological conditions. Yesterday we were noting that production in May grew 39% compared to the same month last year and that in the last 12 months we are reaching 11.93 million bags, that is, we are already growing by 12%.
What are the transformation goals for Almacafé?
Almacafé should be the heart of the coffee industry in Colombia and we are transforming an entity that was born as a warehouse into a coffee union company. Today we are looking for storage and refrigeration centers to be established in Colombia where coffee is being produced. and that will even allow us to save up to $10,000 million annually in terms of coffee transportation.
When will these projects be active?
Almacafé will seek to have refrigerated storage, which are huge silos where we can have the seed in good conditions, so that there is no degradation, instead of taking it to the Páramo de Letras. What I can tell you is that in the first week of July we will open the first regional industrialization center of Almacaféwhich will allow all coffee growers to bring their coffee and so that we can carry out the profiling processes, design the roasting curve, roast it, package it and help them market their coffee.
So, What Almacafé is doing is participating in the entire value chain to help the coffee grower become more profitable..
What is the cost of the project?
I think there are important things to note there, Almacafé in the first five months of the year has grown its operating income by 18% and has reduced its expenses by 9.8%, it is generating a profitability that exceeds that of the previous year, of 300%, and what we are doing is reinvesting the profits, because what has to be done is reinvesting in coffee growing, in these regional transformation centers, so what Almacafé does is lead the change with logistical reconfiguration and accompany with efficient processes.
How is the process of the European Union pact going?
We have led as a union entity this possibility of complying with the regulation of the European Green Pact, we have been working for more than eight months with the European Union, with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and with different multilateral and multinational entities that accompany us in this process.
We have already made the first two exports, where, accompanied by Global Forest Watch and the Rainforest Alliance, we were able to export coffee from Huila and coffee from Quindío in compliance with the regulations. Now we want to take this initiative to the entire national territoryso we are confident that the work we are doing with the Government and the European Union will bear fruit and comply with the regulations.
How much coffee production do you expect to close this year?
Our projection for the first semester that is going to be fulfilled is that we will be close to between 5.7 and 5.8 million bags. The second semester has always, and historically, been superior, For us it is a fact that we are going to exceed 12 million bags.
*Invited by Asobancaria
