Emma Kurtzman

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Miguel Fajardo, a Coffee farmer in Western Colombia , spent trying for The Last eight years, rebuilding His Family 's fortunes after his father went bankrupt.

But he now feared that he would lose everything Once Again , as his orders dry up in The Wake of the coronavirus.

"We are definitely afraid, we must know how things are," he says. "We keep the production of Coffee , but where are we going to sell it? This is the difficult question. "

the demand for Coffee has increased in recent weeks, as consumers stockpile of basic supplies from supermarkets. It is, however, a very different picture for the more expensive specialty Coffee , that's what produces Mr Fajardo.

Colombia is The World 's largest Coffee producer after Brazil and Vietnam

This high-quality Coffee , sold primarily to cafes and restaurants - Many of which have closed because of coronavirus lock.

The Speciality Coffee Association warns that Many small businesses now fear for their survival, while in the Assembly provide for the livelihood of the farmers who grow the beans.

demand fears

Mr. Fajardo has seen a decline in order intake of More Than 50% in The Last month alone, and he fears The Situation will only get worse.

"We watch The News , and we can see that most of The World is now in isolation," he says.

"is The biggest fear, these Bounce Back to us that it is not, the demand for specialty Coffee . "

While the raw material prices relatively stable, they still offer Coffee for cheap

Many farmers in Colombia 's Coffee -belt are already living a precarious existence.

According to the spiral of debt and a sharply fluctuating Coffee price drove Mr Fajardo father in bankruptcy, and The Family was forced to sell all of their Coffee farms.

'We never know'

It was at this point, he turned to Coffee production, because it guarantees the farmers a stable price that has been agreed in advance. It allowed him to buy a farm of his own.

If the specialty buyers disappear, he'll be forced to re-sell the Coffee directly in the commodity market, where prices can be very volatile.

"It's back difficult, again on the goods, because of the uncertainty of the price, we will never know whether we will keep to invest in our businesses or in our house, or, finally, in education," Mr. Fajardo says. "So it's just Back To where we started. "

Emma Loisel, in white, says that 91% of their company stopped the orders bed

One of Miguel buyer is Volcano Coffee Works , specialty roaster based in Brixton in South London .

Coronavirus has a huge toll on the economy. They usually deliver Coffee beans for restaurants, hotels, offices and cafes, but if the UK went into lockdown in March, 91% of their orders overnight stopped.

"are closed of Our most important customers of all," says Emma Loisel, co-founder and Chairman of Volcano Coffee Works .

"We have only online, directly to consumers to sell our Coffee . "

'Bad News '

Online sales have surged, but Emma says that this is still a small part of the economy as a whole and not compensated for The Decline in orders from cafes and restaurants.

it warns that the Coffee specialities-survival industry, the coronavirus shock. "This is Bad News for Coffee lovers and it is really bad for the high Streets . Let's face it, nobody wants to just multis sell our Coffee on our shopping Streets . "

Lore Mejia opened a café in London, at the beginning of March, but was forced to close, only a few days later,

While Ms Loisel is worried about their own business and their client companies, she is also concerned about the farmers you are working with.

"are the people, the life of dollars A Day at times, and we are really worried that we will still be able to assist you. "

open again

now, the high Streets are silent. Cafes and restaurants are still boarded up.

For the Lore Mejia, the timing of it all couldn't be worse. She opened a Café in Chiswick, west London, in the beginning of March, but was forced to close just days later, when Britain went into lockdown.

Ms Mejia is trying to invent new, your business is by turning to online sales, as well as the videos to teach people How To brewing speciality Coffee At Home . It is intended that, when this is all over, will you open your cafe.

Colombian Coffee can be purchased wholesale for $1 can be. To says 55 per pound, so that it is hard to live

"I'm from Colombia , Coffee has always been part of My Life ," she said. "We are definitely open again, but The Next months are all about survival. "

the farmers and the merchants cafes such as Ms Mejia's want to Back To the legs. The demand for more expensive Coffee , will return also the at some point.

insolvency risk

But this is a challenge that involves Many interrelated companies, stretching directly in some of the poorest communities in The World . If these relationships are broken, it could take months, if not years, to rebuild.

This is the reason why farmers like Miguel Fajardo fear the worst could be yet to come.

"Finally, what this means is that we need to change our crops, sell our businesses, or the gear in the bankruptcy again," he adds. "It is difficult to know how things will develop, but this is what really worries me for The Future . "

coronavirus lockdown measures, coronavirus pandemic, coffee

Source of news: bbc.com