Day 164 - the plan and the reality
Here’s what we thought would happen:
March 8 – First bags carried down from the Daga mountains to the coastal village of SirisiriMarch 25 – All 8 tonnes of coffee beans arrive in SirisiriApril 5 – Coffee is transported to Alotau (regional capital)April 15 – Coffee is moved to Lae (PNG’s main export port)April 30 – Final processing in Lae and ready for exportBeginning of July – Arrival in Tallinn after ~2 months of sea transportMid-to-late July – Roasting, packing, final prepEnd of July – Ready to be shipped to youThis was our original roadmap when we launched the presale and promised to deliver the coffee in July.
8 March – I leave Daga with agreements from two farmer communities to buy 8 tons of parchment coffee.20 March – One community backs out. We’re suddenly down to 3 tons.4 April – After weeks of rain and mudslides, all the coffee from the village of Gwirot finally reaches the coast at Sirisiri. Carried on foot by farmers, more than 17,000 km walked in total!6 April – We have a new agreement for 5 tons with a co-op in Agaun, but this village is a 4-day walk away from the coast. Carrying bags down from there is too crazy even by Daga standards, so we start looking for air transport.16 April – 3 tons of Gwirot coffee arrive from Sirisiri to Alotau — 10 days (and 5 tons) behind our original plan.18 April – Air Sanga offers to airlift the 5 tons from Agaun in 5 flights.24 April – Flights are paid and scheduled for 26 April.26 April - 26 May - No flights. A month of wild excuses: broken planes, bad weather, no fuel, pilot training...26 May – At last, the flights are completed. One month late, but Air Sanga gives us one free flight, so we get to bring more beans down to Alotau.5 June – 8.5 tons of parchment coffee arrive from Alotau to Lae for final processing.12 June – After milling, we’re left with 5.5 tons of green coffee. Unexpectedly, the original export partner pulls out without explanation.25 June – We secure a new export partner. They begin preparing the export bags and documentation.10 July – Scheduled repacking is blocked because tribal fighting breaks out, closing the main highway of the country.17 July – After a week (and tragically, 9 people killed), work resumes. Coffee is packed and the documentation finalised.22 July – Coffee is ready to leave PNG, but although promising a shipment to Tallinn, Swire Shipping says they can take it only as far as Hamburg.25 July – 2 international shipping lines offer direct shipping to Tallinn, but neither has an empty container available for loading in Lae.8 August – We are still actively searching for a transport solution to get the beans from Papua New Guinea to Estonia. Frequent information exchange among many partners, but no concrete result yet..This is what it really takes to bring you coffee from one of the most remote places in the world. We could have taken shortcuts, we could have sourced from more “convenient” places. But this coffee is worth it — and so are the people who grow it.
Thank you for your patience, support, and belief in the renegade path! We’ll keep you updated!