Coffee People: Radek Kolombo

Coffee people.
The Better Coffee Standard defines it precisely: everyone whose life and work are bound to coffee, at every stage of the coffee circle — including those working under coercion, economic dependency, or without pay. Their families. Those who keep them standing.

The industry never stops talking about coffee. It rarely stops to talk about the people behind it. Red Ink Coffee exists, in part, to change that.

Coffee People is a series of portraits. Four questions — their voices.

Who are you and what do you do in coffee?
My name is Radek Kolombo and I've been working with speciality coffee for 10 years now. I work as a green coffee buyer, quality specialist and roastery manager at Nordbeans coffee roasters, based in Czech Republic.

Tell us about a moment in your work with coffee that you're genuinely proud of.
Well, there are more moments I think. But if I would have to pick one, it would be last year, when I coached my colleague, also Radek, at Czech roasting championship and he won first place. He is a hard working, focused a genuine man and he was able to win with only one year of experience as a roaster. So the fact that I was able to teach him so much in such short period of time made me proud of him, me and the company we work in, because it is more of a team work, than solo job.

What's one problem you see in your part of the coffee world — and why does it matter to you personally?
I think that in some countries, the coffee is still too cheap and farmers are not paid enough. Thanks to that, no new farmers are willing to take up the hard job and the coffee regions are slowly dying.

What would you change if you could — and what would better look like for you?
I would change conditions under which some farmers are working, we are trying to change that with our own projects in Nordbeans and we already have nice results from Guatemala and Honduras, but it is a small drop in an ocean still. For me, I would like to see farmers paid enough, so they can focus their work on coffee growing, processes and new approaches, without fear for not having enough money for themself and their families.

You are coffee people. Tell us.

Four questions. Any language. Any format.

1. Who are you and what do you do in coffee?
2. A moment you're genuinely proud of.
3. One problem in your part of the coffee world — and why it matters to you.
4. What would you change — and what would better look like?

Include a short bio and a photo from your work environment. Send your answers to redinkcoffee@thebettercoffee.org