My only prior experience with farming is from minecraft: you put seeds in the ground, wait a little while, and then a plant pops out. You really don’t need to do much. So needless to say, I was unprepared for the complexity of real-life farming. Lots of planning needs to happen far in advance, even as far as 3 years in advance for coffee. As an owner of a large coffee plantation, you have to make sure every migrant worker is ready when picking time comes, and that their housing is in order. For another example, as an owner of a pineapple plantation, you would have to make sure there is enough nepheline, or the chemical that triggers pineapples to grow, in stock.

Processing mills have to plan how they are going to get their stock. They also have to plan to make sure enough resources are going to the mills, such as water for sorting good coffee from bad coffee. Processing mills also have to plan contingencies for worker shortages and resource shortages. Exporters have to prepare their vehicles and as third parties they have to do a lot of planning ahead with other companies which is hard.

Roasters have to plan for where they should sell their products and how, such as britt planning its expansion into airports and new hotels. Already established locations such as the Starbucks on 5th Ave, have to plan out a good amount of beans to have to make sure there are no shortages during the day.

Finally, companies have to plan for what they think customers want. For example, customers will want different flavors for different seasons, so everyone in the chain will have to keep that in mind. Customers also have to do planning of their own. What deals do they take into account, how much liquid cash they bring, etc.

P.S. I got to stay in Miami for a night!