I cannot believe this is the last blog post, this study abroad experience had an abundance of activities yet it went too quick!

The making process starts at the farm, where maintaining the soil and using good fertilizer is crucial. This supports the growth of coffee, banana, cacao, and pineapple plants and trees. Each plant needs a solid foundation to grow and sustain multiple plant cycles over the same land. For example, with pineapples, plastic bags are used to prevent falling pineapples from directly touching the ground, which would cause them to rot. As climate changes and more droughts occur, maintaining these plants becomes a challenge. The answer lies in trapping precious rainwater for later use or supplementing plants with other sources to maintain activity. The focus here is on quality, not quantity. That’s why these beans, fruits, pods, etc. are hand-picked and not by use of a machine. Farmers and pickers are dedicated to ensuring quality, hence the careful individual selection of each piece. 

The processing was the central part of making the products. Within the coffee Plantation, coffee cherries are soaked, and based on density, the farm could determine quality. When removing the skin, further tests through machinery can sort the cherries by size, affecting the taste of the coffee. Fermenting by size organizes the quality, and the coffee cherries must be roasted. These chips are then roasted or transported to another company for roasting. 

Once coffee is processed, the next step is to roast the cherries into beans. This process is fascinating as it directly affects the flavor of the coffee. The beans are then packaged and transported to stores. Alternatively, the beans can be ground up and shipped to stores as well to sell the grinds. This detailed process of turning cherries into beans is a crucial part of the coffee production journey. 

There are two options here: a customer can make their cup of coffee or receive a cup of coffee already ground and brewed by their local coffee shop customized to their liking. If a customer gets a bag of coffee beans, it can grind into grinds. Following this process, the grinds are brewed into a fresh cup of coffee. Customers can also purchase a pack of grinds to skip the beans process. When customers make their coffee, there are plenty of creative options. They can add cream and sugar. If a drinker wants to add milk to espresso, it creates a form of a latte. Finally, any flavoring, such as French vanilla or caramel, can be added. 

This trip was an amazing, eye-opening experience about the direct, hands-on production of these goods. Working at a Dunkin since 2021, I found the connection from the coffee plantations to serving coffee myself to be a fascinating full-circle experience. I am grateful to have learned from many great figures associated with the supply chain and production of these items.