Era of We – idea, concept and The Coffee Lab
Last month, we briefly introduced “Era of We”, a Swedish company with a simple, but at the same time really important, purpose: to shape the future of coffee and bring happiness to the community.
After that post, many of you wrote us eager to know more, so we started digging a little bit into the company, into who’s behind it, into who started the project and into who’s already collaborating with it.
So, who started the project?
Martin Löfberg is the man behind all of it, he’s the guy that helped develop the Era of We concept with a simple goal in mind: to protect the future of coffee. Coffee run in his veins for generations (he comes from a family of roasters), and its during his years spent travelling the world, meeting farmers and visiting plantations, that he came up with the idea of Era of We.
The purpose of the project? To disrupt the supply chain and move the industry to a balanced and more income-sustainable model for the growers, to secure the long-term future of coffee production.
Era of We is still a brand new project, but it can already rely on passionate partners, from all over the world. It was launched with a selected group of estates from eight different producing countries, and its platform is now available to every stakeholder in the coffee supply chain who meet the necessary criteria.
It’s important to point out that Era of We it’s an inclusive project: they (exactly like us) want to create a community. No farmer or roaster is too small too join Era of We… really everyone can be part of it.
Pretty simple, isn’t it?
And for us, this is what is really interesting about Era of We.
It’s the simple belief that a collaborative environment can enact positive change.
It’s a simple idea that warmly welcomes the participation of anyone who embraces a vision to build a transparent and equitable coffee community.
It’s a simple idea that can bring amazing changes along this old, imbalanced coffee supply chain that we all know.
If you want to know more, have a look at their website, especially at The Coffee Lab: here lays the key behind the collaborative environment that’s helping Era of We to build something different.
The Coffee Lab is an educational Q&A-based platform for stakeholders in the supply chain to learn, share vital information, enhance skills and discuss best practices – all with a focus on enabling the growth of businesses and the industry at large.
Here everyone can ask and answer coffee-related questions, here coffee experts share their knowledge through posts, suggestions and recipes.
Can you imagine the potential of this idea?
The Coffee Lab is the perfect platform for everyone involved to both share and learn.
Farmers can promote their brands telling the story of their Estate and the way that they produce their coffee.
Roasters can share their vision and their knowledge (an adding value for many final customers interested in buy beans from someone that knows what he’s talking about), while looking for the perfect beans from their favorite country of origin.
Baristas (maybe in search of a better position or of a new job opportunity) can promote their own knowledge, increasing their “barista persona”, showing Coffee Shops owner how knowledgeable (and geek!) they are.
And there’s more: this section, in the future, will also hosts unique classes and educative videos by established coffee experts… what better way to keep learning while doing something good for the coffee community?