During the coffee festival “Simbiosis” that Exploradores de Cafe organized in 2021, one of the main discussions in a panel was “Why doesn’t Mexico have a more significant representation in the USA market?”. In its origin, “Simbiosis” was an event originated as a counterforce to other coffee expos that focus on coffee equipment, software, furniture, and appliances instead of focusing on solving the challenges at origin. Moreover, Simbiosis gave coffee farmers and roasters a space to show their work and a voice to communicate their struggles and achievements.

We all agreed that there is an existing demand for Mexican coffee outside of Mexico, however the main impeding problems were logistics and lack of organization within our community. Despite the large border that we share with the USA and the existing international treaties, it costs 6 times more to export coffee from Mexico than from any Central and South American country. A proposed solution was to join forces and leverage the costs of representing, promoting, and exporting our beloved product. The event ended with an idea to start a joint coffee trade project.