We spent a day at the Taf coffee factory, one of Greece's most innovative coffee companies.

The machines work by themselves. The giant pipes connect, so naturally, they were made to be together. The production stages alternate as we move through the space. In places, the smell of freshly roasted coffee breaks your nose. Then, that filling sound brings you to the present, making you want to make that bag your own.

We are somewhere around 2005 when Giannis Taloumis decides that he wants to develop his personal experience with coffee. "I already had a course about 15 years old in the space, and I said I wanted to see a different course in it." At that stage, he thought he should re-engineer the company's course by seeing where else he could go. This was ground zero. "The basis of this vision was how to have the most special coffee. There were many coffees. So are companies. I wanted to see how I could bring a proposal to the Greek public for a different taste of coffee". Just like that, an incredible search journey begins. "Where will we find good coffee? This was essentially what we now call a "taf-direct relationship".

First, coffee had to be found as a raw material to produce good coffee in our roasting and put on the Greek market as a proposition. "That's when my research and travels began." He wanted to have a say and image in all phases of coffee production to achieve the result he had in mind. And he succeeded. "I looked for coffee producers who have the same desire to produce good coffee."

The taf direct relationship program

"It essentially has two main pillars: Quality and the relationships we create with our partners. We want these to be long-term, not just classic commercial agreements that change. We wanted it directly from the producer (s.s.: direct) but also "with duration". We wanted, and we want our partner to build his quality over time through us." For that time, the program was highly innovative as it not only ensured quality but also cut out the middleman. "Within the program, from the beginning, we put sustainability on the table. We didn't want extreme, large commercial farms. We wanted medium and small companies that have sustainable development techniques." In 2008; we reached the creation of the first blends, which were named because of the sustainability pianeta, meaning earth. "The circle on the bags symbolizes the coffee that comes from the earth since the participating producers, like us, follow sustainable practices."

Taf in Greece

At that time, the palette of the Greek public in coffee was moving towards the Italian model. They wanted to breathe new life into this habit. "Slightly more roasted coffees, with more aroma, cleaner flavours, complexity, a description of coffee that, until then, did not exist like "what does the taste of coffee remind you of? Fruits, aromas, etc." For Giannis, it was necessary for them to show themselves how all this should be worked and to go out. Thus, in 2009, the flagship store was created in Emmanuel Benaki. We were aiming at the consumer first and then at the restaurants. "He was the pilot of the program. There, fermentation took place. We were inviting consumers who, I must say, were very ready to accept such advanced flavours at a time when wholesale customers were much more conservative." Education was one of the priorities from the beginning. "We were going to do something new, so we had to create new standards." Thus, the first baristas began to train. "We did and are doing seminars for professionals and amateurs who want to get to know coffee better."

The first awards were short of coming. The crisis followed. "In the crisis, we did not know how our program would respond as it was designed in high quality - high prices. Suddenly, everything around us was collapsing." Then, Giannis told them not to back down. And he was right. "He went. We backed it up, and it went. And indeed, between 2010 and 2014, which were the years of the crisis, it didn't go badly; it went very well."

The countries

They started with Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Colombia and then expanded to Honduras, Nicaragua, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Rwanda. "Currently, the program has been deployed throughout Central America. With stable partners all these years".

And the help

Throughout these years, the above communities have been supported by various programs - funded by Taf. "In two small farms in Colombia, we financed a greenhouse to dry their coffee and an elevator to electrically transport the coffee from top to bottom." In Ethiopia, they supported and financed two schools located in coffee zones and made up of children without parents. "Every year, we have a program that we want to help local communities."

The cafes and the criteria

"In the beginning, we went door to door to places we decided we wanted to be and suggested entrepreneurs follow us." After a certain point, they were approached by the latter. "We always set quality criteria for people. We move on to quality control, including training, as long as they can commercially support our program."

Taf outside Greece

"Overseas, we have three main markets that we are in through local partners and sporadically, we have individual cafes everywhere that buy from us. We have structured export to Cyprus, Qatar and Dubai, and now we are looking to open the Egyptian market". They are always there to show their presence at international events and coffee festivals.

The coffees we love a little more

"The classic flavour is what we call caramel chocolate. It has low acidity and a strong body. The new generations who learn it from the beginning can get into brighter, more lively flavours." Generation Z, as well as millennials, are much more open and ready to try.

The decaf

"There has been a big increase in decaf in recent years. Our decaffeination always comes from a decaffeination process that does not use chemicals and is done with the help of natural water from springs close to where they are made. We bring it from Colombia in particular, and it uses a plant as a natural solvent."

The Future of Cultivos Coffee

Cultivos wanted to have its own identity from the start. Today it counts around 27 stores and enters the neighbourhoods independently, not as a taf. The first Cultivos opens on an island in a few days, specifically in Paros. "From the beginning, when our flagship store was created, there were questions about how we can set up a business model for someone who is not in it since we have all this expertise both business-wise and in retail." So in 2015, he started organizing a program focusing on cafes and creating a model according to their own experience. "We called it Cultivos Coffee, and it was piloted in 2017 to see how we could take it forward through loose franchise partnerships." By "relaxed", he means they don't want it to go that massive, so they go as conservatively as possible. "We are talking about a soft version of the franchise with favourable terms." In this way, they enter some neighbourhoods selectively. "People who were completely out of the market but also professionals who want to follow us have entered this model."

Cultivos serves four coffees simultaneously, and each week has another proposal. "It helps a more regular audience get in touch with the different and look for it."

The evolution

"At a quality level, development for us is also how the consumer progresses and evolves in taste from his home".

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