Mexican trader in Antwerp supplies Coffee 4 Life for 1,000 euros: “Showing coffee from my native country to the world” (Antwerp)
“Cup of coffee?” That’s the first question Silva asks when you step into his company. It is aimed at Antwerp residents, but has grown for 35 years in Mexico, the place where entrepreneurs first came to the country for years. Silva has seen the whole world, but ended up in Belgium because of love. “My ex-partner is Belgian,” he says well. “I got to know her during my studies in Australia, where I also got the idea to work with coffee.”
When you think of Mexican cuisine, tacos, guacamole and tequila come to mind. “Yet coffee is in our genes,” says Silva. “In Queensland, my favorite coffee bar had a coffee of the month. It would come from Costa Rica, Guatemala of Colombia, but in the two years that I started there, there was never a coffee from Mexico. When I asked the barista if they wouldn’t even try it, she didn’t even know that Mexico is one of the top ten coffee producers in the world.”
family business
Together with his girlfriend he went to Belgium, which turned out to be an important place to import coffee. “40% of the coffee produced in Europe comes in via the port of Antwerp,” he says. “By taking advantage of the infrastructure that the port provides, I was able to create a distribution channel to bring Mexican coffee into Europe.” The beans that arrive here are still green, because they can roast the coffee very well here, he thinks.
Silva doesn’t do it alone, he starts his business with his father, who keeps in touch with the people who work the coffee in Mexico. “I can learn a lot from him,” he laughs. “My father used to work in a bank and is very good with people. He also knows that must be when it comes to your nature. I sometimes have a harder time with that.”
Crowdfunding
With his company, Silva focuses on organic coffee, without chemicals. “The beans of the Mixes, an indigenous group in Oaxaca, are highly sought after in the coffee industry. But the region lacks infrastructure, organization and recognition. That is why it needs investment.” In order to be able to offer investments, Silva and his company set up the crowdfunding campaign “Coffee 4 Life”. Whoever subscribes times 1,000 euros, gets coffee for the rest of his life. That corresponds to one kilogram of coffee per month for the first two years. After that it will be one kilo of coffee every two months and that is enough if you drink four cups of coffee every day.
Silva breathes coffee, he loves his product and it shows. “To me, Mexican coffee just means coming home,” he says. “It transports me to the places where it is produced. And I hope it’s the same for other people. That they are catapulted to nature with a sip of coffee.”