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Tracing the origin story from seed to cup is the ultimate in marketing artisan coffee.
Ipanema has developed a mobile application for iOS and Android that reveals the unique qualities and complexity of each bean used in its premiere Grano Segreto project. The coffee is one of a series of Premier Cru coffees created from select varietals grown on several different farms.
Ipanema demonstrates its exceptional attention to detail by using the app to describe every aspect step by step with charts and photos and data traceable to the lot. Click to see how the coffee is grown, and how it is processed, beginning with a maturation curve.
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In 2012 at Rio Verde, the company decided to identify the best moment to initiate the harvest, explains the app.
“For instance, in May only the top of the trees and sun-facing branches are ripe. In June the majority of the plants are ready for harvest, so during 2012/13 each glebe was handpicked and dried and tasted individually, week by week, to obtain the ideal maturation curve,” according to the app.
This information is essential for coffee professionals as well as potential customers. Keeping track of a specific lot is challenging for both coffee buyers and producers. Newsletters, WhatsApp and Skype calls are common channels of communication but there are downsides to relying on one-to-one conversations from inconvenient time zones. The app displays forms updated throughout the process for everyone throughout the year—not just during harvest.
Marketing is a logical outgrowth of the weekly updates. Besides learning technical details like the origin farm, altitude, blossom date, harvest date, orientation, days stored, and drying methods, consumers can even share knowledge and exchange information with Ipanema’s specialists and coffee connoisseurs all over the world.