Characterization of the of especial cofee´s supply chain from Belén de Umbría, Risaralda, Colombia

Abstract

From the problematic situation that implies for the association of high quality coffee producers "Cuchilla del San Juan de Belén de Umbría", the lack of knowledge of the state of the logistics process and the supply chain in the specialty coffee market, in which is participating, is posed as a research question: How is the logistics chain of specialty coffees, within the framework of fair markets, of the Association of high quality coffee producers "Cuchilla del San Juan de Belén de Umbria ”? and as a general objective: to characterize the logistics chain of specialty coffees within the framework of fair markets, of the Association of high quality coffee producers "Cuchilla del San Juan de Belén de Umbría". This implied as specific objectives: to describe the production process, evaluate the state of the logistics process and propose strategies based on the SCM (Supply Chain Management) methodology, to improve the logistics chain of specialty coffees within the framework of fair markets. For this, the applied methodology was based on a descriptive study, with a qualitative approach and non-probabilistic sampling, categorized for convenience. Among the main findings, it was observed that the first two links in the chain (producers and processing plant: Association of high quality coffee producers "Cuchilla del San Juan de Belén de Umbría"), are disconnected from the third (logistics operator Almacafé), since they do not handle communicative relationships between them. It is recommended to establish communicative links between all the links in the chain, but also between the Association of high quality coffee producers "Cuchilla del San Juan de Belén de Umbría", the academy and the State,