Cup of Excellence Winners and Their Use of Social Media
As specialty coffee markets evolve, farmers need to create and own their own successes, stories and relationships, which means having effective social media. After all, social media is “another way to tell your story and connect with potential or current customers (Social Media Marketing: How-to Handbook).” In specialty coffee, it “can be used to find buyers for coffee, facilitating profitable direct trade.” It also allows farmers to “connect directly to potential markets, meaning that they can create brands for their farms and demand for their coffees (How Technology Can Make Coffee More Attractive to Youths).” In a perfect world, “a coffee connoisseur can now, if she’s interested, learn about the coffee and the farmer who grew that coffee not just from the package or menu board or even the roastery’s website, but from the farmer’s own Facebook profile and website (Tech Transparency).”
