Social Impact Heroes Helping Our Planet: Why & How Maria Jose Palacio Of Progeny Coffee Is Helping To Change Our World
An Interview With Martita Mestey
Dreams are only formed if you are willing to put the time and effort into it. It won’t be an easy journey, but if it’s your passion, it will be worth it.
As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Maria Jose Palacio.
Progeny Coffee is co-founded in California by Maria Jose Palacio, a fifth-generation Colombian coffee farmer. Maria’s mission is to empower the coffee farming community, and through Progeny’s partnerships the company improves the quality of life for farmers and their families, as well as provide higher education to their communities. Progeny is currently the B2B coffee supplier for major Silicon Valley and San Francisco companies including LinkedIn, Google, Meta, Salesforce, Microsoft, Stripe, and Intuit.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up?
I grew up on a coffee farm in Colombia. My whole family has worked in agriculture for generations. My childhood was very simple and I spent very surrounded by nature. During my summer vacations, I would spend most of my time climbing my tree, which was my quiet place. On the weekends, my dad would always take us to see the crops and teach us about coffee. I will always have fond memories of playing with my brother on top of the dry coffee, thinking it was snow. One thing I miss the most is waking up to the birds, the smell of fresh grass and the fresh orange juice just picked from the trees. My mom tells me that to rock me to bed when I was a child, she would take me around on a horse ride.
You are currently leading a social impact organization that is making a difference for our planet. Can you tell us a bit about what you and your organization are trying to change in our world today?
Coffee is the second most consumed beverage in the world. It is a growing market, and consumers are willing to pay a premium for their cup of coffee. However, farmers are having a different experience; with historic low coffee prices and increasing raw materials prices, farmers are producing below the margin. This creates a poverty loop. Progeny Coffee is funded with the mission to lift farmers out of poverty with our unique Beyond Trade model. We go beyond trading and sourcing by tackling the issue holistically. In the US, we work towards highlighting each farmer’s stories, even including their images on our packaging, as well as bringing awareness to the problems in the coffee supply chain. Bottom line is that when you consume commodity coffee, you are participating in a poverty loop. Progeny’s goal is to change this broken system and raise farmers out of the cycle of hardships.
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?
I was born and raised on a coffee farm in Colombia, making me a 5th-generation Colombian coffee farmer. Growing up, I saw firsthand the struggles of coffee farmers, all the way to producing 15% below the margin. I moved to the US looking for better opportunities. I quickly saw how much people were paying for their coffee and how much the world consumed. However, when I traveled back to Colombia, I saw none of the value was arriving to our community. Eventually, in the process, I saw my dad and others in our community losing their farms. So we funded Progeny Coffee with the mission to lift farmers out of poverty while always highlighting the farmers’ stories. We want consumers to feel and know that they are connected to the source, providing transparency on the qualities of the beans as well as allowing them to see that they are helping the farmers directly with their purchases.
Many of us have ideas, dreams, and passions, but never manifest them. They don’t get up and just do it. But you did. Was there an “Aha Moment” that made you decide that you were actually going to step up and do it? What was that final trigger?
There was a moment when I was looking for a purpose in New York, and a friend gave me the book “The Blue Sweater” by Jacqueline Novogratz which talks about creating circular economies in under-developed countries. At the same time, I traveled back to Colombia with my co-founder John Trabelsi. There, I took him to my dad’s farm, and he offered him a cup of coffee. I used to take our coffee for granted, but John was blown away by the experience and mentioned, “I never thought coffee could taste so good”. After that moment, as I explained my roots and the issues to him, we asked ourselves: How can we create a sustainable coffee chain based on a circular economy? What moved us was seeing the constant struggles of my community and my own family. It took us 4 years of research and ideation before we opened Progeny in 2016.
Many people don’t know the steps to take to start a new organization. What are some of the things or steps you took to get your project started?
I think the first step is to find your passion, to understand what is that thing you will be moved to do every morning. There are many challenges in the journey, so if you are able to marry your passion with your project, the challenges won’t feel as hard.
Second, make sure to do good market research and to start at the basics. Do people need your product or service? What problems are you solving? And most important, what is your added value? How are you different? Coffee is a very crowded market, so we needed to ensure we had strong differentiators and understood where the coffee consumers were heading.
Third, you don’t need to be perfect, we launched small, and our packaging was very different. However, we spent our weekends for 2 years doing demos at supermarkets getting feedback and understanding what resonated with our consumers. Get feedback, and get it fast.
Fourth, was building our market strategy alongside our mission, which dictated the type of sales strategies we needed. Most important, never stay in a place of comfort; always question how you can innovate and be better. Also, be ready to pivot and adapt fast.
Parallel to this journey, we were also working on building our impact strategy in Colombia and understanding what our farmers need.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
For me the best stories are when we see our impact taking shape. I love the story of William, a very humble farmer. He is the father of two children, and his dream is to be able to offer a good education for them. We placed his coffee at one of our corporate client’s offices, where they invited him to visit their HQ in Silicon Valley later. It was a very impactful trip for him to see the other side of the world, be welcomed, and be encouraged to tell his story. He then was able to take this story back to his mountain, inviting all the other farmers to not just dream again for a better future, but truly believe that it is possible.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson or take away you learned from that?
I can’t think about a funny mistake. But definitely, one of the biggest mistakes was at the beginning when we didn’t price ourselves correctly with a large contract. As a result, we underestimated the shipping cost and our client paid with a credit card, which is another added fee. I learned the hard way about analyzing our costs.
None of us can be successful without some help along the way. Did you have mentors or cheerleaders who helped you to succeed? Can you tell us a story about their influence?
You are right; we couldn’t have done it alone. First of all, my co-founder John Trabelsi has been the biggest cheerleader and one who pushes me every day to rise to the challenge of CEO. But we have had many mentors in different moments of our journey, depending on our stage. The list will be long, but a few that have consistently stood by us have been Titi Ikhile from Working Solutions, who were the first financial institution to believe in us. Diana and the whole team of ICA, who went from mentors, accelerator and now our investors at Progeny. Michelle Steward, our legal advisor and also faith leader. Charles Shannon, VC from Founders Capital, who spent countless hours to prepare us for growth and is now part of our board.
Are there three things the community, society, or politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
This is a big question! For coffee, as long as coffee prices are in the stock market with fluctuations going up and down, independent of the cost of production, it will leave farmers at the mercy of it. I think we need to shift the paradigm, like in any other sector or company, where we price our products with healthy margins. It is crazy to think that coffee farmers produce, invest in their farms, and get paid for their product based on the day’s price, with no negotiation power and no added value based on quality. No smart business person will operate that way. Yet that’s how agriculture is set. I have seen my community chasing the forever “price”. I think it is very important for the consumer to also become educated on the reality of this supply chain, there is power in our purchase. If people start demanding an equitable supply chain, then the corporations will have no choice but to adapt.
But coffee was once profitable, and this was when the prices were regulated and there was a global pact to ensure this. Now, there is more to the issue as the lack of reasonable prices has developed social issues that need to be tackled, starting from education.
This is a short answer to a complex system, we will need a full essay to tackle this question.
How would you articulate how a business can become more profitable by being more sustainable and more environmentally conscious? Can you share a story or example?
I strongly believe that our world is at a point where we can’t afford not to have a sustainable business. Currently, we are facing a future where if temperatures keep rising, the areas in which coffee can grow will shrink, therefore there will be less coffee production. This means the large corporations won’t have their raw materials to keep operating. This is true too in many other areas. In the case of Progeny Coffee, creating a sustainable coffee business and supply chain has impacted in a few areas. For example, by investing and paying our farmers fairly, it translates into better coffee production, yield and quality. This allows the farmers to have more resources to re-invest in the right products and innovation for their farm. This allows us to deliver an exceptional experience to our customers, which will keep buying and creating a relationship with the farmers. Then you see loyalty both ways, between the supply chain and the consumers, creating circular economies that can feed itself . As the world keeps moving forward we see major changes in behavior from the newer generations, where they are looking to partner with brands that represent their values. It’s no longer about what is aesthetically cool, but what story that it tells about Me! As this new generation keeps evolving they will leave behind the big corporate brands, adopting only those whose sustainability, impact and their narrative is a need.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
- Dreams are only formed if you are willing to put the time and effort into it. It won’t be an easy journey, but if it’s your passion, it will be worth it.
- Learn about financial management. I used to hate excel, but it makes a huge difference when you are able to run and understand your numbers. Many mistakes we made were because I didn’t have much experience in this area. Own your numbers and it will be you who leads the decisions. At the end of the day, it is what keeps your lights on.
- No, is an invitation, an invitation to reflect on how you can do better. When I was going after funding, one of our advisors Charles Shannon said, “Make a long list of VC’s you want to reach and once you hit 50 No’s, you are closer to your yes”. Many times we take that “NO” personally and we can get discouraged. The important thing is to channel that disappointment to come back stronger.
- Have grace with yourself. You will be on a learning fast track. If you are after creating a business and for example, you are a great baker, developer, etc. then eventually you will be running a company that will require you to build so many skills, from wearing the HR hat, to CFO, to operations, sales, and so forth. Mistakes will happen, but you will learn to make peace and be honest with yourself that we are humans with ups and downs. If you are coming from a corporate world, it won’t look like your 9 to 5 job. It will look like 24/7 customer service, HR on call, CFO at midnight, etc. Be ok if it doesn’t look like it should at the beginning, it will take shape as you go.
- Don’t forget you are the motor pushing this big dream. Self-care is important. I learned the hard way when I found myself burning out and needing to seek support for depression. Our gas is not unlimited and like a car, you better stop and refuel yourself. On my calendar, I have a 1-hour meeting every day with myself where I have fitness and prayer time.
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
Right now, the world needs us, and at this point achieving a positive impact is not just a nice thing to do, but a must. We have the opportunity to start shifting where the world is heading, to transform the world in which we live.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
We are more than conquerors — Romans 8:37. I love this because in this bible teaching, even though we are more than conquerors, in order to conquer, you get to fight for it; very much like entrepreneurs, we have our dreams and goals, but they won’t come without a good fight.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Jacqueline Novogratz, the CEO of Acumen Fund. She is the author of the Blue Sweater, which I read and understood about the circular economy. I would love to chat with her about her initiatives on ending poverty, and how Progeny Coffee can join her forces towards this mission.
How can our readers follow you online?
The best is our website and social media.
Instagram — @progeny_coffee
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Social Impact Heroes Helping Our Planet: Why & How Maria Jose Palacio Of Progeny Coffee Is Helping… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.