My relationship with Joh. Johanson extends back many years before I joined ECOM, but it is the strength of ECOM at origin that has kept the special bond between us. 

My introduction of Johanson to the ECOM family in the late 1990's was supported by quality alignment from several of our origins, which not only embedded us as a preferred supplier to Joh, but took business away from our competition, when they failed to maintain the required standard. 

As is the nature of our business, even with the sound quality policies in place, arrivals can disappoint. Back in the early 2000’s we shipped 4 containers of  great cupping Guatemalan Huehuetenango to Oslo. Upon roasting, Joh’s machine ground to a sticky halt. some chips of patio tar had found their way into one of the bags and melted inside the Roaster. We had an immediate rejection of the coffee that was still unroasted. Not one to be put off by a needle in a haystack, I asked to be allowed access to their warehouse, with an agreement that if I handpicked the entire container, they would accept the coffee. We have been a regular supplier of Guatemala ever since, even though the buyer has never visited Guatemala.

On another occasion we shipped, unwittingly, a box of sand from Brazil. After a quick assessment of whose insurance was responsible, the contents were taken out to sea and dumped in Norwegian waters.

In 2005-2007 Ethiopia quality in general disappointed, we worked on finding a replacement from elsewhere and we became the beneficiaries of a permanent transfer away from Ethiopia into Costa Rica Fancy Tres Rios, again a contract we have maintained ever since.

Such is Johanson’s  loyalty to suppliers who do a good job that for two decades we failed to get a look in at their Colombia business. Following some poor shipments from their supplier and a fortuitous visit by our Colombia Country Manager on the back of a meeting with Yara in Oslo, we were encouraged to participate in a quality calibration the following year., and a few boxes of business were booked each year, this volume has been growing since 2020 when Raul Vargas joined us as Quality Director, each year visiting Johanson at their factory.

I accompanied the buyers to Huila in 2020 to meet Producers in our RFA supply chains, and show them the site for our new eco mill, and again this year, I joined our Condor team to show them the newly built mill and the excellent field management of Amalia and her team. The buyers flew in to spend time only with ECOM and extended their visit to spend more time over the weekend with our colleagues in Bogota.

Friends and loyal clients grow out of an understanding of their business and going the extra mile.