I have been working with coffee for a long time. I love it, I always have and I always will. I was just wondering how I would go about getting a job as a supplier. I have heard about people who work for different coffee companies that travel and get to see the places that they get the coffee from. This would be a dream job for me. It would be like a step forward in my relationship with coffee. If anyone has any information on where to look and who to talk to, that would be a big help. Thanks!

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Cup Cup Cup Cup Cup Cup Cup Cup Cup Cup Cup Cup Cup Cup then repeat everyday, the people that get paid to travel in the industry have rare and exceptional pallets. The other rout would be a degree in agriculture and skill sets that will help farmers improve quality.
Learn languages too. Spanish is a must.

Jason is spot on though, if you don't have a killer pallet, you have very little to offer a company. Cupping is your friend. :0)

-bry
The first two hit it... Build your knowledge base and skillset. What can YOU do for THEM?

Something else that will really help is to work on expanding your network. Being here is a good first step. If you don't already, make sure you go to the coffee events, as many as you can. They (BGA, SCAA, etc) always need volunteers to help run the various training courses. This is a great way to make connections within the industry. Communicate your interests to your new connections, they are generally more aware of stuff that is available and might help direct you.

Another one... travel to origin as soon as you can. Look for deals, ask around for groups that are going, etc...

Just some thoughts... hope they help.
Thanks! This is definitely helpful =)
Yes, everything that they said plus make good decisions on what jobs you take and be willing to take risk to get where you want to be. I started as a barista at 16 in Gastonia, NC went to work for a large coffee chain "you can guess who" as a manager, worked for a small coffee roasting company as the roaster and coffee buyer, then went to work for a very well known and respected coffee roaster as a trainer and sales person before making the move to British Columbia, Canada to take the job of my dreams.
Make it happen. Take the big step and actually look at moving to an origin country. Actually you can learn the language there and use the first year to do this and make strides in learning the coffee, the culure- without actually working. Of course this is based on the theory that you can survive a year without work and you already have a fairly solid background in coffee.

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