Our story
Comorant culture
For centuries, cormorants have guided sailors across uncharted water, a sign of landfall, new trade routes, and new ground to cover. At Comorant Coffee, we carry that same instinct and passion for exploring the unknown to bring back gems of our industry.
Who
Our founders
Comorant Coffee is run by husband-and-wife team Susana and Salem.
Susana grew up in Popayán, the capital of Cauca, where her aunt's advocacy for coffee farmers opened the door to the relationships Comorant is built on. She is a software engineer by profession and SCA-certified in Sensory Skills. She leads farmer relations, pre-export logistics, quality control, and design.
Salem has worked in hospitality since 2019, managing restaurants and building the systems that help businesses grow. At Comorant, he runs logistics, sales, quality, and product development. Each year, they travel to Cauca together to strengthen ties with farmers and cup new lots.
Why
The Problem
55-60
Average age of Colombian Producer: Wageningen University
Farmers are being paid less, in real terms, than they were decades ago. The 1977 peak price would be worth over $15/lb today, yet even 2025's "record highs" barely topped $4. Squeezed by volatile markets, debt from bad years, and no savings, many farmers keep working into their late 70s just to survive, and their children are leaving coffee altogether. As smallholders disappear and farmland consolidates, high-end coffee becomes scarce and more expensive.
$7,000
Average annual income, Colombian coffee farmers
Despite growing one of the world's most in-demand crops, most Colombian coffee farmers support their families on less than $7,000 a year. Comorant was founded to remove that barrier and raise value at origin, without necessarily raising cost to the roaster. We want coffee to be a sustainable industry for decades to come, and right now conditions on the ground are not.
How
Our Solution
Coffee usually passes through many hands on its way to your cup: from farmer to mill, exporter, importer, roaster, and finally the café. Every link in that chain adds cost and takes value away from the person who grew it. By shortening the chain, we lower what roasters pay to access some of the world's best coffees and, more importantly, raise what we can pay farmers at origin.
That's why we partnered with ACC, who share our vision of a grower-centered coffee industry. It begins with coffee education at origin, helping farmers understand the true value of their crop. Under this standard, the grower becomes the most important person at the cupping table. Breaking with a decades-old norm in the export trade, many growers are now involved in the crucial steps beyond harvest, and a new generation of producers is taking milling and exporting into their own hands.
At Comorant, our role is to meet that effort from the other end, bringing growers and roasters together at an international cupping table and negotiating room.
Where
Cauca, Colombia
Cauca's mountains, valleys and river systems create microclimates found almost nowhere else altitude and soil that produce rich, complex coffee. It remains largely unknown in the U.S. market compared to Antioquia or Huila.
That makes it fertile ground: we're building long-term relationships with Cauca's farmers. By paying them more, we are giving room for them to experiment with new growing methods, varietals and processes.
We shorten that chain. It lowers the price for the roaster and, more importantly, raises what we can pay the farmer at origin.
See the sourcing map
On the ground
Salem spends his "vacations" at the cupping table, building relationships with growers, learning about new varietals and methods. He always wants to bring home lots with the most authentic expression of where they're from.