It’s my dream to write my own novel one day...
It’s my dream to write my own novel one day. I’m going to say it straight away, so it’s there in black and white and I can’t back out of it. I used to write mainly poetry, but a novel would be absolutely brilliant. I already have a subject and a storyline in mind. Now I just need to find, or make, the time and space to get started.
Coffee!
Another dream is to set up my own coffee empire in Europe. In our family business, we’ve bought coffee plantations in Colombia. Close to where I grew up and 1,950 metres above sea level. We have 5,000 coffee plants here, and we hope to sell the first harvest in early 2026. We’ve also purchased the necessary machinery to process the coffee straight away.
Over the coming years, we hope to build a network across Europe of outlets where our coffee will be sold. If that goes well, we also want to sell coffee from neighbouring farmers who do not yet have the machinery to process the coffee themselves. In this way, we are creating a transparent coffee supply chain, meaning that you will soon be able to buy ‘speciality coffee’ whose exact origin you know. The term ‘specialty coffee’ refers to coffee of outstanding quality with a unique story, produced with a focus on sustainability and high-quality production methods.
I’ve worked in this industry before. About 10 years ago, I worked with thousands of farmers in Colombia. We collected their coffee and sold it in our own café in Bogotá. It was a café owned and run by farmers – something quite unique. That’s how I was introduced to speciality coffee, and that passion has never really left me.
The nice thing is that my friends share that passion. Some of them live in Germany. We sometimes get together to taste coffee and swap recipes. Everyone brings a bag of speciality coffee from their local area. We discuss brewing methods, the extent to which water temperature affects the flavour, and things like that. Great fun!
Pablo Andrés Durán Chaparro
Year of birth: 1988
Occupation: Information Manager
Place of residence: The Hague
Soon the fifth part of a total of five. Read more here: Humans of Wing Chun
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