Want to buy a coffee producing property...

liquid · Mar 6, 2005

Hello to everyone.
I own a small cafe in montreal canada. My dream has always been to own and operate a small orphanage somewhere in latin america. I've been dreaming of buying a piece of land in the dr that produces coffee. The trees and the coffee making process would be tended to by the children, and the coffee would be sold exclusivly in my cafe in montreal. All the profits from these sales would go directly back to the orphanage and help pay for the cost of raising these children. I was in el limon last year and saw some places where they were growing coffee. It seemed to be a fairly small operation. The coffee it produced was excellent and rich. Can anyone offer advice on making this a reality?

buseouno · Mar 6, 2005

liquid said:
Hello to everyone.
I own a small cafe in montreal canada. My dream has always been to own and operate a small orphanage somewhere in latin america. I've been dreaming of buying a piece of land in the dr that produces coffee. The trees and the coffee making process would be tended to by the children, and the coffee would be sold exclusivly in my cafe in montreal. All the profits from these sales would go directly back to the orphanage and help pay for the cost of raising these children. I was in el limon last year and saw some places where they were growing coffee. It seemed to be a fairly small operation. The coffee it produced was excellent and rich. Can anyone offer advice on making this a reality?

So, what your hoping to become is a sweat shop owner under the guise of an orphanage, but upgrade it to an open air type.

Escott · Mar 6, 2005

I was thinking about the same thing but actually held back believe it or not.

Hlywud · Mar 6, 2005

Coffee

Juan Valdez de Montreal

Now immigrating to the DR

Hillbilly · Mar 6, 2005

There are child labor laws in the DR

I can just see it now: "MOntreal caf? owner exploits DR children for coffee money."

If you want a working farm, El Limon is the first place NOT to look for one. Too much rain,

You want to go further west to the hill around Moca. or North of Navarrete.

You will, of course, have a specialized agronomist to assist you, and deep pockets to make it pay.

Is a farm doable? Yes. Will it be fairly easy? Only if you have very deep pockets and good help.

HB

Snuffy · Mar 6, 2005

liquid said:
Hello to everyone.
I own a small cafe in montreal canada. My dream has always been to own and operate a small orphanage somewhere in latin america. I've been dreaming of buying a piece of land in the dr that produces coffee. The trees and the coffee making process would be tended to by the children, and the coffee would be sold exclusivly in my cafe in montreal. All the profits from these sales would go directly back to the orphanage and help pay for the cost of raising these children. I was in el limon last year and saw some places where they were growing coffee. It seemed to be a fairly small operation. The coffee it produced was excellent and rich. Can anyone offer advice on making this a reality?

Liquid...I think your idea has good intentions. I assume you are talking about a small place. That is something that can be done. You would need someone who knows coffee...the land would be inexpensive...your buildings should not be very expensive. You would need to hire women to tend to the children. The children would have to go to school...or perhaps you could bring the teachers to your finca. Nothing wrong with taking in needy children and offering a work ethic. A few hours labor per day is good for children. Will the authorities smile on this kind of thing? You would have to win them and the community over.

Know that you will have to overcome many of the same obstacles facing anyone that comes here...you need a great honest lawyer, you need to be somewhat DR street smart or have someone who is, you have to be very careful with land titles, blah blah blah.

Best of Luck.

samiam · Mar 7, 2005

This all sounds like out of a Dickens novel to me.
Best to keep things separate.

Mirador · Mar 7, 2005

Dickens who?

maybe you should take a short trip to the hills above Bani, or further south, toward Bahoruco mountain, west of Paraiso, Barahona, during coffee picking season, and see for yourself. As a child, my wife Altagracia used to accompany her mother for weeks on end during coffee season, to pick coffee...and this school year, a sister-in-law managed to buy school clothes and other accessories from income earned from a month' labor picking coffee...

liquid · Mar 9, 2005

I'm glad some of you are taking me seriously. Let me clarify my intentions. For starters, my cafe and everything in it plus 10's of thousands of $'s in savings would all be donated to my charity. That means that any profits that are made here would no longer go to me. They would go 100% to my orphanage. I would buy land, build a simple school, kitchen, dormatory and give a few locals some work helping me run the place and educate the children. The goal of their education would be to give them knowledge I(math, reading, computers etc...) but also teach them skills like how to cook, how to maintain small engins, how to care for animals and how to plant and harvest coffee. Real world skills they would be able to use in the DR. Depending on their age, the children would have different responsibilities. All the coffee would be sold in THEIR cafe in montreal, and all the profits would go directly back to them and be invested for their benifit. I would use the money to buy them computers, books, food, supplies, collage funds, horses, medical care etc..
It would be a direct economic link. I would be in no way exploiting anyone. Coffee here sells for an huge profit, this would be their chance to really cash in on this.
Some of you have givin me some good indications as to where to go to check out coffee producing regions. Thanks. Any more info would be cool too. I'd like to know if someone can offer any advice on how to apporach the local authorities to get them on board. How is this sort of thing seen in the DR? Has anyone ever seen a coffee producing property for sale?
This is a long term project. When the time comes I will take some time off and go explore the various regious and try and make some good contacts. If anyone can help (now or in the future) please let me know and I will contact you when needed.

This project is so exciting. I know I could make such a huge difference. People here in montreal would really respond to this project. Thank you to those of you who would like to offer their help...cheers.

hollywood north · Mar 9, 2005

I cannot offer help on set up but offer an idea to sell more coffee here in Canada. Chains like Timothy's sell some coffee that is for lack of better term, "philanthropy based" and as well do NOT carry Dominican coffee, which we all know is soooo good.

Perhaps once you are set up this could be an additional way to sell the product and raise awareness.

Lechero · Mar 9, 2005

If Dominican coffee is so good, why is the "basis" discounted on the NYBOT by 400 pts/ vs the standard?

http://www.nybot.com/specs/kc.htm

Deliverable Growths: Country Differential

Mexico, Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Kenya, New Guinea, Panama, Tanzania, Uganda Basis

Colombia Plus 200 pts
Honduras*, Venezuela, Peru* Minus 100 pts
Burundi**, India*, Rwanda Minus 300 pts
Dominican Republic, Ecuador Minus 400 pts

Dolores1 · Mar 9, 2005

I suggest you come down and meet with the organic coffee producers organization. Probably your planned operation could integrate with one of their small farmers.

Criss Colon · Mar 9, 2005

The Dominican "Authorities" Lok The "Other Way" wWhile Their

Children Are Exploited Sexually,I doubt you would have much trouble having an orphanage that was trying to maintain itself!

dietmar hopp · Mar 9, 2005

liquid said:
Hello to everyone.
I own a small cafe in montreal canada. My dream has always been to own and operate a small orphanage somewhere in latin america. I've been dreaming of buying a piece of land in the dr that produces coffee. The trees and the coffee making process would be tended to by the children, and the coffee would be sold exclusivly in my cafe in montreal. All the profits from these sales would go directly back to the orphanage and help pay for the cost of raising these children. I was in el limon last year and saw some places where they were growing coffee. It seemed to be a fairly small operation. The coffee it produced was excellent and rich. Can anyone offer advice on making this a reality?

Hallo, I am from Montreal and was visiting the DR and have my wife in Bani.
Lets talk here in Montreal: dietmarhoppca@hotmail.com

Lechero · Mar 9, 2005

Dietmar:

Maybe you can set up a barter system and trade Lava Soap for a Cafe con Leche'!

dietmar hopp · Mar 9, 2005

Lechero said:
Dietmar:

Maybe you can set up a barter system and trade Lava Soap for a Cafe con Leche'!

Hola Lechero,

I believe that you can read (understand?) some quotations on the NYBOT; but do you how to grow coffee successfully?
And what do you know about Lava Soap? That is quality.

Saludo, Dietmar

leekirkpatrick · Mar 9, 2005

"small" farm

I know someone selling 2,000 tareas of land with coffee plants. They're selling it for roughly $10,000 pesos/tarea which is an excellent price, since land around the area is going for 1,000 pesos/sq. meter or more.

629 square meters = 1 tarea

Let me know and I'll get you the contact information. I'm not sure how flexible/firm the sellers are on price.

The land is just outside of Jarabacoa, which is in the mountains. The temperatures are cooler there.

I didn't think coffee was doing that well. It used to sell for a lot more that it is now. Dominican coffee, at least.

Lee

liquid · Mar 9, 2005

So about $80,000....that's a big piece of property
Can you get me some more information????

leekirkpatrick · Mar 9, 2005

liquid said:
So about $80,000....that's a big piece of property
Can you get me some more information????

I'm not sure where the $80,000 US figure is coming from.

2,000 tarea
x $10,000 RD pesos per tarea
--------
$20,000,000 RD pesos

current exchange rate, from Banco Central website: 28.47

I get $702,493 US dollars.

What am I missing?

Lee

liquid · Mar 9, 2005

ya...ok...wishful thinking I guess. I guess I had something MUCH smaller in mind. When I was in el limon, I saw small places....like a few achers surrounded with coffee trees. Where the guy would pick the coffee and dry it in the sun. I bought some and it was excellent coffee. I'm not talking about having an army of kids! I was thinking a much smaller property. This isn't meant to be an industrie. It's only got to supplie one small cafe! So anyway, I don't have that kind of money, and I wouldn't even want to try and raise it. To buy a property, I have maybe a total of $60.000 canadian. This way I would have enough money to build a house and all the other things I was mentioning before.

Want to buy a coffee producing property...

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