Beyco: Beyond Coffee and connections

Written by Aída Palomo, sponsored by Beyco (Progreso Foundation)

This is the first of four posts in which we will introduce you to some of the voices that will join us in our Traceability Summit 2021. We have zoomed them to know their thinking about traceability and digitalization, and, so far, answers have been enriching and exciting. We want you to have a bite of what is coming in October and to get to know great digital initiatives, platforms, and projects that are changing and expanding traceability

For this interview, we zoomed in with Isabel van Bemmelen, Managing  Director of Beyco and the Progreso Foundation. She shared with us some insights about Beyco (Beyond coffee), a coffee trading platform launched in 2018, and its contribution to the traceability within the overall coffee value chain.

Picture credits Beyco - Progreso Foundation

Isabel started our conversation by explaining the idea behind Beyco and telling us how the trading platform came into being. With her many years of experience in working in financing the coffee industry, she saw producer organizations’ needs for both access to market and access to finance. Therefore, she wanted to develop a platform that combined matchmaking between buyers and sellers, and access to finance. “The idea of Beyco is to facilitate one platform for all stakeholders in the coffee supply chain to find new partners, sign contracts, request for services, and have access to trade finance.”

The logic behind it was that “when producer organizations have credit lines available related to their export contract, it makes it easier for them to buy the coffee from their members and export it on time, for the requested quality. Without liquidity, it is very hard, if not impossible for producer organizations to manage. That’s why it is so important to have access to both the market and credit lines, at the same time.”

And so, prompted by blockchain technology, Beyco was created as a digital coffee trading platform where sellers and buyers find each other online, negotiate, sign contracts, and where they can share information transparently. In other words: a more efficient and trustworthy way to provide access to the market and credit lines, especially to actors upstream, was born.

But… What does Beyco offer to the coffee industry? 

1. A lot of experience both in finance and in coffee… without being a competitor.

First of all, Beyco is owned by Progreso, an NGO with 23 years of experience in the coffee sector. Since they are not involved in the trading process, they are not competing with anyone. Indeed, “every buyer and every seller can go aboard being sure they are not sharing [information] with a competitor”, Isabel explains. 

Secondly, Progreso Foundation connects credit lines to Beyco for organizations that have no access to finance yet. Besides that, they make connections with other social lenders for bigger loan sizes. “We work with organizations that do not have access to credit yet, therefore we are no competition to other social lenders. We pre-finance only ticket sizes that nobody is willing to do, and therefore give producer organizations the opportunity to get started. We support producer organizations in their price risk management, train them on their understanding of financial statements, and how to write credit applications”, continues Isabel. Due to their financial background, Progreso staff knows exactly what a bank or social lender needs and how to support producer organizations in reaching that level. Because of this, Beyco facilitates an independent third-party environment where both buyer and seller can confirm their relationship. By trading through Beyco, all users build up a track record. This track record supports making other connections for trade and finance. 

2. Get verified, negotiate, sign a contract and have a credit connected on the platform, online… thanks to blockchain technology.

Beyco is built on blockchain technology. This enables users to store their data safely and share information privately with other partners if wished. Blockchain technology makes online communication easier as it enables users to access data at the same time as well as communicate directly. This ultimately creates an efficient digital environment where users can share and update information which is then simultaneously shared with business partners. 

In addition, the blockchain solution allows for verification of registrations and ownership of data. The Beyco team looks at every new registration and performs a Customer Due Diligence to make sure we facilitate a platform of trusted parties. Once a party is registered, this user is the owner of its own data who can choose what information they would like to share and what not. So, users can choose to publicly share a contract or to have the contract only visible between the two parties who sign the contract. In this way, Beyco enables the recording of personal data and individual contracts between two parties. The idea is that details of such a contract are defined between both the buyer and seller.  

3. They are a traceability platform… but they are more than that.

Yes, like other traceability platforms, Beyco allows for showing where coffee comes from. Buyers and sellers can share certain information publicly, facilitating traceability of coffee. In addition, parties can also record their sustainability efforts, such as CO2 compensation in their coffee value chain.

However, Isabel emphasizes the importance of creating a platform that offers more than just traceability. “Traceability is only a means to an end. I like traceability if it makes sure that producers have a voice. I believe that it should ultimately empower producer organizations and give them a better position in the international coffee market, creating a more sustainable resilient coffee value chain. Therefore, Beyco does not only focus on traceability. Without adding value for the producer organization, or giving them a better price, or a better market, or access to finance, traceability is just tracking back”.

Want to know more about Beyco? Visit the website of this cutting-edge platform or watch this video.