132 | More Americans Drink Coffee Than Water – Here’s Why That’s an Investment Opportunity with Adam Jason

Patrick: Most people drink coffee every single morning without thinking about who owns the farms, who controls the supply chain, or who’s profiting from one of the most consumed commodities on the planet. What if that person could be you? Welcome back to the Vital Wealth Strategies Podcast, the show where we help entrepreneurs break free from ordinary investing and start building wealth on their own terms.
I’m your host, Patrick Lonergan, and today we’ve got a conversation that is genuinely unlike anything we’ve covered before. My guest today is Adam Jason, a former Wall Street attorney who walked away from a six-figure legal career to move to Medellín, Colombia, and become a co-founder of the largest coffee producer in the country.
We’re talking tens of thousands of acres, 10 million coffee trees, major partnerships with brands like Juan Valdez, Carnival Cruise Lines, and Target. Adam is going to pull back the curtain on why the smartest alternative investors are quietly moving into commodities like coffee, how adding investments like this one actually [00:01:00] dampens the volatility in your portfolio, why getting in before the IPO could be one of the most asymmetric opportunities available to accredited investors right now.
And if this episode gets your wheels turning, which I promise it will, head over to vitalwealth.com/resources. We’ve built a vault of tools, guides, and strategies specifically for entrepreneurs who are serious about tax strategy and building lasting wealth. That’s vitalwealth.com/resources. Before we jump in, if this show has ever given you one idea that changed how you think about money, take 30 seconds and leave us a review.
It helps us bring more guests like Adam to you every single week. All right, let’s get into it.
I’m excited about our conversation today. We’ve got Adam, Jason on the show, and we’re gonna talk about, uh, some alternative investment opportunities and, uh, why those make sense. And so, Adam, thank you so much for, for joining us here today.
Adam Jason: Thank you for having me.
Patrick: I, I’m, I’m looking forward to this conversation because, uh, you know, one of the, one of the reasons from a macro point of view when we think about [00:02:00] investing, uh, that happens when you, when you add alternative investments into what I’ll call your stock and bond portfolio, it actually, uh, dampens the volatility, which is, which is really interesting.
And, uh, so that, that’s kind of nice. And then there’s also, uh, just limited access to private market opportunities. Uh. People can get really, um, you know, feel. Not so great about how the stock market’s performing feel like they’d have no control over that. And so, uh, being able to invest directly with a company is, is good, but it’s also difficult to identify credible operators in the alternative investment space.
We think that’s probably the most important factor when you’re, uh, assessing these things. And so. You know, internally, we, we look at the frustrations like, man, I built wealth. I don’t feel like I’m playing the same game as other elite investors. Um, there’s this uncertainty of, am I missing out on, on better opportunities or how do I diversify what I’m doing?
And then there’s just skepticism, you know, how do I, how do I trust deals outside of the traditional systems? And so, uh, I’m looking forward to digging into those. And then just [00:03:00] philosophically, you know, the best investment opportunities shouldn’t be reserved for insiders only. And, uh, entrepreneurs who, who create wealth, they, they deserve better.
Better vehicles to just continue to, uh, to grow that wealth. So thank you so much for, for joining us here today.
Adam Jason: Happy to be here. Thank you, Patrick.
Patrick: So if it’s okay, can you give us a, a, a little bit of your, your background on, uh, uh, just how you got into the coffee space? Uh, we’re gonna be talking about Green Coffee Company and, uh, what’s going on there, but, uh, yeah, I’m, I’m, I’m very interested in this and before we, before you answer that, I, I’ve got a friend that, uh, owns a coffee shop.
Uh, we work out every morning together, so that means I’m up really early. Uh, working out, which, uh, I like getting up early, but probably not quite that early. But,
Adam Jason: Mm-hmm.
Patrick: he, he likes to nerd out and tell me how coffee is a fruit. And so, uh, that’s my, my fun coffee factor for today. But, uh, yeah. Tell us a little bit more about your background and how you got involved in this space.
Adam Jason: Well, it’s good to have a inside track on coffee. [00:04:00] If you’re awake, you got that early.
Patrick: Mm,
Adam Jason: that’s useful.
Patrick: yes.
Adam Jason: to you today from Medellín, Colombia
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: from Buffalo, New York, where I was, was born and raised. Uh, practiced as an attorney in the US for about eight years before coming to Colombia in two thousand and eighteen. I’m a capital markets corporate attorney by background, so focused on companies going public. clients were also Fortune five hundred companies and Wall Street investment banks. Did a lot of deals raising money in public and private markets, as well as focused on corporate governance and other business transactions that im-impact our clients on a, on a daily basis. I got to the point in my career where a lot of attorneys get to, and also white-collar professionals of, you know, at least for me, it was, do you become a partner at the law firm? Do you go in-house at a, a client that you have, or do you
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: something kind [00:05:00] of totally outside the box,
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: and, and something different? I was working in Dallas at the time, uh, and got an offer to join a new firm in Houston. Had about a month gap between the two positions. Came down to Medellin, Colombia, really just kind of on a whim. I was learning some Spanish, living in Texas, um, just, just branching out mentally a little
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: Came– wa-wanted to spend a month abroad and just kinda feel what it was like to, to live in a
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: place, in a different country, a different culture, different language, that sort of thing, just experiential.
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: came down here, fell in love with it, saw some opportunity in the investing space, was at this fork in the road for and, uh, and from a professional standpoint. Met my now business partner, who was starting the Green Coffee Company, which
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: that we operate today, and went back to the US, went to the job in Houston.
Just [00:06:00] something kinda wasn’t feeling right for me, uh, from a gut check perspective. he- was helping my business partner get the business off the ground. The first thing was to raise enough capital to start acquiring some farms and
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: some consolidation here in Colombia. We worked to start with primarily high net worth investors in the US.
So even though we had operations in Colombia and we were farming down here, raising capital in the US required compliance with the same SEC rules as if we’re coffee farming in
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: for example.
Patrick: Yep.
Adam Jason: we did– I, I was doing that in my free time, assisting, uh, nights and weekends, et cetera, and just said, “You know what?
This is, this is where I wanna go on the next
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: journey. I can always come back to the attorney path if, if it doesn’t go well.” So
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: the leap. Been down in Colombia full time since twenty eighteen with the caveat that I now– we [00:07:00] opened our US headquarters outside of Chicago, and
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: share my time Uh, leading our, our sales and logistics efforts in, uh, in the US outside C-Chicago.
So I left the US and now kind of back and forth a little
Patrick: Okay. Very cool. Uh, just a few points there. Uh, I had a full ride to law school, but I gotta work with some corporate attorneys and, um, understood the burnout. And so I started looking for other paths, uh, other than being an attorney and, uh, was fortunate to, to find some as an entrepreneur. And so, uh, uh, congratulations from Breaking Free.
My dad was an attorney. We’ve got friends that are attorneys and, uh. Yeah, there’s something about, you know, being an attorney that, uh, you know, changes your perspective on the world a little bit. Uh, but there, there’s also a couple kinds of law. There’s put it together law, which, uh, I think is, is more exciting.
It sounds like you’re, you’re sort of still in that space, like, let’s, let’s focus on building things and then there’s take it apart Law, which is litigation and, uh. It doesn’t sound like any fun to me. So,
Adam Jason: [00:08:00] Right.
Patrick: we also have a client that’s in Metagene, um, that, uh, and I’m not pronouncing that as, as nicely as you, but um, you know, they’re, they, they, they’re sort of free, uh, to live wherever and, uh, they, they’ve chosen there.
So it sounds like I, I may need to, uh, take a trip down and just, uh, uh, enjoy the space. So, uh, this is, this is great. So let, let’s get into the, a little bit of the nuts and bolts. So. Thinking about coffee, uh, it’s, I think it’s probably the most popular drink in the world, uh, at least in the United States.
And, uh, just looking at all the Starbucks that are out there, uh, but it seems like supply chain’s, uh, a little bit broken. Can you talk us through like what you’re doing to, to work on resolving some of that?
Adam Jason: It was interesting when we first got down here that you’d expect to see Starbucks and Nestle and the names that we all know in the
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: going all the way down to the farm level,
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: but, but you don’t. They get their
Patrick: Hmm,
Adam Jason: through [00:09:00] importers, exporters, traders, international commodity markets
Patrick: hmm.
Adam Jason: at scale.
Uh, there’s always gonna be some, “Oh, we work with this local farmer, and we source some of our coffee.” But the, the, the– in large part it’s, it’s all through these international middlemen. We saw an opportunity as we were here to say, “Well, why don’t we become the farmers, have a story to tell from farm to cup,
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: to guarantee the traceability for our clients in the, in the US, literally down to the farm that we own where the coffee came from, have the ability to tell a different story around sustainability and, and regenerative agriculture and some of the positive things we do in farming,” which are really demand-driven.
I mean, you see more and more now, especially in the public market space of investor requirements, shareholder activism, [00:10:00] forcing public companies and, and other market participants to clean up their supply chain and
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: story to
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: When you’re a coffee company that’s buying from a lot of middlemen, all of that coffee, no matter where it comes from, it’s all getting mixed.
So there’s literally no way to tell a clean story, and that’s what
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: some of the problems. You know, China, uh, is in, in the coffee space, and Starbucks is facing litigation now about coffee coming from child labor farms, coffee plantations in China. And some of it might be like they just don’t– literally just don’t know where the
Patrick: Right.
Adam Jason: coming from.
So to be able to give some assurance over the supply chain to our clients we’ve seen be a big,
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: add, and you have to be able to do it at scale.
Patrick: Yeah. Yeah. Now let’s, let’s talk about, um, ’cause I, I think the cool thing about Green Coffee Company is you’re, uh, [00:11:00] you’re growing company. Uh, revenue seems to be growing nicely, and you’ve got some, um, I’ll say major customers. So can you just talk us through sort of where you’re at, revenue growth wise, and, and some of the people you’re partnering with?
Adam Jason: Sure. So we became– We started the business in twenty seventeen. We became the largest coffee producer in the country. I think twenty twenty-one was the year that
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: reached that milestone. We have about ten thousand acres, ten million coffee trees, and since then we’ve been pushing our product really through two different sales channels into the, the US.
We service food service clients, think, you know, ballparks, hotels, casinos, cruise lines. And then we also hold the and Canadian rights to the Juan Valdez coffee brand. So
Patrick: Yep.
Adam Jason: and above or in the Hispanic population, it’s gonna be a
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: know. Still has a huge market awareness in the US even though the investment, uh, [00:12:00] kind of, kind of died down a little bit in the early two thousands.
So through that brand, we’re also rejuvenating it and getting back into supermarket shelves and, and in retail locations.
Patrick: Mm-hmm. Got it. Yeah, no, that’s, that’s great. Uh, because I, I think that context matters. It’s, uh, um, when you’re, when you’re partnered with major players, uh, it shows that you’re not, uh, uh, just a, a small farm operation. And, um, and, and to hear that, uh, you’ve, uh, when I think of Colombian coffee, right, it’s like the place to get coffee and the fact that you’re, um, the largest producer.
It, um, it says something. So, so can you tell us a little bit about, um, when I think about the things you’re talking about, the, the, the growth you’re having, the. Opportunity with coffee. Uh, there’s gonna be lots of things that change in my life before I start giving up my coffee, right?
Adam Jason: Right. Mm-hmm.
Patrick: the, the [00:13:00] economy and I’m, I’m still gonna be drinking my coffee to some extent.
So, um, so tell us a little bit about what the, the, what is the opportunity that, uh, that you guys are, are looking at, and then we’ll, we’ll get into some details there.
Adam Jason: Well, as you mentioned, it’s, it’s actually the, the, the second most traded commodity on earth next to petroleum. Two billion cups per day worldwide get consumed. The one stat I think is, is pretty interesting in the last two days, percent of all Americans have had a cup of coffee, which is more than the percentage of Americans that have had a glass of water, which I find to be kinda interesting.
I, I… You know, like who doesn’t drink, who doesn’t drink a glass of water over the
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: two days? But, but those are the statistics. So
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: that, you know, and, and honestly, it’s something that is part of [00:14:00] people’s daily ritual. They need the… This is just, this is just so fundamental to the
Patrick: Hmm.
Adam Jason: you know, it’s not– We don’t see it as, for example, it’s risk, uh, due to recession or AI or these other factors that are imp- impacting some businesses. we see is, is some shifts among price ranges. You know, as, as inflation increases across the board, you know, people might say, “Oh, let me try the private label option instead of the branded option,” or, or things along those lines or, you know, shift package size. Maybe they say, “Oh, I’ll buy the nine ounce instead of the eleven because it’s a little bit, it’s a little bit lower.” you know, it’s, it’s a, it’s a product that’s gonna be out there to stay for sure. I don’t think that’s even debatable.
Patrick: Yeah. Yeah. No, that’s, uh, that’s great. So where’s the opportunities, uh, that, that you’re seeing in the marketplace to, uh, expand what you’re doing at Green Coffee Company?
Adam Jason: [00:15:00] Oh, the one challenge about coffee is there is a lot of competition. You know, it’s not
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: newest thing. People have– You’re not gonna find a lot of people say, “Oh my god, I’ve never heard of coffee before.” So we have to find ways to differentiate from the competition.
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: we’ve done that in a strong way with our to cup story,
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: to touch on some of those storytelling aspects that we, that, that we started our conversation with.
A good example would be we’re now the official coffee for the U… for the Western US national parks.
Patrick: Hmm.
Adam Jason: They have a story, of course, that they wanna tell the visitors to the parks around and
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: they partner with, what’s served at their resorts, what’s served at their serving stations. Using the story that we’ve created, they have a value, a creative way to talk about their coffee program that they never
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: that nobody else could offer them. They could serve Starbucks, but it doesn’t add anything to their own storytelling. [00:16:00] That’s where we’re seeing a big connection. We also are the coffee for Carnival Cruise Lines, another industry where if you can imagine the amount of garbage and waste that’s produced over the course of, uh, the four-day cruise or
Patrick: mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: environmental impact that they can have, these companies are under pressure to have narratives and stories and use suppliers
Patrick: Yep.
Adam Jason: kinda shift the balance a little bit. that’s a, a big def-differentiator for us. And then with the Juan Valdez brand, we’ve, we’ve gone from zero stores in two thousand… in March of two thousand twenty-five to over twenty-five hundred doors in just over a year. We just signed a, a
Patrick: Wow.
Adam Jason: with, with Walgreens for about fourteen hundred stores. We had rapid expansion in Target. We went from fifty-five stores to start to three hundred and seventeen in less than a year. Other major retailers. So the… It’s, it’s a brand that while it, it [00:17:00] needs some education and investment with the younger generations, for the Hispanics and gen pop above forty, it’s, it’s still to this day, uh, uh, when they see it on the shelf, it rings a bell for them.
Patrick: Yeah. Yeah. And so I just wanna summarize a few things that you, you said there about, we’ll call it sustainability. I think the traceability of, of what you’re doing is, is really important, uh, to make sure that we’re not using beans harvested with child labor from China. Uh, you know, you can, you can point back to, uh, we’ve got, we’ve got the data that shows that these, these beans were ethically sourced.
Um, and then, then you start to factor in like. Um, again, from my, my experience with my friend that owns the coffee shop, you know, hearing about the, the process, uh, there’s a lot of water that can be used in,
Adam Jason: Mm-hmm.
Patrick: pretty efficient way to, to, to save water there.
And then also you’re, you’re preserving a lot of forest ground. Um, [00:18:00] and all of these factors I think start to. To come into play when people are going, you know, what we we’re responsible for, for stewarding this planet we live on and, uh, let’s, let’s make decisions with our dollars that sort of support that.
Uh, uh, so I dunno if there’s anything else to talk about there, but I, I think those factors are all, uh, awfully important.
Adam Jason: the, the trend is towards consumers giving more thought to the products that they, that they purchase in terms of where it comes from, what its story is. Seventy percent of consumers, I think, you know, when polled, will say, “Those things are important to me.” has a price.
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: people are still, I would say- Reserved in terms of what premium they’ll pay for those items. But when you have to differentiate between one or the other, it’s certainly helpful to, to win that head-to-head battle.
Patrick: Great.
So one of the things that I, uh, we like to talk about is we [00:19:00] really like a good, good story. Um, and we like to invest in things that are, i’ll say good for us, right? Like, good for society, good for the, the earth. We also like those investments to make a lot of sense financially. So can we, can we flip over and look at, um, uh, just a little bit about what, what is the, what is the goal here?
You know, I, I will give people an opportunity to connect with you and learn more about what Green Coffee Company’s doing to, uh, sort of expand their operations. But like, is the, is the goal to. Uh, have a private investment and kick off some cash flow. Is it to exit at some point? We’d, yeah. WW can you tell us a little bit about what, uh, the end target is there?
Adam Jason: Our target is a public listing in the US,
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: Nasdaq in the next eighteen months is, is where we’re directionally focused and, and trying to get to for our investors. We’ve raised about hundred million dollars from a little bit over five [00:20:00] hundred high net worth investors, hundred thousand dollar checks and up
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: And, and, you know, that’s, that’s basically the mandate that they’ve given us. They wanna see some liquidity
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: period of time. That’s what we’re focused on. We’re working with some investment banks, uh, corporate attorneys and, and looking at the, the ways to get there, whether through a regular listing or a direct listing, um, but exploring that as a, as the strategy.
We don’t wanna sell the business, to be quite
Patrick: Sure.
Adam Jason: Uh, there’s always a price that, you know, you change your mind when–
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: to that. But
Patrick: Sure.
Adam Jason: idea behind the IPO would be we get investors the liquidity that they would like. That be- then becomes their option, whether they wanna sell everything, keep some, take some money off the table, buy
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: everything that comes with that liquidity flexibility, but then also gives us access to capital that we can use to expand our,
Patrick: [00:21:00] Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: which is
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: So that, that’s, that’s the direction that we’re, aiming for.
Patrick: Yeah. Yeah. No, this is, um, uh, this is great. I, I think this is, um, really interesting how you’ve combined a lot of these pieces together, right? Uh, we, we think that the story makes a lot of sense. Like, let’s, let’s do coffee in a way that is, um, sustainable. That’s good for the environment, good for the people that are growing it and harvesting it.
And, uh, which ultimately means it’s good for me as a consumer, uh, ’cause it’s not, not, uh, trashing this planet. And then also thinking about it from, uh, purely an investment point of view. You know, it’s always, uh, you know, nice to, if you can get involved with, with companies before they go IPO like that, uh, uh, and then they have a, uh, a healthy, uh, offering it, uh, it works out nicely.

[00:22:00]
Patrick: Adam, this is all really fascinating. One of the things that we, when we start thinking about. Uh, making investments into private companies is, uh, uh, it’s always good to understand. Let’s, let’s take it from, you know, the origin of the company.
We, we got a little bit of that from you, but it’d be, I’m, I’m interested in the team you’ve built, um, and. And really it’s, it’s operations. You know, when we, we execute really well [00:23:00] on the operation side, those are, those are companies we like to invest in. So if it’s okay, I, I know I just covered a lot of ground.
Can we, can we start off with the, uh, kind of the, the origin of what you’ve been doing in Columbia and then we’ll work our way to, uh, the team you’ve built.
Adam Jason: Sure. origin was we had a group of investors. As I mentioned, we work with, with high net worth investors who are already focused and interested in, in Colombia. They had been investing for several years in commercial real estate, mixed-use properties here, and my business partner and I had the connection with them and they said, “You know, we really– we’re interested in something that looks, feels, tastes like real estate, but isn’t pure real estate.” So
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: agriculture, which is,
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: you know, it’s a huge, huge economy for agriculture here in Colombia. And then with respect to just the what can people [00:24:00] feel comfortable and wrap their heads around, you know, we grew up in the US largely through the marketing around the Juan Valdez brand, but Colombian coffee generally just, you know, the two are synonymous.
So coffee in Colombia is the national product here. It’s the
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: producer of coffee in the, the world. You– at the US audience that we would need to rely on to access capital to get the business going could, could conceptualize the, the, the business plan. So we said, “What we can do differently is rolling up some farms, consolidate some infrastructure.” What you see in Colombia is it’s a very fragmented market. About ninety-five percent of all the farming families here, and there’s five hundred thousand of them, a few acres or less. You don’t have big conglomerates down
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: not a, you know, if you’re gonna do an acquisition of farms, you’re buying directly from a, a family, basically.[00:25:00]
Patrick: Yep.
Adam Jason: we ran into was the typical story would be great-grandpa, grandpa, a few cousins, uncles, et cetera, who all live in the same community, buy some land. And when I say land, I really mean like the sides of mountains,
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: incline, steep of, of mountainous terrain in Colombia, and they consolidate those and run it as a family farm. Eventually, that passes down through the generations and You run into second, third, fourth generation person in the family who no longer wants to be in, in coffee. They wanna live in Miami, they wanna go to New York, uh, what-wha-whatever it might be. But a lot of the family wealth will be tied up in that coffee asset the, in the, in the farmland.
And it’s not a market where you can go and say, “Oh, let me go to the bank and refinance and tap into the equity that I’ve built here.”
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: have to, to sell it, [00:26:00] or there’s no way to access the, So we
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: regions of Colombia that had some of those larger plots that weren’t as fragmented as, as some of the other areas.
There is a
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: bit of segmentation. Some of these are kinda mono-crop towns where, you know, one or two families own the entire town.
Patrick: Yep.
Adam Jason: able to do some deals to get the initial acquisitions. Challenging, you know, things are in a different language, different culture, and you’re not
Patrick: Yep.
Adam Jason: with the CFO and general counsel of,
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: You’re talking to 17 family members, all of them who may have a different interest or want a different price, or
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: hate each other, right?
Patrick: Right? Yep.
Adam Jason: Uh, somebody likes it, the other person doesn’t like it. So
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: challenging
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: strategy, but also a nice barrier to entry. I
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: think from La Colombe or wherever are gonna come down here anytime soon and say, “Yeah, let’s start buying coffee farms in Colombia [00:27:00] and go through this process.”
So
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: pain that I expect a lot of people will not be willing to, willing to do.
Patrick: Yeah. And, and one thing I, I think is really important to highlight is you think about companies that are going public and, and generally we’re looking at a lot of the tech companies, right? We’re, we’re thinking, you know, uh, Netflix, you know, Amazon, uh, Facebook, or Meta Google, you know, and there isn’t a lot of hard assets tied to those, those companies.
Uh, there might be some, but it’s not the majority of their, uh, their balance sheet. And so, uh, obviously you’re. Your, your revenues from the coffee you’re generating are, are awfully important. But I love that there’s such a strong, hard asset base, uh, there when we think about, uh, valuing companies, uh, it’s, it’s nice to go, yep.
There’s, there’s a, there’s a lot of assets here in this, this organization that we can put a real dollar figure to versus, you know, uh, a user count that, uh, we’re trying to monetize at some point in the future. So I, I think that’s just awfully important when we’re [00:28:00] thinking about, you know, the investments that we’re making.
You know, I’m, I’m a huge proponent of real estate, love real estate. Um, but it’s also not for everybody. And, uh, uh, I think that’s a, uh, an important factor when we’re, we’re looking at this is like hard assets have, uh, um, have a lot of value. So let’s, let’s talk a little bit about the team. Uh, I, I’m interested, you know, generally we, we see, um, people that are, you know, whether it’s, um. You know, mom and pop that have raised business up to a certain level. Uh, then they bring in private equity. You know, we, we see private equity enter the, the equation with a lot of our clients at times.
And so, uh, then what private equity generally does is like, okay, we’re, we’re familiar with companies at a a $30 million revenue, uh, run rate, and we know how to take them to a hundred. And so they. They bring in people that have that experience, right? The mom and pop that. Um, and this is a fantastic thing that took it from zero to 30, have no experience going from 30 to a hundred.
Not that they can’t figure it out, [00:29:00] but when you’ve been there, done that before it, um. Uh, it’s a little easier, right? Uh, you know, um, it’s like, um, I can navigate a new city much slower than I can, you know, a local that’s been there for 40 years. So, uh, when we think about, uh, building that, that team, can you just talk us through a little bit of your, uh, your, your operations and how you, um, plan on going from, you know, this, this thing you’ve built and scaled really nicely to, to IPO.
Adam Jason: Sure. Well, obviously I’m not Colombian.
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: who we started the business together, uh, not, not Colombian either. He’s, uh, ex-PWC
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: M&A accountant who lived internationally, Bermuda, Hong Kong, China, uh, Colombia, but, but did not… You know, not, not a Colombian by, by birth, and you have to find people.
The first, first level was, in terms of team building, was making sure we had people who understand [00:30:00] the culture and understand agriculture and know how to farm Colombia. So
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: the, the veterans that we need in that space, people with twenty-plus years in coffee in Colombia, and also who had strong backgrounds in industrial engineering, because a big part of our model is dependent on upgrades in technology versus what’s traditionally been used in, in coffee.
Patrick: Hmm.
Adam Jason: also, working back from the IPO goal, wanted to make sure we have people on the team that could run and be part of a, of a public company organization.
Patrick: Yep.
Adam Jason: our now president and CFO in Colombia, she was the CFO for Grupo Éxito, which is the largest retailer in, in Colombia, one of the few public companies that was traded on the NYSE.
So she now works on, on our team. And
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: in terms of sales, you know, we got the, [00:31:00] the head of sales from Intelligentsia Coffee, about a hundred million dollar business, uh, there in the US. Our new head of marketing came over after working on the build-out for the success of Modelo, Pacífico, and Corona.
So knows how to talk to the Hispanic consumers, which are really important to us with Colombian coffee and the Juan Valdez brand. So a lot of it’s kind of like inverting from where we wanna go and knowing the talent that we need to have. then we have to make the upfront bets, right? Like we’ve,
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: we’ve raised the money, made the bets, and now we’re starting to see the sales and revenue and clients come in.
Uh, that’s, that’s, that’s been the journey.
Patrick: Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that’s fantastic. And you know, I, I am, um, I’m always impressed with the, the business owner that sees an opportunity in the marketplace and goes and takes advantages of it versus being a. Uh, a [00:32:00] baker that wants to open a bakery, right.
Adam Jason: Mm-hmm.
Patrick: a good technician and so I’m, I just want to sort of expand that, that thinking a little bit and like, serve people with my, my product.
Nothing wrong with that, but, uh, uh, we, we think there’s a, uh, something special about somebody that is really good at running businesses, taking business to a, a certain level. And, uh, it sounds like you’ve, uh, you’ve built out the team to. Uh, do all the things that, uh, uh, you’re hoping to accomplish. So that’s, uh, that’s exciting.
I’m, I’m happy to hear that, uh, you know, it’s not, uh, this, this team’s first time, uh, dealing with, uh, large operations. So this is, uh, this is good.
Adam Jason: No.
Patrick: Um, good. So, and I think another thing that’s awfully important too, uh, just thinking about when we’re looking at investments, uh. You know, there’s, there’s healthy cash flow, right?
Uh, you’ve got a physical product that, uh, is, is, is being sold. And we’re, we’re not a, again, a software with a, a user base that we’re trying to [00:33:00] figure out how we’re going to monetize. And so, uh, I think that’s always, um. Important. It just, it just makes the business real and tangible. Like, okay, we got hard assets, we got cash flow.
Uh, there’s financial statements here that, uh, that, that can support all that. And it, uh, is, is good. Adam, what else should we be talking about, uh, when it comes to the opportunity with, with coffee?
Adam Jason: I think it’s important, you know, again, working back from this IPO goal that we have, one thing that’s been important to our US investors is that we were structured as a US company.
Patrick: Yep.
Adam Jason: set up the, the business through a US Delaware-based holding company. Everything is governed by US law. The banking’s done in the US.
Everything is one hundred percent owner of our Colombian subsidiaries, so everything
Patrick: Great.
Adam Jason: It really would be, it would be an investment in a US company, just
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: investing in, in Apple, but it gives you that foreign market
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: right?
Patrick: Yeah.[00:34:00]
Adam Jason: on in, in different areas of the world.
So, uh, that, that was important to us as well and, and gives our, gives our investors another level of, of comfort.
Patrick: Yeah. Yeah, no, that’s, um, that is an important piece. So, um, yeah, Adam, this has been great. So here, here’s what I think, um, you know, I’m, I’m just gonna summarize you’ve grown and scaled this, this business, uh, nicely. You’ve done it with a brand that, uh, I’ll say most of us are familiar with.
Uh, I remember the, the Juan Valdez commercials as a kid growing up. And, uh, um, you’re, you’re the largest operator in Columbia, uh, when it comes to, uh, coffee and I, I, that’s just really impressive. And then I start looking at some of the. Uh, the brands that you’re working with, you know, from Target to, um, you know, national, um, forest, um, we’ve got carnival crews, we’ve got, um, I think the Cubs.
I’m a Cubs fan, so Go Cubs.
Adam Jason: you
Patrick: [00:35:00] that’s, uh, that’s always, um, always, always exciting and it just gives credibility to, um, uh, the work you’re doing. And then, then moving on to, um. You know, it being sustainable all the way through along with, um, you know, the team that you’ve built. It’s like, okay, there’s, there’s some foundation here for some, uh, uh, a really healthy business.
And so if people are interested in, in learning more about that, if they’re like, Hey, I, I’m, I’m excited about this. I’m looking at diversifying my portfolio and I I’m would like to consider an investment in coffee. What, what is the best place for people to, um, connect with you?
Adam Jason: Sure. So we’re raising some capital right now, primarily to fund inventory for a lot of these new clients that you just mentioned.
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: for high net worth accredited investors and have to meet the SEC definition for creds, a hundred thousand dollar checks and up. The best way to get in touch is to find me on LinkedIn.
That’s where I’m most active. there, just send me a [00:36:00] message. I can get you to our investor relations team who will
Patrick: Mm-hmm.
Adam Jason: of the offering materials and answer any questions and anything there, but, but Adam Jason on LinkedIn and that, that’ll be the
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: way. And then it’s good to have the personal connection as well.
Patrick: Yeah. Great. We’ll, uh, make sure there’s a link to your LinkedIn profile in the show notes. If, if people want to. Uh, reach out and learn more. Um, it is a, it is a unique opportunity in a very traditional business, which is, uh, uh, which is cool. So,
Adam Jason: Thank
Patrick: what, yeah, yeah. I, I, I, I think about, you know, again, to, to recap some of the things we started the show with, you know.
Alternative investments do, uh, some unique things to our investment portfolio. It sort of dampens volatility because, uh, I can tell you that, uh, the coffee market is not gonna operate like the oil and gas market, like the Austin, Texas real estate market. And so, uh, when we, when we think about those things, it, it brings, uh, uh, just a different dimension to our, our [00:37:00] investments.
And so, uh, people should be. You know, checking with their investment advisors before they make any investment decisions. That’s sort of my disclaimer, but, uh, uh, we think these, these things are, are worth considering. And so, you know, if you do nothing, you’re, you’re remaining stuck in traditional, we’ll say fully priced markets where.
Uh, you could be missing out on some asymmetric upside opportunities. You know, um, you, you always hear the, the cool stories about, you know, investing pre IPO and how that can, can shake out. Uh, it doesn’t always turn into a multiple of the dollars you put in, but that’s, uh, that’s obviously the objective.
So, uh, you can build wealth that’s. Um, you know, if you’re, you’re not taking action, you’re less diversified, you’re more volatile, uh, you’re less durable during the long term. And then, you know, making some of these, uh, pursuing some of these opportunities that are off market. Um. You’re, you’re not just thinking like an allocator, like, I’m gonna asset and allocate a certain way.
I’m like being very strategic in, in things that align with my values and, uh, uh, I think are, are great. And, you know, [00:38:00] as a, as a coffee lover, uh, you know, I had a nice pour over this morning. Uh, uh, you know, always, always like to, uh, uh, invest in things that I’m, uh, personally, uh, enjoying. So. Uh, you know, this is just a, a unique opportunity.
And so, uh, I, I, I think my encouragement is look into it. Uh, connect with Green Coffee Company and Adam, and just see what, uh, they’ve got going on. And, um, if it makes sense for you, great. If it doesn’t, that’s, uh, that’s also great. But, uh, this is, uh, uh, this is, this is fun. Adam, anything else we should talk about before we, before we wrap up?
Adam Jason: I don’t think so. I don’t think
Patrick: Yeah.
Adam Jason: a good conversation. I appreciate the
Patrick: All right. Yeah. Wonderful. All right. Thank you so much for, for joining us here today.
Adam Jason: Thank
Patrick: Thank
And that’s a wrap on today’s episode. To everyone tuning in, thank you. If you found value in today’s episode, do me a favor and share it with one person in your life who’s been looking for ways to diversify and get out of the traditional market hamster wheel. One share could change someone’s entire financial trajectory, [00:39:00] and that’s what this community is all about.
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