Coffee Supply Chain Issues 😲

❌ Don't prioritise Antiquated Skills

Apr 24, 2024

Hey Procurement Legend,

I’m working on some amazing stuff behind the scenes that I’ll be sharing real soon with you. No, it’s not a product or anything like this. It’s some amazing collaborations and content.

PS. JOIN 3400+ Digital Procurement Pros here.

I’m energised by the trajectory of procurement tech at the moment. For the last four years I’ve been a big critic. But it feels like every procurement tech company I speak with are deeply passionate about solving your challenges in the best way possible.

That’s a big improvement.

Are there any procurement tech areas/categories/solutions you’d like me to go find out more about? Hit reply to this email and let me know.

What I'm Reading

I’ve taken a bit of a reading break for the last couple of weeks.

But I’m slowly getting through Deep Work, by Cal Newport. I’m a huge fan of his works.

What I'm Thinking (about Procurement)

Everyone I speak to who doesn’t have procurement tech wants it but they say the same thing.

Budget.

I’m not the budget holder.

We’re not there yet.

We’re just getting started.

And that’s a great place to be.

Why?

Play with the tech your company has.

If you’ve got Google Suite, build forms, that connect to sheets, that connect to gmail, that automates emails. You might want to get a free version of Zapier/Make if your IT team gives it a 👍.

Thinking digitally is available at all times.

Use what you’ve got to collect better data and automate a few steps.

Measure where you are now and where you get to.

Take this forward as your business case and say we think we can do much more with dedicated tech.

This is how I got the budget in my last role.

One Procurement Tech Focused Insight

We’re in the super early days of Gen AI. It’s going to change everything dramatically.

I see advice about brushing up on Excel and PowerPoint.

You don’t need to do this.

I can ask Chat GPT to build me a dashboard, provide me with the instructions, and do that in less than 10 mins.

Don’t focus on antiquated knowledge.

One Piece of Content I've Found Useful

As a coffee lover (and a guy who just got a coffee tattoo don’t ask) I’m always looking at the coffee supply chain. Yeah, I’m that nerdy.

Fears Over Coffee Shortages Send Prices Soaring to New Highs

Summary: Coffee prices are soaring due to fears of shortages caused by adverse weather in Vietnam and Brazil. Companies like Lavazza are being impacted, leading to increased buying activity in the market. Climate change is contributing to volatile weather patterns affecting coffee production worldwide.