Episode Description

In Episode #2 of the Podcast From the Hill to the Trenches: The Search for Justice, Dorothy Hill takes listeners on an unexpected journey from Wall Street boardrooms to the Philippine coffee farms and cafes with Markus Ableitinger, a former Capital Dynamics executive. Markus shares his transformation from managing billions of dollars in Asian private equity to roasting single-origin beans at 1,400 meters above sea level. In this episode, Ableitinger reveals how his two decades of due diligence expertise translates directly to mentoring coffee farmers and explaining why 80% of Philippine coffee demand requires imports despite perfect growing domestic conditions. The conversation explores the striking parallels between venture capital portfolio management and sustainable farming practices, as Markus details his hands-on approach to elevating local coffee quality from "really bad" to internationally competitive standards. Listeners discover the shocking realities of coffee industry fraud, the $180,000 German roasting equipment that is used in premium coffee shops, and how one farmer named Marivik went from serving instant coffee to becoming the Philippines' top coffee educator. Hill and Ableitinger examine the intersection of agricultural investment, generational knowledge transfer, and the complex challenges of modernizing traditional farming communities while building sustainable coffee supply chains and cafes across Southeast Asia.

Follow Markus Abeitinger!!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markusableitinger/

Follow Dorothy Hill!!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorothy-hill-5764171/

Podcast - Dorothy Hill, Host:

Website: https://hill2trenches.com/