Internship Report Sample – Activities carried out in a coffee company dedicated to the collection and commercialization

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INTERNSHIP REPORT

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DEDICATION

I dedicate this graduation work in the first place to God for always accompanying me in my life, for giving me wisdom and helping me overcome every obstacle that was presented to me in the path to my training as a professional, for guiding me to make the right decisions in moments of uncertainty and confusion for this and many other things I dedicate this report to you the creator of all things and the entire universe. To my family, because they have always been by my side in the most challenging moments and happy moments, giving me support and guiding me on the path of good.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report summarizes the internship activities carried out in a coffee company dedicated to the collection and commercialization of the coffee production of its associates. The actions of this company fit the professional profile of the agribusiness career. This internship was carried out in a period of six months, from April to September 2021. The internship focused on carrying out the main activities in the administrative assistant position. The work focused on updating the database with information on coffee tickets, sales projections, compliance management export commitments, monitoring of the loan portfolio granted to partners, managing commercialization processes, capacity building through staff training regarding export processes. The applied methodology during the internship was the observation, action and reflection of the practices that are currently carried out, defining plans and guiding processes in order to improve the technical, productive efficiency of the company. Carrying out these activities has made it possible to put into practice the knowledge acquired in the Agribusiness career to develop skills to face the field labour. The main results are related to updating the technical information, administrative information, commercial information, establishment of dynamic and direct relationships with the formal market, the opening of credit lines with suppliers of inputs and services financial, production planning based on standard market demands and the strengthening of technical capacities of human resources. One of the main contributions during the internship process was to train staff on the process of exporting coffee to incorporate it into their activities and generate profitability.

INTRODUCTION

During the period from April to September 2021, the internship was carried out at the company. The training consisted of carrying out activities that allow applying the theoretical knowledge in the said company. The activities contribute to finding solutions to real problems within the company and at the same time strengthen our academic training. This internship is considered a prerequisite for graduation since it is about experiencing the work-life, acknowledging functions and carrying out activities focused on the company’s goal of marketing its product in the best conditions.

The primary goal of this internship was the achievement of the company’s marketing goals and production under more favourable conditions through the improvement of the product’s marketing mechanisms both in the local market as well as the international market. Its members are small coffee growers and medium-sized companies that, for many years, have sold all of their products in the local market. Faced with a situation of international price crisis for the said product and being aware that the local market does not recognize its coffee quality with a better price, the associates decided to enter the bigger coffee market.

Due to the expansion, the production of coffee has increased fivefold in the course of its sixteen years of existence, going from a little more than 3,000 to more than 15,000 quintals annually, so it is valid to consider the need to export these volumes directly. The board of directors of said company and the administrative managers have become aware that carrying out the coffee export processes is not only possible but also profitable. The company pays an average in this area of $8.50 per quintal of gold exported. The procedures to carry out this process are relatively simple, and the company is legally empowered to carry them out.

The internship is justified by the fact that at the said company, as in many organizations of small producers, there are some gaps that prevent full compliance with their objectives. Each activity carried out within the company has been with the aim of applying and acquiring knowledge and support of internal and external company operations—the implementation of these activities allowed to streamline the work for both management and accounting departments.

During the development of the internship, there was excellent interaction with the staff, companies and other institutions, which helped to strengthen the organization. This report summarizes the particular characteristics of the company, as well as the operation of the specific area on which the internship was carried out and the achievements gained on updating knowledge, practical work, experience and lessons learned during its development.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INTERNSHIP

The objectives of the internships are mentioned below.

1. Assess the operation of the administration and marketing areas of the company, determining some alternatives for improvement in them.
2. Support company in pursuit of achieving their marketing goals of its production under more favourable conditions.
3. Strengthen the theoretical knowledge assimilated during the career years and college
4. We are acquiring skills and abilities for better performance working in actual conditions.

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COMPANY CHARACTERIZATION

The said company is located in the community of Brazil. It was established in February 2001 in the midst of the world coffee crisis; for a group of high altitude coffee producers interested in improving production conditions, processing and marketing. The said company is a cooperation company, generates 12 permanent jobs and 17 temporary jobs, and farms 400 permanent jobs and 3,400 temporary jobs, mainly in coffee harvesting work.

It has its legal status approved by the MINISTRY OF LABOR in accordance with the laws. The company is made up of small and medium producers of coffee, with a total of 27 partners (22 men and five women) whose farms are geographically located in the communities of Brazil. These farms are located on land with average heights of 1,000 meters above the level, which guarantees a high-quality product according to international standards.

THE MISSION OF THE COMPANY

We are a legally constituted cooperative, made up of small and medium-sized producers of specialty coffee, which offers its customers high-quality product quality and provides its associates technical assistance, training and financing to the coffee growing, processing and marketing, with social and environmental responsibility, gender approach, ethical and moral principles and an efficient and transparent administration to improve the standard of living of families and their communities.

THE VISION OF THE COMPANY

“A democratic organization, with a business vision, economically self-sustainable with a high level of competitiveness that allows access to diversified markets practicing gender equality, social and environmental responsibility, counting on a high credibility.”

PRINCIPLES AND VALUES

The company is governed by general principles and particular values that allow it to define itself as a company. These principles are the support the vision, mission, strategy and strategic objectives. Our values are loyalty, equity, solidarity, responsibility and transparency.

COMPANY POLICIES

The cooperative has a manual that works as a guide for administrative and accounting procedures of the company in order to guarantee clarity and transparency for the associates and users of the services of the said company.

This manual establishes the policies, regulations, procedures and controls defined by the company; for the provision of services according to regulatory parameters and general law of cooperatives. This manual describes the following policies for the betterment of the company:

1. Credit policy
2. Gender policy
3. Investment policy
4. General policy
5. Specific policy
6. Liquidity policy

REGULATORY ASPECTS

There are simple rules but loaded with moral and practical content that guides the coexistence and the development of community life. The company has a manual of functions in which the different activities are oriented to be developed in each of the departments.

HUMAN RESOURCES

To achieve the proposed objectives, the company has human resources based on the goals of the company consisting of 12 employees.

FINANCIAL RESOURCES

The financial resources to finance its operations come from the payment made by the partners for the services of wet processing and marketing of its green coffee product. In addition, there is a minimum margin that is generated in the difference between the active interest rate that the company charges the partners and the passive interest that the company pays creditors. The cooperative also obtains financing from financial institutions.

FUNCTIONS OF THE DIFFERENT WORK AREAS IN THE COMPANY

Management:

In charge of directing and managing the company in the achievement of the objectives raised in the Institutional strategic plan, approved by the general assembly of associates. Management is carried out by a manager and an assistant.

Their duties include:

1. Organize and direct the administration and services of the company according to the rules dictated by the administration council.
2. Ensure that the accounting books are kept up to date and correctly
3. Execute the agreements of the general assembly through the administration council.
4. Collect the sums owed to the company and do with the approval of the president and the
5. Council regarding the corresponding payments.
6. Report biweekly to the administration council on the economic status of the company in the established form.
7. Comply with and follow up on service plans and goals as well as maintenance of all the infrastructure and resources of the cooperative.

Administration and accounting

It is the area in charge of the accounting and administrative management of financial resources and financial statements of the company. This area is composed of an accountant/administrator, administrative assistant and staff of support (janitor).

Their duties include:

1. Accounting record of all economic and financial transactions of the cooperative.
2. Preparation of financial statements and their annexes
3. Accounting records of the movement of coffee in the wet mill.
4. Accounting control of coffee movements in the dry mill.
5. Inventory control in the dry mill.
6. Administration of the credit portfolio.
7. Guarantee the annotations in the accounting books.
8. Attend to administrative-related procedures in the absence of the manager
9. Coordination and administration of specific projects, when established by the agreements signed with donors or funders.
10. Guarantee the settlement of the amounts to be paid.
11. Realization of quotes for the acquisition of goods and services.
12. Preparation of contracts
13. Administration of the personnel under his charge.
14. Facilitate accounting audits.

Marketing Committee

Prepare the offers of the services and placement of the products that it offers. This department is made up of three members: Responsible, Secretary and Vocal. The specific functions of this department include:

1. Prepare and propose the purchase budget every six months and find the best market for the products and services of the cooperative.
2. Perform inventory analysis of the cooperative so that stocks are maintained with adequate inputs and outputs.
3. Exercise maximum control over the quality of the products to be marketed and services to be provided by the cooperative.
4. Receive and keep updated the information of the associates about the products, production volumes, qualities and harvest times to manage the market for products.
5. Coordinate all activities related to the collection of the cooperative’s products.
6. Maintain updated market information regarding supply, demand, qualities, prices, needs and preferences, in order to keep members informed.
7. Keep the board of directors informed about the development of its activities.
8. Manage before national and international organizations the resources to establish storage infrastructures and improve marketing services.
9. It must faithfully comply with what is established in the marketing regulations and must carry a minute book where you will record your management and activities.

ANALYSIS OF SITUATION OF THE OPERATING PROCESSES OF THE COMPANY

As an internee, I observed the following factors in the company.

First of all, there is a need to update the database of entries and projections of coffee sales. The database with the information required to know the entries and forecasts of sales are fed by documents such as the receipt of grape coffee, referrals, dry mill receipts and cumulative delivery reports. The information generated of these documents is quite complete and allows adequate control of the product to be carried out, commercialized and compared with the data of the dry processing area. It is observed that there are limitations in the information from the databases, which affect the data and, ultimately, the decisions made in the company.

The second factor under consideration is managing compliance with export commitments. This activity was carried out in coordination with the management of the company. First, shipping contracts are signed, and these are registered in the corresponding offices. When the product (exportable gourmet coffee) is prepared in the agreed quantity, pre-shipment samples are sent at least one month in advance of shipment.

The remainder is executed by the exporter who notifies (two or three weeks after) the availability of money for the corresponding collection. The income is registered and reported to the administration council.

The third factor under consideration is capacity building. The development of this work consisted of training the collaborators of the company on the management of marketing tools for a better projection of the activity and the organization’s positioning in the market.

FOCAL PROBLEM

The problem on which the internship work was focused was the export process, due to the following causes.

1. Requirement of the leading Buyer for exports to be made from a specific exporter for reasons of his logistics.
2. It is not exported directly, despite having an export license.
3. There is no specific area for commercialization
4. Low level of qualification of the personnel.

CONSEQUENCES:

1. High costs and low competitiveness.
2. The company remains commercially invisible in the international coffee market.
3. Low level of competitiveness and sustainability of the organization

WHAT ALTERNATIVES WERE PLANNED?

The activation of the export license is proposed to be used in negotiating lots of coffee with other buyers; a calculation report was worked on, concluding that it is an action that generates profit. The economic result of this action will be evaluated in the next cycle. The creation of a specific area is proposed to attend to everything concerning the commercialization of coffee production.

CORRECTIVE ACTIONS FOR THE PROBLEM

Following are the corrective measures that were proposed to the company.

1. Have your own dry mill.
2. Export directly in order to take advantage of the export license.
3. Establish a specific area for marketing.
4. Continue with the strengthening of capacities in the training of personnel.

RESULTS OBTAINED

Results were obtained in the operational processes. It was possible to work with the team of the said company from the position of assistant administrative, coordinating activities with the personnel involved in the loan portfolio and coffee marketing. This made it possible to put into practice most of the theoretical concepts acquired in the years of my university career and at the same time develop practical skills.

The second result was obtained through the up-gradation of a database of entries and coffee sales projections. 100% of the coffee receipt documents were registered in the wet mill, corresponding to the 27 partners of the company. Information availability updates allowed us to focus on the efforts of the partners. Tables of projections of final results of coffee yields were prepared, and the information contained in these tables describes the variety of coffee, quality, and quintals of coffee in the different states. Comparative tables of projected net income were prepared from the point of view of the coffee-producing partners and their obligations in the first place with the company.

Thirdly, work was done on the management of compliance with export commitments. For the fulfilment of the export commitments, the following actions were taken:

Verification of the exporter that complied with the established requirements such as the registration of contracts in the corresponding entity, shipment of pre-shipment samples, obtaining related certificates, invoices for each shipment.

Creation of an information system for the board of directors which reflects the progress in sales, which consists of a table with the information of Buyer, coffee quality, quintals sold, price, payment terms, INCOTERM applied, taxes and fees.

As far as capacity building is concerned, two training events were developed. The administrative staff knows the processes and value the importance of carrying out this process directly without hiring this service with the dry benefit.

LESSONS LEARNED:

Following things were learned during the internship.

1. Procedures for the Export, knowledge and mastery of the necessary documents.
2. Development of self-confidence when carrying out the training.
3. Valuation of teamwork as the foundation for the success of an organization.
4. Mastery of the company’s computer systems.
5. Insertion into the world of work is a way of applying and acquiring knowledge in the various training areas that define the professional profile.
6. It is essential to always be willing to obtain new knowledge from the challenges that are present in life
7. Responsibility for compliance with the regulations and policies established by the organization.
8. The daily and practical tasks allow improving the general and specific competence of the export process.

CONCLUSION

Internships are a necessary means for the best performance of the future professional in the field. A significant limitation of the company is not having a dry processing facility that forces you to hire this service which, in addition to increasing your costs, does not allow that the quality and performance controls are timely to be considered in the taking of decisions. The current marketing conditions are in themselves very favourable for the organization and its members who perceive them directly. However, they can be improved through appropriate strategies.

In the development of the internship, it was essential to have the participation of the management staff when analyzing the problems and solutions found. This allows for a commitment of all those involved.