Sustainability

Sustainability.  Our coffee purchasing decisions are based on long-term economic and environmental sustainability.  Coffee is second only to oil as a traded commodity.  Thus, decisions of how coffee is grown and purchased can have a huge world-wide impact.

Our Farmers.  We know where our coffee comes from. We’ve developed long-term relationships with farms around the world – some of which we have been working with since 1841.  We’ve visited many of these places and have created personal friendships.  Coffee-growing communities are some of the poorest areas in the world. 

100% Organic.  We only buy organically-grown coffee because this protects water sources, land resources and people’s safety.  We buy from farmers who use natural fertilizers and who practice diverse farming practices.  This supports biodiversity and creates bird-friendly environments.

100%+ Fair Trade.  We pay above established Fair Trade minimums for all of our coffees.  The FT price was set years ago as a supposed measure of what it would take for a small-scale farmer to support his family and own his/her own land. We believe this $1.41/lb price is drastically low.  In 2019, our average price was $2.05 per pound.

Direct Trade.  We helped start an award-winning sustainable coffee importing cooperative that gets more money to our farmers and their communities by enabling us to buy direct.  Cooperative Coffees, started in 1999, is made up of like-minded roasters who believe building long-term relationships with farmers is step one of quality coffee.  The group has honored contracts when commodity prices have suddenly tanked, created an Impact Fund to support coffee community social programs and invested in research to find natural ways to combat diseases affecting coffee plants.