GREEN COFFEE
SUSTAINABILITY, TRANSPARENCY AND FAIR TRADE
Interest in where green coffee comes from and how it is produced has increased enormously in recent years. And this is a very important development. For far too long, the price has been the sole consideration, without regard for the people who make sure that we can buy the coffee at all. Quality did not play a role either, or rather, for a long time there was a misunderstanding on the part of consumers as to what good coffee is.
This awareness seems to be slowly changing and this change would be exactly what can help the producers in the countries of origin the most. Because the fairest coffee is a high-quality coffee. A coffee in which the producer determines his own price because of the high quality, instead of being dependent on middlemen who are looking for short-term profit.
We deliberately do without Fairtrade certification. The original idea of Fairtrade was of course a very good one and also one that positively changed the awareness of how good or bad coffee producers and their workers get paid. However, the Fairtrade organisation has unfortunately not developed in the right direction and, for whatever reason, has turned more and more to the large corporations with its guidelines. We believe that Fairtrade certification has little positive impact on the lives of producers. On the quality of the coffee unfortunately also not.
On the other hand, we think a lot of the direct trade model, in which the roaster works directly with the producer. But only if it is practiced honestly and consistently. Far too many roasters claim to practice direct trade without ever having been to the plantation and without having direct contact with the producer. Often there are still one or the other middleman in the game. Another question is: what happens to the poorer qualities or to a poor harvest? With a consistent direct trade model, the cooperation between roaster and farmer must not stop here.
We therefore focus on cooperation with small importers who specialise as far as possible in individual countries of origin. They are there several times a year or even permanently, know the countries very well and benefit in turn from long-term relationships with the producers. With their experience they can support the farmers e.g. with the preparation or the quality control and thus help you to improve the quality further. This ultimately benefits producers, importers, roasters and consumers.