Direct Trade and Our Sourcing Goals

Nathanael Curtis, Director of Coffee

For many specialty coffee roasters, we place a value on our impact in the supply chain. In an industry which has a long history of exploitation, we see a responsibility to trade with producers in a way that sees them as equals. The producers who grow this product are doing the most important work of all on the supply chain. Yet, according to Bellwether Coffee, 80% of the world’s coffee farmers live below the poverty line. Words like “sustainable” and “fair trade” can become so overused that they lose their meaning. For us, we like to partner with people in the supply chain who are doing specific and tangible good for their communities and the industry as a whole. Starting in 2024, we have found two new partners whom we are so happy to work with. Unblended Coffee and Finca Terrerito. What is it that makes these new partnerships unique? They are direct trade.

What is direct trade? In our case, it is a transaction that occurs directly between a roaster and a producer. There are no intermediaries, either importing or exporting companies. Why is this significant? We know the growers directly, so it builds a far more lasting relationship between the grower of the coffee and the people roasting and selling the coffee. It can also allow for further price transparency, giving us a clear picture of the cost of production and exporting. Additionally, it gives us a bigger picture of the reinvestment in the community that occurs when we purchase coffee from a grower.

Direct trade can have a positive impact, but that is not to say it’s the only way to purchase coffee. Often times small producers need resources to grow. One of our favorite partners to work with, Coffee Quest, is an importer that actively provides education and training in the communities where they trade coffee. Many times, producers may have one or two microlots and organize themselves into a collective in order to have greater market power. Collectives like this can be beneficial to producers, though they can also decrease transparency or traceability.

For us, its about the tangible impact. We don’t want to hop on trends or call something sustainable so we can pat ourselves on the back. As we grow our coffee program, we want to educate ourselves and grow our efforts to support producers on the supply chain. 

What attracted us to these new partners? Unblended Coffee made an appearance in last year’s Holiday Blend. Additionally, they produced the Peach co-ferment and the newly released Development Lot. Its founder, Sebastian Ramirez, has committed himself to training young producers in Colombia to grow coffee. He’s addressing the growing shortage of producers in the country.

Finca Terrerito is a veteran owned company. They are a multigenerational farm in Honduras. In the 2010s, their family opened Alma Coffee, a roastery in Georgia which roasts coffee directly from the farm. Ever since, they’ve been expanding their trade operation to more roasters throughout the States, as well as trading coffee from more farms throughout the region. Last month we released Finca Agua Fria, a coffee from a neighboring producer we met directly through Terrerito.

We are proud of these new relationships, and we can’t wait to see where they take us. However, we see this as just the beginning. There is much to learn, and a lot of amazing coffee in the world. Our goal is always to strive for more positive impact and more transparency in the supply chains we source through.