Our Direct Trade Relationships
Our coffees come from direct trade relationships. This means that we communicate regularly with our partner producers and visit them annually. Partner cooperatives are cooperatives which we’ve visited and bought coffee from for at least two years or more.
Our coffees come from direct trade relationships. This means that we communicate regularly with our partner producers and visit them annually. Partner cooperatives are cooperatives which we’ve visited and bought coffee from for at least two years or more. In discussions with farmers we get an insight into their living and working conditions and can work together to develop ideas for improvements. We have a special relationship with our partner cooperative Ilketunjo in Ethiopia. It all started here and we’ve achieved a lot together over the years. In addition to our project work, we set up the Coffee Quality Lab for the COOCAFE Cooperative in Sierra Nevada, Colombia in 2017.
In discussions with farmers we get an insight into their living and working conditions and can work together to develop ideas for improvements.
Quality improvement of the coffee
In addition to communication, we work directly with the farmers during the visits and we can motivate them to improve coffee quality. We’re taking a big step in this direction with a current project on training and quality training in coffee cultivation.
The farmers are looked after by experienced agronomists on site for over 3 years and benefit from a higher income for improved coffee quality.
In 2017, we visited 58 % of our partner cooperatives, from whom we obtain 67 % of our total volume of coffee. With the expansion of our portfolio, visiting coffee cooperatives and farms in Africa, Asia and Central and South America each year is becoming an increasing challenge but it’s a challenge we’re happily committed to.
