DRINK COFFEE, ask questions!!!

Currency

Transparency

How We Buy Our Coffees

At Café Blá we believe in being as transparent as possible about the way we source our coffee. 
Seeing as we're (right now) a pretty small operation, having direct trade partners is, in our opinion, not a sustainable buying practise. It doesn't help farmers to have direct partners who are only able to contract a couple of sacks per year. 
Instead we have built relationships with a few importers, whose trading philosophies we respect. A big part of what we look for in our green coffee partners is importers who are involved in social initiatives at origin and are committed to making sure the farmers are getting fair prices for their beans. They are, after all, the most important people in the whole of the coffee supply chain.
This is one of the reasons for our motto of "drink coffee, ask questions." We're an open book and will always go out of our way to explain our choices regarding our coffee buying practises. 
The entire supply chain is built on colonialism and needs to be changed. We as a micro-roaster can only do our part in trying to also constantly question why and continue learning from the people who are out there trying to make a more positive impact for the farmers and seasonal workers who make it possible for us to drink coffee every day. 
The importers we currently work with are:

Raw Material

Raw Material are a Community Interest Company based in the UK, meaning that 100% of profits are put to work to create economic freedom for those coffee producers who are most marginalised. Driven by social objectives, the guys at Raw Material are set on bringing real change to the people who matter most! All of our coffees from Rwanda, Burundi, Timor-Leste and Mexico are bought through Raw Material because they don't just do great social work, they also have some of the most delicious coffees out there!!!

 

Planting Costa Rica

Nico from Planting Costa Rica actually used to be a barista at Café Blá! Now he's importing amazing coffees from his native Costa Rica. Through his successful 2017 crowdfunding campaign, he was able to start addressing the socio-economic gap, helping small producers wanting to move into speciality growing and processing practises modernise and improve quality. We have been following the progress from the beginning, buying lots from El Bueyerito every year. The progress made in terms of quality has been amazing! Now with a wide and exciting range of partner farms, we are really excited to continue buying our Costa Rican lots from Nico. In March '23 I was lucky enough to be able to go to Costa Rica with Nico and Fatima and meet all of the producers we have been buying from and more! Costa Rica is a wonderfully green country, with a lot of positive green initiatives and government agencies helping keep the coffee trade fair for those who are most important, namely the farmers. 

Osito

Osito are a relationally based company with operations in Colombia, US and UK. With their recent expansion into the EU market, I was very happy to start working with them for our future Colombian and Brazilian lots. They work on fixed price contracts with their producers, fixing price points well above the C-Price, taking into account the current costs of production. 

Omwani

Omwani are a UK based importer, importing coffees from East Africa. They work with projects all of the most well known producing countries like Ethiopia and Kenya, but also in less-seen countries like Malawi and Uganda. The projects they support are all specific to what is needed in the country, looking to bring economic freedom to smallholders and producers, whilst also tackling area specific issues, such as climate related diseases, access to fresh water, healthcare and education. Starting in 2025, we will have their Ethiopian, Kenyan and Ugandan coffees as a part of our coffee menu.

Plot Coffee Project

 Plot Coffee Project is the import project from Hamburg's Elbgold. They focus on nano and micro-lot coffees from carefully selected producers, who are dedicated to not just high quality, but also to sustainable farming practises.