How We Buy Our Coffees
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, Colombia 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!!!
Trabocca
Trabocca are an import company based in Amsterdam, who have been working in Ethiopia for 20+ years. In that time, they have helped to rejuvenate a number of defunct washing stations, led social initiatives and built modern schools, community centres and amenities to improve living conditions for coffee growing communities. They then used this experience to branch out to other origins, including Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Kenya and Indonesia. We love the amount of information that's available at every stage of the supply chain from Trabocca and the brilliant resources that they have available to roasters too. All of our Ethiopian and some of our Kenyan coffees are bought through Trabocca.
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 wonderful and 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.