Ethical coffee sourcing
Making coffee better for growers
Making coffee better is at the heart of everything we do at Extract Coffee Roasters, and that means making coffee better for the farmers that produce it. It’s no surprise that some of the best coffee beans come from some of the poorest parts of the world.
Ethical coffee means supporting coffee farmers by buying coffee from the same farmer year after year so that they can forward-plan for next year’s crop. Here you’ll find some of our longest-standing relationships with (who we think are!) some of the best coffee farmers in the world.
Questions about Ethical Coffee Sourcing
IS YOUR COFFEE ORGANIC?
'Organic' is a big topic in the world of speciality coffee. What makes it complicated is that lots of coffee is farmed organically and upholds the very highest ecological standards, but it is not automatically certified as organic.
Read our quick guide on organic coffee farming to learn more.
Organic Coffee Explained
IS YOUR COFFEE FAIRTRADE?
Our coffee is better than Fairtrade. We pay quality-based premiums, because the coffee we buy is of such high quality which results in a price which is far higher than the Fairtrade minimum.
IS SINGLE ORIGIN COFFEE MORE SUSTAINABLE?
Single Origin coffee is not necessarily more sustainable.
The benefit of a single origin coffee is traceability to farm and lot. It also gives coffee roasteries the chance to showcase the flavours of a specific coffee.
Mega-blends with poor traceability do exist in the coffee industry and these are often not a good example of fully traceable and ethically sourced coffee. But this isn't the case for all blends.
Some of our most-loved house coffees are blends with full traceability back to the farm for each aspect of the blend. Blending these coffees means we can create consistent house coffees. It also means we can give our farmers a long-term commitment, allowing them to make longer-term business decisions around business, social and environmental investments.
How does Extract support female coffee growers?
Women in the coffee supply chain are disproportionately impacted by gender inequity. They have fewer rights, less financial autonomy and face greater risks to their safety than women in Western European.
We work with female growers year-round. Buying their coffees to use in our heros, single origins and limited editions. We also choose importers who are funding grass roots female empowerment programmes in coffee producing countries.
