Business for Good

Through the Relationship CoffeeTM model, Sustainable Harvest builds direct market linkages for nearly 200,000 coffee growers in thirteen countries.

 

Our impacts are triple-bottom line: economic, social, and environmental. We are a certified B Corporation and have been honored with prizes for sustainable business from the state of Oregon and the Specialty Coffee Association of America.

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The Numbers

Since 1997, we have paid nearly $200 million  to coffee farmer organizations in Latin America and East Africa. In addition, we have channeled significant investments — over $1.2 million in 2010 — to these coffee-growing communities.

 

Today, our farmer partners supply one out of every five pounds of certified Fair Trade and organic coffee sold in North America.

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Self-Sustaining Approach

Sustainable Harvest invests more than 60 percent of our operating expenses into farmer training, technology, and infrastructure that our supply chain partners — especially smallholder farmers — need to be successful.  As our business grows, so does the good we do in coffee-producing communities.

 

Each harvest, these investments allow us to import better quality coffee at higher volumes. As our business reaches a certain scale, the revenue from coffee sales funds the supply-side activities in a unique, self-sustaining model. Our four offices in Mexico, Peru, and Tanzania provide a platform for additional initiatives in reforestation, food security, and health services.

 

"Sustainable Harvest not only creates valuable business, but also contributes to the public good through their sourcing choices to create enhanced biodiversity, carbon storage, water quality, and community development. Watching the growth and success of Sustainable Harvest and their incredible international staff has been a source of inspiration, giving us confidence that we can indeed live on this Earth and meet our needs without compromising our environment or the prosperity of local communities."

- Bettina von Hagen, Natural Capital Fund and Forestry Program, Ecotrust