You'll find all the buzz words here! Ethical. Sustainable. Traceable. Specialty. We tick all of these boxes and more. But how is this quantifiable? How can we justify our sourcing? Well we can't, nobody can! But we try our hardest to be as fully informed and educated as we possibly can be and can pass this knowledge on along the supply chain with complete transparency.
Not only are we committed to great tasting coffee, but with our Origin trip with purpose policy we aim to personally visit the coffee growing farms and maintain relationships with importers, exporters and producers. We also look after the other side of our supply chain by being SALSA accredited ensuring a ‘food safe’ and fully traceable product with audits and record keepings to justify the hashtags! And if that third party audit isn’t good enough we’re also proudly a certified B Corp ensuring we are held accountable for all our business practices and giving us a framework to be even better in all we do!
Check out our blog on some of our Origin Trips to find out more about how we can proudly and honestly state that we source intentional and ethical in support of the future of coffee growing communities.
We only source, roast and supply 'specialty grade' coffee. This is coffee which has a minimum score of 80/100 when graded for attributes such as aroma, flavour and uniformity. By having a Q Grader in our team, licensed by the Coffee Quality Institute, we know for absolute sure that we are investing in the right beans!
At Dear Green, we are not only all passionate about coffee but also eager to learn. Our team has done courses from SCA Sensory training (Foundation), SCA Brewing (Intermediate), SCA Green Coffee (Intermediate). We also have completed Coffee Sensorium training. The team has access to the Barista Hustle website for online training that is regularly used.
"As Head Roaster, part of my role is being responsible for green buying - so sourcing and purchasing all of our coffees! It is so important that we get this right, not only in selecting delicious high quality coffees but ensuring we do so in a thoughtful and conscious manner.
We only source through pre-approved, trusted importers who we work to build and maintain strong relationships with. These importers bring us coffees dependent on our needs, which we will cup to assess both quality and profile throughout various stages of the supply chain, ahead of approval and purchase. Upon arrival, we green grade and once again cup the coffee to ensure it meets our expected standards.
All of the coffee we buy is specialty grade and fully traceable, meaning that we have confidence in knowing exactly what we are purchasing and where it has come from. And we ensure we are purchasing organic certified coffee and woman produced coffee whenever suitable and possible.
Another aspect which is hugely important to us is connecting to origin, to truly understand and appreciate the full journey coffee goes through before it arrives here at our roastery. The true scope of the work, effort and care that goes into producing specialty grade coffee cannot be understated.
We try to visit origin annually, undertaking trips with purpose in which we visit producers we buy from or intend to buy from. Of course, we find other ways to connect throughout the year, which can include supporting (or even setting up) projects at origin, video calls to meet producers, reading and learning their stories, connecting and working with them at events. We source coffee through the most direct route possible and always through a fully traceable route to the producer, ensuring we are as well-informed as possible at every stage of the transaction. We work with trusted importers and exporters who can facilitate our purchases directly from coffee producers, rather than from the commodity coffee market.
Of course, there can be obstacles and limitations when it comes to working with such a volatile market and with a natural product which is so heavily affected by climate change. We don't claim to be perfect, but having such solid guidelines for our purchasing strategy allows us to make well considered decisions when it comes to sourcing!"
The latest trip was by our head roaster to Daterra Farm in Minas Gerais, Brazil, in August 2024. Daterra is a very big, impressive operation, with 6400 total hectares of land and a huge 2800 hectares of that dedicated to coffee growing. Harvesting at Daterra is carried out mechanically, which is possible due to the very flat landscape of Cerrado.
Explore our trips to origin including Brazil, Colombia and Burundi.
Raw coffee is a complex product. Two commercial botanical species, Coffea Arabica and Coffea Canephora, grow in equatorial regions at high altitudes. Global production and coffee prices are affected by drought, disease, and politics. World coffee consumption is steadily increasing, while coffee production is becoming more challenging. Politics is also in a time of change.
It's not just about the sourcing! Roasting and brewing are also where our specialism shines! We're fortunate enough to be able to tap into the endless knowledge, science and education from the Speciality Coffee Association through being members of the Coffee Roasters Guild and Barista Guild.
You can even come to our roastery to be trained by our own barista trainers to advance your own knowledge and education! The classes are shaped by our never-ending curiosity and our pledge to never stop learning and share our knowledge with you! Get in touch or check out our coffee classes!
