Know Your Bean

from farm to front door.

Buy Coffee Now!
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We've got room for a limited number of first-batch subscribers,
so join now and your first order will ship right away!

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Hand-picked at Gus Santos’s family plantation in the mountainous cloud forests of northern Nicaragua, this high-grade, delicate Arabica coffee is then sun-dried (no artificial heating or chemicals) and processed at our quality-controlled partner coffee mill, Esperanza Coffee.

THE TASTE

The coffee is smooth with nutty and chocolatey hints and no harsh aftertaste. Done in a dark-medium roast, it’s dark enough to make a great espresso, but still light enough to taste amazing as your morning cup of pot-brewed coffee.

AVAILABLE FORMATS

We're offering the coffee in either whole bean or regular grind, whichever you prefer.

See packages & pricing or learn about Gus Santos’s farm.

Taking care of his family farm, Santa Elena, Gus has overcome crisis after crisis to keep it afloat — from cholera, to drought, to the devastation of Hurricane Mitch. And though their shaded slopes produce "Superior High Grade" green coffee, they’ve struggled to find a stable, fair market, which has badly damaged their communities. But with your help, they’re reversing the damage. Rebuilding.

Gus has already set up health care and education programs, but much more needs to be done. By enjoying this coffee, you’ll be making a difference in the lives of hundreds of families.

"I want our farmers to have a way to live their lives with dignity. I dream of bringing potable water into their houses, to clean the rivers of pollution and to have all of the youngsters from Santa Elena go to school."

 

Get live updates from Gus's Farm!

From photos and quick notes to stories, in-depth worker profiles and videos, over time you’ll get to know Gus and his workers, and see the difference you are making for their farm and the surrounding community with your coffee purchases.

Once you join by ordering, have your updates delivered via your choice of email, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Posterous, RSS... You might even get the occasional old-fashioned postcard!

gus's page

 

 

WHY COFFEE?

Coffee is the 2nd most traded commodity in the world, next to only oil, and coffee the 2nd most consumed beverage in the world, next to only water. So even a small change in the coffee industry can make a big differerence.

The industry is rife with abuse of workers, child labour, pollution of local environments, and other terrible situations — the consequences of severe market fluctuations, natural disasters, and companies whose only concern is the bottom line.

For the most part, all this is kept conveniently away from coffee consumers while coffee companies quietly profit.

 

WHY NICARAGUA?

The situation is dire for Nicaraguan coffee labourers and their families. Malnutrition, polluted water, low wages, high food prices, poor infrastructure and sanitation, and lack of access to education and health care are common problems they face each and every day.

But things can get better. If farms could sell their coffee to consumers directly, they could get a fairer price regardless of market fluctuations, and they could guarantee both the long-term sustainability of their business, as well as a better quality of life for their workers and the surrounding community.

The Story

In 2008, Adam King and Yoani Kuiper travelled to Nicaragua on a mission to find out the truth about the coffee industry. There they saw things they couldn’t understand.

All for the sake of a few cents spared for our cup of coffee, they saw coffee worker families packed like animals in tiny stalls; preventable disease rampant because workers couldn’t afford the simplest of medicines; malnourished kids; poor sanitation; child labour; depression; addictions; and needless tragedy.

They came back knowing that if they could buy farmers’ coffee directly, they could take all the profits wasted on middlemen and instead, both, give coffee workers a better future and coffee drinkers greater value. They knew that if only they could create a system to connect you to the people on these farms, you would feel the same way they do. It’s been a long, hard journey since then, but finally, with the help of many, it’s becoming reality.

Buy some coffee or invest and help us create a real, lasting change.

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WHICH PACKAGE IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

Packages include farm updates + money-back guarantee + an ownership share.
We never see your credit card number and you can cancel any time!


Or, make a custom order:
I'd like
lb(s) of coffee


Or order by phone: 1-647-478-8062 (Toronto) 1-877-864-1626 (Toll-free)

 

 

Invest

INVEST $100 OR MORE

$2300 PLEDGED
INVEST TODAY!
$32700 left until our goal!

Please consider buying shares in Ethical Coffee Chain. You'll be helping us launch faster and grow more effectively, and you'll make a great return on your investment!

If you want Ethical Coffee Chain to succeed in its mission, the best possible thing you could do is to invest.

Click here to get started!

This is the first project of its kind, as far as we are aware — a consumer-owned supply chain connecting people directly to their coffee farmer, allowing a permanent connection between them. Investments will help assure this project stays a permanent reality.

You can invest in Ethical Coffee Chain by buying any number of preference shares, worth $100 each. All shareholders will receive:

  • An annual rate of return of prime plus 2% on your investment
  • Good karma, having helped transform the lives and livelihoods of hundreds (and eventually thousands) of farmers and labourers that will be helped by ECC.

Your investment will tremendously increase Ethical Coffee Chain’s chances of succeeding in these first months of our existence.

We're aiming to sell 350 shares ($35,000) initially, which will go toward:

  • A buffer to help cover our first large orders of coffee and launching distribution
  • Better marketing efforts to generate more sales and in wider markets
  • Streamlining our supply chain to reduce costs
  • Development of better documentation systems in Nicaragua, so we can tell more of the story