Baked into the DNA of Deeper Roots is a desire to have fair economic exchanges between us and the people we buy coffee from in countries of origin.
Over the years there have been several movements and certifications that have come in and out of vogue to educate coffee consumers and normalize paying more for coffee among those consumers. As our company has grown and as we’ve started paying two to three times more for coffees than popular certifications mandate, we felt a need to clearly define how we denote a Deeper Roots Direct Trade coffee. This provides transparency for customers and helps keep the drive for financial sustainability for coffee producers moving forward.
RELATIONSHIP
In short, our values around Deeper Roots Direct Trade (DRDT) center around relationship, quality, environmental responsibility and transparency. On the relational side of DRDT we rely on a long-term relationship built on trust. This means that we have had the relationship with the producer or producer group for more than two years and requires us to be on the ground, visiting in-person at least every two years. The importance of having boots on the ground, sharing meals and stories and walking the land with producers can’t be measured and is critical to fostering open dialogue and trust between each other. Relationship also means sticking with people through hard times. When our producers see an off year in quality due to environmental causes outside their control, we agree to keep purchasing from them for that year. We also see that the average age of the coffee producer is increasing. Keeping a relationship to a producer and community allows for conversation with the next generation and to hopefully lay the groundwork to show incentives for younger farmers to keep the family business going.
Quality
Our commitment to quality on DRDT coffees is multifaceted as well. We commit to only buying coffees that are of a certain quality level based on industry standard evaluation techniques. This level is above the floor of what determines “specialty” coffee, but we are still inclusive of coffees that are more useful for blending than for being showcased all on their own. Quality also extends into future planning and goal setting on the producer side. We search for relationships where the producers are interested in constantly striving to do better for quality. This keeps us on our toes to showcase hard work and makes sure that we never get complacent in sourcing or serving our coffees. We also understand that there is an upper limit to quality based on geography and infrastructure, so the spirit of this mindset is not just to get better and better tasting coffee but to be engaged with people who never think the work is simply good enough.
Environmental responsibility
Our commitment to environmental and social responsibility in sourcing mandates that we dig deeper into what is happening in countries of origin. We desire that every relationship yields a posture of stewardship for the environment and goal setting for how processes in coffee production can have a positive impact on the land and watersheds around farms and processing sites. We also look for leaders in communities who are invested in making their communities better through gainful employment opportunities and education. This almost always flows into projects that we can help fund directly from engaging our customers in their normal purchasing behaviors and using their purchasing power to connect them with projects we’re curating for positive impact.
transparency
The transparency side of sourcing DRDT coffee is the thread that ties all of this together. As people in our local community become more interested in the stories and people behind their coffee, we must be able to clearly show how the work and investment flows. In some countries single farmer relationships are unfeasible if not impossible. Regardless, we still work to get as far back in the supply chain as possible so we can track everything we can. This lays the foundation for relationships and opens ways to certify that the economics, community projects and environmental practices meet our goals for positive impact. This foundation also clears the way for all the communication around the long-term conversation on quality. Sourcing coffee seems one part business, one part friend, one part team mate. As we strive to be good for the people, attentiveness to each moving part is what keeps us engaged and accountable to our part in this global process.