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Our sourcing policy is built around relationships, working collaboratively throughout our supply chain to ensure we can source high quality coffees over the long term. We work closely with key producer partners, frequently travelling to origin as well as supporting programmes with producers to create shared value.
Sourcing green coffees from small farm level lots, to container lots, to certified coffees can require different approaches. Through many years of experience we adapt our approach accordingly whilst ensuring quality and sustainability are still at the forefront of every purchase.
'Hours and (many) hours of roasting and sampling of many varieties of coffee from all over the globe are evaluated in our cupping room by our experienced sensory team before selecting only the very best and most interesting coffees to offer our customers in this range. These are all about their stand out flavour'
- Estelle MacGilp, Green Coffee Buyer'
We carefully select the producers we work with based on their commitment to high quality coffee whilst meeting our full traceability requirements. To further enhance the strength of our supply chains, we continue to work closely with a few carefully selected importers – they provide us an invaluable service.
It’s essential to understand the context on the ground, meet with producers face-to-face and listen to their challenges. This is why we frequently travel to origin.
From our supplier newsletters, to hosting suppliers in the UK, to meeting with suppliers at trade shows, we are totally committed to building relationships and sharing as much information as possible.
Being a loyal customer to our supply chain producers allows them to plan and make investments, benefiting farmers and improving cup quality.
Our strong supplier relationships open up opportunities for collaborative programmes. We take a holistic approach, planning initiatives that meet local needs and will help further improve the economic, social and environmental sustainability of our coffee supply chains.
We have a very clear approach to traceability which we apply to all of our shipments directly from origin. We share our traceability code of practice with our suppliers and ensure that the standards we set are being met. This allows us to demonstrate full traceability from the origin collection point right through to deliver to our customers.
Some of our micro lots are selected post shipping through speciality brokers based on their outstanding flavour. Our approach to traceability here is based on securing detailed information on the lots purchased which is important to both us and our customers.
Many of our coffee purchases are Fairtrade certified which in itself guarantees a minimum price to coffee farmers. In addition, some are also organic certified adding a further price premium for producers. Our focus is always on long term consistent quality and we understand that the only way to guarantee quality regardless of certification is to ensure we pay a fair price; these are typically significantly higher than the prevailing ‘c’ market.
Coffee quality is at the heart of what we do and we work very closely with our supply chain to ensure we receive consistent deliveries of high quality coffee. Every single coffee container we buy is bought on a pre-shipment approval sample basis and will not leave origin until our experienced cupping team approve it.
Our micro lots are carefully selected during our extensive speciality cupping sessions in the UK. All our coffee is then cupped again before it enters the roastery as well as being tested by our quality team in our UK lab. Once roasted, the coffee is then subject to further testing and only when each individual lot has passed our rigorous quality controls will it be despatched to our customers.
