Sustainable and Fair Trade Coffee
We've got a lot of work to do
And we can't do it without you
Stewardship and empathy underlie every business decision we make.
We’re proud of our progress—taking great care with our world’s precious resources and working toward mutually beneficial relationships with our suppliers. But every day we see so much more to be done.
Through our stewardship efforts, community programs and sustainability efforts, we not only commit to serving the finest products available but also insist on their ethical cultivation, manufacture and distribution whenever possible.
Stewardship
Through pioneering research and conscientious action, we can ensure that we will meet the world’s ever-increasing demand for high-quality, ethically produced coffees:
World Coffee Research (WCR)
Serving at the forefront of developing the WCR, both as a co-founder and a chair on the board of directors, we intend—through research interventions in origin countries—to discover ways to increase both overall cup quality and available volumes of coffee in both economically and environmentally sustainable ways.
Sustainability Tracking and Reporting Tool (START)
Collaborating with the Specialty Coffee Association of America, we co-founded START to help coffee organizations count carbon and to serve as the industry’s central database for coffee community development projects worldwide, working toward the Millennium Development Goals as set forth by the UN. This platform will pool data on industry sustainability efforts and aid in determining the greatest needs in the communities where we source coffee, improving health care, give access to education, provide opportunities and raise the standard of living for those in need.
Interested in a more detailed report of our carbon footprint? Have a suggestion for us about how we could be doing better?
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Community Programs
We create and value long-term relationships with our green coffee suppliers to ensure their longevity and stability. We support many organizations and causes dedicated to the betterment of our world:
Project Direct™ – Direct Trade Program
Our buyers work directly with growers in pursuit of mutually beneficial goals: the best quality coffee, produced with consideration for sustainability best practices, at a price well above fair trade. Additionally, Project Direct ensures that a premium is paid to farmers that produce exceptionally high-quality coffee.
Common River
We recently aided in a school nutrition program through Common River, an organization that builds and fosters balanced, self-sustaining communities in Ethiopia that focus on the development of education, health and overall livelihood.
Grounds for Health
Through our annual charity and their online auction, our support provides women with sustainable prevention programs for early detection and treatment of cervical cancer, the No. 1 cause of cancer deaths for women in coffee-growing regions.
Community Enhancements
We partnered with Carlos Borgonovo, a third-generation coffee producer, to provide computers, Internet access, WebTec e-learning facilities and new play structures to a coffee community in El Salvador.
Mercy Corps
Through our longstanding partnership with Mercy Corps, our Nicaragua Café Aldea coffee provides a giveback for every bag or pound purchased – mitigating suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities.
Coffee Kids
Revenue from several of our coffees supports programs focusing on education, health awareness, micro-credit and food security for our coffee-farming families.
Interested in a more detailed report of our carbon footprint? Have a suggestion for us about how we could be doing better?
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Sustainability Efforts
Our commitment to ecologically responsible practices extends from the sourcing of ingredients all the way through the roasting process.
Our Portland facility is the first roastery in the Northwest to achieve LEED® Silver certification for meeting the highest green building and performance standards in addition to:
Energy Reduction
By installing Regenerative Thermal Oxidizers (RTO) on our roasters, we have reduced our natural gas usage by nearly 60%. Additionally, all lighting throughout this facility is set on motion sensors and thanks to just-in-time manufacturing, our machines are only in operation (and using energy) when they need to be. As part of our partnership approach, we also work with our clients to partner in ways to take steps to reduce their energy bills.
Waste Reduction
On-site recycling and composting programs where we recycle all paper, food and coffee waste. Additionally, we work with local recycling programs and partners in order to find second uses for our burlap bags and other raw material containers.
Emissions Reduction
The same Regenerative Thermal Oxidizers (RTO) that have drastically cut our natural gas usage also serve to “clean” smoke that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. Our wastewater is collected and redistributed to our native plants and landscaping onsite and routed away from local streams and waterways.
Interested in a more detailed report of our carbon footprint? Have a suggestion for us about how we could be doing better?
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Product Certifications
In recognition of our commitments to such high standards, Farmer Brothers has attained Rainforest Alliance Certification™ , Fair Trade Certification™ (Transfair USA), LEED® Certification, QAI and USDA Organic certification.
Interested in a more detailed report of our carbon footprint? Have a suggestion for us about how we could be doing better?