Creciendo Juntos 2026: What we signed with 16 coffee producers in Basel
Philipp Schallberger
At the end of June, 16 coffee producers from eight countries came to us in Basel for three days. We talked about opportunities and challenges, about prices and prepayments, and about the stories that roasteries tell about fincas—usually without asking the fincas themselves. In the end, we formulated our discussion results in five sentences, the Manifesto Creciendo Juntos. It is our compass for a partnership-based collaboration.
This time, the origin came to us
Normally, we travel to our partners in coffee-producing countries two to three times a year. Between harvests, everyday life is less stressful, so we have time to look back together and plan our next projects. Then we go home and tell our team and you about our new experiences. From June 29 to July 1, we turned it around.
To Basel came
- Flhor and Mario from 18 Conejo from Honduras,
- Claudia and Lenin from BridAzul from Nicaragua,
- Melisa and Beni from Rancho San Felipe and
- Vera from Kua'nu Raíces from Mexico,
- Mauricio from Apas Coffee and
- Luisa from Farmers Coffee from Brazil,
- Iliana, Diana and Irene from Finca Puerto Rico from Colombia,
- Yulma from Finca San Isidro from Guatemala,
- César from Chacra d'Dago and
- Sonia and Yudeli from Gocta Coffee from Peru as well as
- Luca from Mt. Sunzu from Zambia.
In spring, we invited them with these goals:
The responses came quickly and were positive. Many of our partners had traveled to Europe for the World of Coffee in Brussels anyway, so it was possible to combine both.
"I've always wished for something like this,"
said Iliana from Finca Puerto Rico when we gathered feedback from everyone in the final round. It's so rare that producers can exchange with each other, and that a roastery gets direct feedback from different sides.
Yulma learned from Iliana about certifications, while Mauricio learned from Luca about irrigation systems. Melisa shared her doubts about growth, while Claudia raised the issue of access to credit. It was an exchange on many levels, with everyone able to share from their own experiences.
How five sticky notes became five sentences
On the first day, we talked openly about price setting. And we showed something that producers rarely get to see: where we buy from, how much we buy, how our roasting volume is distributed across individual coffees, what our customers drink, which flavor profiles resonate, where we see development and where we don't. Instead of consulting a market study, we shared our own numbers completely.
After that came the topics that the producers themselves had brought, in an open-space format: composting systems for small fincas, labor migration on farms, decaf, financing models between production and purchasing, dealing with roasteries that buy large quantities, and the new EU regulations EUDR and CSDDD.
Luisa from Farmers Coffee (Brazil) and Melisa from Rancho San Felipe (Mexico)
A long-discussed agenda item came from Johanna Jacobi, who presented Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS). PGS are certifications that a group issues to itself, rather than getting them from an external body. We discussed whether we as a group could build something like that, but ultimately decided against it. Some are taking the idea to their own region, but in the end, nobody wanted a shared seal.
But out of this decision came the form of the manifesto: we had engaged in intense exchange and found a common language, but didn't want to force ourselves into a straitjacket. In guiding principles as a compass, however, everyone could find themselves.
It wasn't our team that wrote it, but everyone together, under the direction of Vera Espíndola. She collected everything that each side expected from the other and what they themselves could offer. This resulted in a matrix of sticky notes where we sorted out which stories about a finca could be told by whom and how. We then sharpened the wording and formulated it in German, English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Five sentences by which we let ourselves be measured
1. We talk with each other, not about each other
Stories make coffee even more vivid. So we check them together before we tell them: Is that accurate? Does everyone recognize themselves in it?
This directly affects us. We sell coffee through stories too, and we've mostly written them alone so far. From now on, any text about a finca goes to the finca before it goes online.
2. Strong partnerships, strong coffee
We strengthen our relationships by being human first. We listen closely because otherwise we won't know what our counterpart really needs.
This sentence addresses a level that is often forgotten in the coffee industry: empathy is the basic prerequisite for a functioning partnership. When you listen, you learn things you can't ignore: that a harvest fails, that someone wants to give up the farm, or that a loan is due.
3. Advance trust is our currency
As partners, we plan early and together because we all need planning certainty. If the finca needs a prepayment, we discuss it and find the best solution. The contract seals at the end what we've already clarified beforehand.
We dropped a word in Basel: pre-financing. We ourselves used it for a long time. In the group, we realized it sounded like a gesture, like a favor the buying side does for the finca. If you're honest, there's something patronizing about it.
In other industries, the same thing is simply called a prepayment. When you order a kitchen, you pay up front, and nobody considers that generous. Why should it be different with coffee? The semantic difference may be small, but language creates reality, and with the new word, the sentence felt right to everyone.
4. The exchange price is not a coffee price
Every finca is different. So it's not the exchange and not the buying side that calculates, but the finca: cost of living, production costs, investments, margin. These factors are the non-negotiable starting point for the buying side.
If we only focus on the exchange price, we'll never pay the cost-accurate price. Producers know what they need. And if they don't, we help them figure it out.
5. We trade transparently to drive change
Whoever buys exposes themselves. Whoever sells does too. We talk about our crises and development plans, and we do it early. One-sided retention is not retention.
We process around 140 tons of green coffee per year. How this is distributed among our supply partners is shown in our transparency report.
Who controls us?
Nobody, at least no office with a stamp. That was the decision against the shared PGS, and we still think it's right. An agreement without control is cheap to come by, though, we know that too.
That's why we're publishing it. Whoever works with us, today or tomorrow, can hold us to each of the five sentences, in Spanish, Portuguese, English, or German.
And: the manifesto isn't ours. The "we" in it means everyone who was in Basel at the end of June 2026.
Do you roast or produce coffee and want to orient yourself by this?
Take it, quote it, translate it. And tell us where it doesn't work for you, because that's exactly where it gets interesting.
When and where the next Creciendo Juntos will take place is still open.
