On our new coffee packaging, you'll find ten striking statements that summarize our work as a coffee roastery. Every day, we exchange ideas with our production partners, who may be far away, but who make it possible for all of us to drink coffee. With them, we learn what it takes today to ensure we can still drink coffee tomorrow.
Sometimes clear messages are needed. We have prominently placed ten of them on our new coffee packaging.
The back of the new coffee packaging.
1. Coffee without values is worthless.
If we only understand the production and consumption of coffee as a mechanical act, we fail to attribute the inherent value to coffee. Countless hands have picked it, processed it, exported it, roasted it, packaged it, and made it available. Coffee is a product made by people. If we value the product, we can also appreciate the work of the people behind it.
Producers sorting coffee cherries by ripeness, Apixtepec, Mexico
2. Our decisions create perspectives for tomorrow.
Coffee is a long-term project – the plant grows slowly and changes take time. Awareness of coffee is developing, but it takes time. And because we work with people, change sometimes takes time. It is all the more important that we shape the future today and understand our decisions as an investment for tomorrow. In this way, we create new perspectives together with producers.
Joél turns the coffee in the parchment so that it can dry evenly. Apixtepec, Mexico
3. Nature dictates our limits.
Long-term coffee production is only conceivable in conjunction with high biodiversity, ample shade, and intact ecosystems. Coffee cannot be produced in isolation; rather, it adheres to the limits set by nature. There are varieties that thrive in Brazil but not at all in Nicaragua. Certain processing methods work consistently in one place, but not in others. Understanding the environment and accepting that nature dictates what is possible and what is not, guides us: what we can change – and what we should leave alone.
Our partner farm El Arbol from above. The coffee trees are integrated into an existing forest.
4. Relationship status: complex, but clear.
We maintain several long-distance relationships with our production partners. In doing so, we always try to clarify mutual expectations early on and think ahead. The collaboration is always context-dependent and sometimes differs significantly from other relationships. Like any relationship, a collaborative partnership is complex and varies at certain points, but is clear in communication.
Don Roque is a founding member of the Citlal Kaffen cooperative in Mexico.
5. We promote soil health and give back more than we take.
Soil is a complex system – with many components, but above all: full of life. Microorganisms, minerals, and organic matter ensure that plants develop well and remain healthy. Coffee plants draw their energy from the soil, which in turn needs to be nourished. The excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides distracts from the soil, even though it is precisely what ensures long-term production. We focus on the soil in our collaboration and work to give back more than we take.
Célia Bühler from HAFL wrote her MA thesis on compost production in Nicaragua
6. Strong relationships, strong coffee.
We all love coffee. The taste, the feeling of drinking it, the effect. We love coffee so much that we go to its origin and build relationships with the people who grow it. If we manage to make these relationships strong, enduring, overcoming crises, and constantly renewing themselves – then we are not just drinking a coffee that is strong in taste, but one that carries a strong story. And that makes the coffee taste even better.
We have always connected all points on the coffee chain. Here: our Coffee Farm Training in Nicaragua
7. Joy and risk – we share both.
Someone once said that coffee production is very simple – it consists of only 100 lessons, and you learn one every year. Every year brings reason for joy, and every year new challenges. Sometimes it rains too much, then not at all. Then there are no ships, or the price explodes. Harvest helpers are missing, loans are too expensive. But then a partner wins the Cup of Excellence, a natural lot blows us away, or the sorting has never been as good as this year. We listen and take responsibility together with our partners – because that's part of a relationship.
Marcia is a pioneer of organic coffee cultivation in Brazil. She is part of the Apas Cooperative
8. We act transparently to drive change.
Coffee has a long history – and it is sometimes dark (Coffee & Colonialism). Today, many things are better along the coffee chain, but there remains a large knowledge gap and power asymmetry. Producers often have only fragmented knowledge of the coffee market, while buyers have access to a wealth of information. We believe: transparency is the first step towards change.
Mauricio (left) is the managing director of the Apas Cooperative. Here he discusses pricing with Philipp
9. We overcome inequalities along the coffee chain.
This knowledge gap often also reflects financial disparities. We are working to close it – and selectively invest locally in coffee-producing countries to drive change and work as equals with our partners.
Miguel (white shirt) in conversation with Don Roque and Doña Alma of the Citlal Kaffen Cooperative
10. We build the coffee of the future with the brave and bold.
The coffee world can sometimes be sluggish. Changes take time – or are perceived as a risk. Roasteries need security, just like producers. If both opt for caution, much remains the same. We seek partnerships with the brave and bold – with those who have their own minds, question the familiar, and want to help shape the future today.
Yazmani is the managing director of the Citlal Kaffen Cooperative. He leads with great dynamism and vision
