Cooperative Coffees - Isabel
Bongo Java Roasting Co. is a founding member of Cooperative Coffees, a co-op of micro-roasters that buy directly from small-scale farmers.
Cooperative Coffees was founded in 1999, when BJRC and six other roasting companies joined together to redefine the relationship between farmer and importer. Prior to 1999, direct trade between farmers and roasters was rare due to logistical constraints. Importing was only economically viable in large quantities, which best served large-scale farmers who produced at that capacity, and large-scale roasters who needed big lots of one coffee. Coop members wanted to expand access to small-scale farmers and cut out the middleman while increasing the amount of money going to the farmers. After a cross-country drive in a VW van and long negotiations in a crappy hotel near the Atlanta airport, Cooperative Coffees was born.
Since 19996, Cooperative Coffees has purchased over $150 million in green, unroasted coffee.
Equitable Relationships With Farmers and Their Communities
We firmly believe that fair and equitable pricing ______ We honor purchase contracts even when commodity prices fall. We’ve paid farmers in years when disease has destroyed their crops, and we fund research into pest abatement. This has developed into our Impact Fund, where co-op members pay an additional 3__ per pound to ensure that our farmers are cared for in uncertain times through farmer-to-farmer training, construction projects, and emergency disaster relief grants.