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Growing Coffee

Healthy soils means so much more than just tasty coffee

We choose to buy coffee grown using sustainable farming practices because the impact farming has is absolutely massive. These choices make the difference between positive and negative impact. It seems pretty obvious that, given the choice, we should all be choosing the positive. 

To put things into perspective, almost 90% of our emissions come from ‘purchased goods and services’. In normal language, this means green coffee. So buying coffee grown with the soil in mind is literally the best thing we can do, way beyond packaging, electric cars, or recycling waste. Whilst those things are great and worth doing, it is critical that we buy coffee from growers who are looking after the soil if we want to reduce our impact on the land.

What’s the positive impact?

Healthy soil is the direct result of biodiversity and a strong ecosystem. While this looks different from farm to farm, it generally means a wide variety of plants performing different roles, naturally adding nutrients to the earth, preventing erosion, and improving soil structure.

This biodiverse way of farming also naturally prevents disease, controls pests, and mitigates the worst effects of climate change by using canopy cover to shield delicate crops from drought, frosts and extreme heat. This is often referred to as permaculture or agroforestry. Whether organically certified or not, these farmers are growing coffee with the intention of sustainability and respect for the environment. That’s what we’re all supporting when you buy coffee produced in this way. 

Here are some key terms when it comes to improving soil health...

Shade Grown

Shade grown coffee means coffee cultivated beneath a canopy of native trees and vegetation, rather than in cleared, sun-exposed fields. This traditional, eco-friendly method mimics natural forest conditions, protecting local ecosystems, supporting wildlife biodiversity (like migratory birds), and naturally enriching the soil

By volume over 70% of the coffee we buy is shade grown.

Water Management

Coffee is a thirsty crop; it takes roughly 140 litres of water to produce one cup of coffee. The vast majority of this water is rainfall that producers rely on to naturally irrigate their farms, but it also includes processing, transportation and brewing by the consumer. Water is an important part of every step of the coffee’s journey to its final destination of your coffee cup, yet sadly, water scarcity is becoming a huge threat in coffee producing countries. 

Read more about water and coffee below

water & Coffee

Wildlife Corridors

We were introduced to the idea of Wild life corridors through one of our supply chain partners, SUDUS Coffee. These floral corridors are for pollinators in coffee crops to increase biodiversity. They create food and habitat for pollinators and other species that are often displaced by heavy agrochemical use. Today, their impact spans 35 farms and more than 3 kilometers of flowering corridors.

Producers who join the project receive a bonus of 19 cents USD per pound of coffee, reinforcing both environmental and economic sustainability. Through their impact assessments, SUDUS has documented up to a 30% increase in insect family biodiversity, showing just how powerful and measurable this work has become