Social Responsibility

Coffee That Gives Back to the People Who Grow It

Most Indian green coffee is bought by large traders who aggregate from middlemen — leaving farmers with little price transparency and no connection to the end buyer. We try to change that, one origin at a time.

Tribal Coffee Farmers of Koraput, Odisha

Koraput district in southern Odisha is home to some of India's most remarkable coffee. At elevations between 900 and 1,350 metres in the Eastern Ghats, tribal farming communities — primarily from the Kondh, Gadaba, and Poraja tribes — have been growing Arabica coffee since the 1960s. As of 2023, over 3,600 tribal farmers cultivate coffee across more than 7,100 hectares of forest-fringe land.

Coffee here isn't just a crop — it was introduced as an alternative to Podu (shifting cultivation), helping stabilise income for communities that had previously depended on slash-and-burn farming. The Odisha government formally launched Koraput Coffee as a brand in 2019, and the region is actively pursuing a Geographical Indication (GI) tag to protect its name on international markets.

When you buy Koraput green coffee through us, you are buying from these farming communities — with full traceability back to the district and cooperative. We pay above-market rates and work with cooperative structures that ensure farmers receive a meaningful share of the export price.

North East India: Naga, Wancho & Dimasa Farmers

Our Halflong Arabica (Assam) comes from the Dima Hasao hills — a region inhabited primarily by the Dimasa people, one of Assam's indigenous communities. Coffee farming here is small-scale, forest-integrated, and largely organic by practice (not always by certification). The SL-9 varietal grown here scores consistently above 88 SCA, yet most of the harvest has historically been sold domestically at commodity prices.

Our Tirap Robusta (Arunachal Pradesh) is grown by Naga and Wancho tribal communities in the eastern Himalayan foothills — an origin so remote it barely appears in international green coffee directories. By building a direct supply relationship here, we help create income stability for farming families in one of India's most geographically isolated regions.

Shade-Grown Coffee and Environmental Stewardship

Almost all Indian coffee is shade-grown — a tradition that predates any modern sustainability framework. Coffee grows under a multi-tier canopy of silver oak, jackfruit, pepper vines, cardamom, and native jungle trees. This creates a biodiverse microhabitat that supports bird populations, maintains soil health, prevents erosion, and sequesters carbon.

Shade-grown coffee is inherently slower-growing. The cherries develop over a longer period, accumulating more sugars and acids — which translates directly into better cup quality. It also means lower yields per hectare than sun-grown monoculture, which is one reason Indian coffee commands a premium over comparable origins from flat-land sun farms.

Multi-canopy shade

Silver oak, pepper, cardamom, and native jungle trees form the shade layer above every Indian coffee farm we source from.

Minimal chemical inputs

Tribal farms in Koraput and North East India rely primarily on natural compost, fallen leaf mulch, and forest cover — not synthetic fertilisers.

Water conservation

The washed Koraput lots use spring-fed fermentation tanks and recirculating wash channels — minimising freshwater consumption at the processing station.

Our Approach to Pricing and Transparency

We don't publish a fixed "fair trade premium" because we think that framing misses the point. Instead, we work to understand what farmers actually need to sustain quality production — and price accordingly. For specialty lots, that means paying well above the ICO reference price. For commercial grade, it means avoiding the race-to-the-bottom dynamic that exploits farmers who lack direct market access.

We also try to be transparent with our buyers about what they're actually purchasing: which district, which cooperative, which varietal, which harvest season, and what process was used. Traceability isn't just a marketing story — it's a mechanism that keeps everyone in the supply chain accountable.

Want to know more about our sourcing?

We're happy to share lot-level information — farm location, processing partner, moisture content, and SCA scores — for any product you're considering. Just get in touch.