What makes a GOOD coffee?
Sustainable for Producers, Consumers and Nature
It is said that coffee production will be halved by 2050 due to climate change, and many coffee growers are not receiving fair compensation and cannot even cover their production costs. In order to continue drinking high quality coffee in the future, it is essential to make GOOD coffee. We would like to introduce you to the journey of GOOD coffee until it is delivered to your hands directly from the producing area.
HOW TO MAKE A GOOD COFFEE
A comparison between how we aim to make GOOD coffee with the social issues faced by typical coffee producing regions
STEP 1
Cultivation and Harvesting
GOOD COFFEE FARMS
Ensuring farmers' income for sustainable agriculture
The company's commitment to quality has tripled famers' earnings through practices such as shipping without intermediaries and careful hand-picking of only fully ripened cherries. We work with pride, practicing the Japanese way of working, including wearing uniforms and holding morning assemblies.
OTHERS
Coffee farmers struggling to make even a minimal living
Harvested cherries are subject to market prices and are sometimes bought at low prices that do not even cover the cost of production. Social problems such as an increase in the number of farmers leaving the farm and the long working hours of minors and women never cease.
STEP 2
Processing
GOOD COFFEE FARMS
Use of bicycle de-pulping machines,
zero environmental impact
Dry bicycle pulping* separates coffee beans from its cherry without the use of water, fuel, or electricity. It is both environmentally friendly and financially sustainable, a revolutionary processing method that benefits small-scale farmers.
OTHERS
Use of large facilities, emitting CO2 and polluting water sources
Processing facilities that use fuel and electricity consume large amounts of water, and most of the wastewater is dumped into rivers after use. In addition, processing equipment is very expensive and not affordable for small-scale farmers.
*A novel process of de-pulping cherries using bicycles that we have developed independently
STEP 3
Drying
GOOD COFFEE FARMS
Japanese-style vinyl greenhouse
Provides a clean environment, free of insects, dust and mud, thoroughly controlled in terms of humidity and temperature. It is also effective as a rain shelter, and its low cost and compact size allows for close supervision.
OTHERS
Sun or machine drying
In the commonly used sun drying method, beans are left out in the open, making it difficult to control quality, such as dealing with weather changes and the presence of dust and mud, while machine drying with hot air uses fuel and is financially burdensome.
STEP 4
Waste processing
GOOD COFFEE FARMS
Upcycling＊
Drying coffee cherry pulps into cascara, fashioning coasters and spoons from felled coffee trees. By upcycling products we create new streams of income for farmers.
OTHERS
Destruction of nature in producing countries
Pulped coffee cherries become piles of waste, and the rotting juice flows into rivers and pollutes water sources. In addition, waste wood after logging exacerbates the spread of wildfires during the dry season.
*Re-processing waste and by-products into high-value goods
Partake in the SDGs with us
Join us in realizing the SDGs by drinking delicious coffee
・Tripling income of coffee farmers!
・Secure new sources of income for farmers through upcycling!
・Zero waste water discharge during processing using bicycles!
・Eliminate water pollution through effective use of waste!
・Bicycle de-pulpers ensure zero fuel and electricity use during processing!
・Use of vinyl greenhouse leads to zero fuel and electricity consumption！
Coffee Changing The World TM
Coffee is widely loved all over the world, and even in Japan, an average of 12 cups are consumed a week, but there are few opportunities to talk about the reality of production and distribution, and the challenges faced by producers.
Carlos Melen, the founder who moved to Japan at 18 and faced this reality, established GOOD COFFEE FARMS to tackle the problems from the bottom up with producers while ensuring sustainability and traceability.
2011〜
How was this coffee made?
Carlos, the founder, did not know that his home country of Guatemala was recognized as a major coffee country until he came to Japan. At first being from Guatemala made him feel inferior as the country was unknown to many people; sometimes the fact placed him at a disadvantage. However, following the advice of the saying "if life gives you lemons, make lemonade", Carlos realized coffee was his lemon and was determined to do his best with coffee. His lack of experience gave him unsuccessful results at the first stage of his entrepreneurial story but he finally decided to create a luxury coffee brand selecting high-quality Guatemalan coffee by a Guatemalan guy under the name of DARKS COFFEE in 2011. The concept was unique at the time so it was not long before it caught the attention from media not only in Japan but also in Guatemala.
However, new challenges arose. His clients in Japan, taking the opportunity that Carlos is from Guatemala, asked him details of origin, such as traceability of coffee, fairtrade, use of pesticides, etc. His suppliers in Japan had no solid answers, so he decided to contact the producers directly, finding that the reality that came to light was much worse. In the production process there are many intermediaries and most of the coffee is produced by small producers, it is generally collected at collection points and mixed, then taken to large farms with industrial machinery, where it can be mixed again and then processed, so it is impossible to trace the producer, losing traceability in the first step. When Carlos was faced with this traceability issue, he began to dig deeper to find a solution.
インスタグラム
インスタグラム
2016〜
The beginning of a new challenge.
Coffee goes through many production steps, starting from the harvest and then refining process such as pulping, fermentation, drying and sorting for export, but smallholder farmers, who represent more than 70% of the total, only take part in the harvest process. This situation leads to problems not only in traceability, but also in various ways such as a structure in which smallholder farmers do not receive fair compensation and environmental destruction caused by industrial machinery. For this reason, Carlos developed a bicycle-powered project in January of 2017. It is environment-friendly without using water, electricity or fuel, and also cheap and accessible to smallholder farmers. Furthermore, smallholder farmers can receive an added-value in the refining process while ensuring traceability.
The groundbreaking efforts were quickly recognized by the media, and smallholder farmers who heard the rumors gathered one after another. Seeing them feel hopeless about the future, however, Carlos decided to hold an auction of coffees produced with bicycles, by small producers who never had a chance before, modeled on the auctions he had seen in Japan of tuna fish and melons that reach incredible prices and motivate producers. The event was a huge success and the maximum price - probably hard to believe - was US$800 for a cup of coffee. Many growers changed their view of the coffee world and decided to follow Carlos and become team members adhering to his vision and strict Japanese-style work rules.
2019〜
Delivering the story to Japan.
Seeing over 200 producers gather with their strong commitment to making a movement together, Carlos decided to export to Japan in 2019. It was also the time GOOD COFFEE FARMS was officially named after receiving the praise of GOOD coffee farming made us possible to produce GOOD coffee. Importing 7 tons of coffee to Japan with no customers or even staff was totally a reckless challenge, but believing in success, Carlos joined the Japan's largest coffee exhibition SCAJ by himself.
The concept of specialty coffee made by bicycle attracted attention not only from Japanese coffee connoisseur but also from coffee producers in other countries such as Africa, Latin America, and Asia, and enabled us to expand the community from scratch. The relationship made at the event with partners have continued thankfully until now, which have encouraged us to continue to deliver GOOD coffee and the story of its producers to Japan while bouncing back form adversity in the time of COVID-19 right after the incorporation in February 2020.
present
A sustainable coffee revolution all over the world.
Currently, more than 100 partners enjoy GOOD coffee from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south. In Okinawa, we are creating a place where you can learn and study coffee with local smallholder coffee farmers and professors in the university. In addition, we have expanded the project to the countries in Latin America such as El Salvador, Honduras and Colombia by establishing a system that can support more coffee farmers. Our challenge continues aiming for a world full of coffee that is GOOD for producers, consumers, the natural environment and everything. Let's change the world from a cup of coffee!
