Direct trade is a way to buy coffee directly from farmers - the roaster and the farmer negotiate the price, quality and long-term cooperation. Direct trade is fair. It's not just about bags of green beans, it's about a relationship. Thanks to this, we know exactly who we're paying, and the farmer knows who he's selling his coffee to and into whose hands his year-round effort is going. This relationship then allows us to plan future harvests together and invest in quality in a way that makes sense for both parties.

When relationships are direct, feedback is direct. We work with the farmer to select varieties, process methods, and the harvest itself, constantly improving quality. In your cup, you get coffee with a clear origin and story - coffee that is not just a commodity, but the result of the work of people we know by name.

At Nordbeans, we work directly with selected farmers and producers and are in regular contact with them. This gives us the opportunity for long-term planning. We are not looking for the lowest price on the market, but a fair price for specific people with whom we want to work in the future.

And what does this mean for farmers? Stability and the ability to invest back into people, land and technology. Better processing and more sustainable farming naturally lead to better quality coffee, which in turn leads to better living conditions for those behind it.

Louis Emilio and his family have been with us since the very beginning. Louis used to be a doctor, and this knowledge led him to grow coffee without chemicals, with the aim of protecting human health and nature. His farm functions as a living ecosystem - the coffee plants grow in the shade of banana trees and tall trees, which creates a refuge for birds and insects. Thanks to our close cooperation, we were able to help the farm during the crisis in 2020, when a strong storm hit the farm. Because we offer a fair price, Luis was able to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure and vegetation.

The Moreno family from the Honduran region of Santa Bárbara is a fascinating story about returning to their roots and the birth of a coffee dynasty. It all began in 1963, when Daniel Moreno founded the El Filo farm. He raised his seven sons on the farm, who, although they sought their fortune in the USA as adults, eventually returned home after years of longing. By then, Don Daniel was tired of running the farm and divided it into parts among his sons. Together, they focused on the selection of coffee quality and built a washing station. Their enthusiasm and success inspired neighboring farmers, and it is not without reason that their area is nicknamed “Moreno town”.

You probably know his coffee from our annual Christmas edition. These exceptional beans are characterized by their full body and intense flavor. Behind them is Rodolfo Ruffatti Battle, who develops a family legacy that has been going on since the 1930s. He is not just another grower in a line - he is a visionary who was not afraid to experiment with processing methods and thus became a recognized expert in the field. On his farms Finca El Salvador and Finca Esquipulas, he works tirelessly to create a sustainable future that he wants to ensure for future generations. For Nordbeans, Rodolfo is a partner supplier and also a long-time friend with whom we share passion and human values.

We have had a strong partnership with Samuel from El Cambalache since 2018. We were at the very beginning of his career, when he took over the family farm in the Nueva Segovia region after studying agronomy. Samuel's farm has a unique location - from its peaks you can look out to Honduras on one side and deep into the interior of Nicaragua on the other. This view seems to reflect Samuel's ambitions, which have always reached beyond the horizon of ordinary farming. In order to have 100% control over the resulting taste, Samuel stopped transporting coffee cherries to purchasing stations and built his own processing facilities. This investment paid off handsomely. His lifelong dream was to win the prestigious Cup of Excellence auction competition. We followed his journey from promising placements to last year, when this dream came true and he dominated the competition.

The story of our collaboration with Felipe began with a chance meeting in Liberec. He was twenty-four at the time and we were immediately captivated by his enthusiasm for his family farm in Guatemala. A year later, we had the opportunity to spend almost the entire harvest with him. Antigua is an iconic coffee place, but it is struggling with drought and depleted soil. Felipe faced this head on and instead of chemicals, he focuses on his own production of organic fertilizers, which he also distributes to other farmers in the area. His approach is precise in every detail and he also runs his own roasting plant. Thanks to this, he has perfect feedback and understands coffee as a holistic process from seed to cup. You could even meet Felipe in person. Last summer, he visited us and prepared coffee with us in one of our cafes. We are proud to be a part of his growth and to watch year after year how the young enthusiast becomes a true master of the field.

Since our collaboration began in 2017, we have witnessed the incredible resilience of farmers in the Boyo region, who are facing the devastating effects of civil war. The armed conflict has crippled exports and affected infrastructure, including the washing stations that we helped build years ago. Although some of these facilities have been destroyed, Matti’s commitment to educating farmers and rebuilding the infrastructure continues. Every kilogram of this coffee we manage to import is a small victory over adversity and a direct support for the community, which, even in the midst of war, is trying to rebuild their homes and return to producing fine coffee.

We care about our coffee selection. The next time you look at our bag or ask us questions like “Who is the farmer behind this coffee? Where does it come from? How was it processed?” and we can answer, it means we don’t just get our coffee from anywhere, we have a relationship behind it.