Taking steps towards Independence and Freedom
How Road Coffee is Paving the Way to a Sustainable and Profitable Future
At Road Coffee, we are More Than a Cup of Coffee! What does that mean?
It means with each cup of ours that you drink you are impacting the lives of smallholder coffee farmers and helping them take important steps towards their independence and freedom.
Each roast from Road continues to pioneer change in the coffee industry by meticulously crafting and roasting beans from uniquely sourced countries.
Each roast and blend from Road is meticulously chosen and crafted, with our innovative roasting techniques we are ensuring we bring you the highest quality coffee. Our coffees are uniquely sourced from around the world, and have been hand picked and chosen just for you.
Our commitment to the future of the coffee supply chain and the sustainability and profitability of farmers has led our team to develop our BeyondFair program. Our team is proud to announce the launch of an exciting new campaign called Road to 1006!
Why 1006?
Road to 1006 originated from my vision of bridging the gap between coffee farmers and coffee drinkers, through deep relationships and creating opportunities for farmers to grow their business and impact their communities.
The goal of Road to 1006 is simple: continue to bring hand-picked, high-quality coffee from a farmer’s hand to your cup and invest it directly back into their land.
By reaching 1006 monthly subscribers, you will receive delicious coffee each month, while assisting our team to directly impact 25 farmers through our already successful micro-loan program.
Road Coffee Micro-loan Program
As part of our BeyondFair program, we offer micro-loans to coffee farmers because they often don’t have access to finances. If they are able to get a loan in their country, it often comes with a ridiculous interest rate - sometimes up to 70%!
By directly sourcing our coffee beans from smallholder farmers, we have removed unnecessary middlemen from the supply chain and help ensure those who actually grow and harvest the coffee beans a viable living wage.
This, in turn, has enabled 11 different farmers to capture more value, grow their business and benefit the lives of their family and community. The coffee farmers who have been part of the micro-loan program have seen an average increase of 25 cent per pound in their crop value. We are proud to come alongside farmers to help lift them out of poverty towards independence and freedom.
Gaining the support of another 1006 individuals will enable Road to empower an additional 25 farmers and their families to invest the money from our Beyond Fair program back into their farming operations and community.
A significant aspect of our current micro-loan projects is that the effects are compounding. Our farmers are then able to share equipment and materials that they acquire through our micro-loans with farming families in their community for multiple years.
The Road Less Travelled
Road Coffee was born out of bold decisions and meaningful connections.
With a background in international development, I spent a lot of time in coffee and tea growing regions. I had the privilege of spending my free time on coffee and tea plantations, where I would get to know the farmers, their families and learn first hand from them how the coffee supply chain functioned. I quickly saw and learned about the inefficiencies and injustices within the industry. Understanding their troubles ignited my passion for creating positive change in the lives of smallholder coffee farmers and the idea of Road Coffee was created.
I learned coffee farmers are severely disadvantaged with the current industry standards as the middlemen end up receiving the majority of profits, and that is not good enough for us.
The opportunity to influence and innovate within the coffee industry and impact farmers in developing countries was an exciting opportunity. I moved back home to Saskatoon and began to blend my passion for business, development and coffee. Shortly after, Road Coffee began bringing coffee from around the world directly to you.
Empowering our farmers and developing deep relationships with them is a core value and practice of Road Coffee and I am proud to say that we have been successful in this initiative through our BeyondFair program since day one.
Paving a New Road of Innovation
My team and I at Road Coffee are so excited to announce that through this campaign, we will be able to provide micro-loans that will impact an additional 25 farmers and their families. This will allow them to grow their businesses, educate their children and impact their communities.
We understand the pain points that smallholder coffee farmers face on a daily basis, and that is why paving the new road will not just stop at 1006. Upon reaching that milestone, we will keep on extending that goal to help as many farmers as possible.
By connecting passions, people and values, Road Coffee is a leader in sourcing, industry innovations and taste. Everything we do as a company comes back to benefit the communities and families in the emerging markets we source from, eliminating unnecessary middlemen and directly working with farmers, and paying an honest price for their goods and services. At Road Coffee, it is More Than A Cup of Coffee.
Join us in making waves in the coffee industry by working to move more farmers towards independence and freedom, and join us on the Road to 1006!
Author Alisha Esmail
