Lina Forrestal

Last Saturday, John and I checked out Len’s Coffee in Medford, MA. While their business is mostly online, they do have a small store where they sell coffee and coffee accessories for folks who are local. We popped in for what felt like 30 minutes but ended up being about an hour and a half. We ate cookies, did the Decaf Challenge (where you were given 3 cups of coffee and had to guess which one was decaf. I chose correctly and won a bag of coffee!), and tasted their Wintah Awesome Cold Brew on tap and Cascara Punch.

Len and his crew are so passionate and knowledgeable about coffee. While we were there, a steady stream of regulars (who were equally passionate about their coffee) filtered in and out – and nearly everyone was on a first name basis. Len’s Coffee is clearly a place that cares about the coffee process from start to finish. And no, not where the process starts from grinding the beans to pouring the cup. I mean, the very start, back to the farmers in Vietnam, where they get the majority of their coffee.

Len’s Coffee is a business passionate about full flavor, quality, and having a positive social impact. All of Len’s suppliers must meet their standards for ethical practices and have a good influence on their local community, with emphasis on generous wages (better than Fair Trade wages!) and environmental stewardship.

Len’s Coffee is Direct Trade. I try to be a conscientious consumer, but have actually been blissfully unaware that there was even a Direct Trade. So let’s quickly break down the difference between Fair Trade and Direct Trade, because I think it’s really interesting.

Fair Trade International is a certification set by a large organization that supports a sustainable and financially stable standard of living for the farmers. In order to become eligible for certification, farmers must meet certain requirements,apply for the program, and pay a fee to be licensed as Fair Trade. Fair Trade also requires the farmer to get his product from Point A to Point B in order to get paid. This means getting the coffee down mountains, down rivers, etc. Fair Trade promotes environmental sustainability, prohibits child labor, and forced labor, among other things. While Fair Trade guarantees farmers a minimum price for their coffee, they’re not compensated for quality or encouraged to constantly improve them. With this being the case, producers often make the same amount whether the product is at the passable level or of the highest quality.

Direct Trade means that there is no middle-man between the the seller and the farmer. The seller (in this case being Len’s Coffee) goes directly to the farmer. This means that there is no middle man, which allows the farmer to get the money directly at often a higher price than what Fair Trade buyers would bid. Fair Trade products can be sold on the shelf to consumers at a much higher price than what importers pay for them and the farmers don’t see a proportional profit. But with Direct Trade, farmers get more money and the relationship between the supplier and the farmer is more personal. The connection between the farmers and supplies affect almost every aspect of the business: coffee purchased in smaller amounts allows the farmers to be more focused on quality. And in Len’s Coffee’s case, quality is everything.

Other than learning the ins and outs of Direct and Fair trade, here are a few other things I learned from hanging out with Len and crew:

There are 4 main types of coffee: Arabica, Robusta, Excelsa and Liberica. There are over 125 recognized species of coffee.
Arabica is production wise, the largest in the world.
Liberica is the rarest of all coffees and is maybe 1/2 of a percent of all worldwide production. It was brought back from extinction in the Philippines. Harvesting is one of the issues with it. It’s grown on 20 to 30-foot-tall trees, so you need big ladders to get to it.
Coffee is the second largest traded commodity in the world.

In buying a bag of coffee, you’re also supporting a set of values. While it’s hard to make a statement against an oil company, you can make a statement by simply choosing where to buy your coffee. So if you’re a coffee enthusiast with a drive to be a more socially responsible consumer, consider buying from Len’s Coffee.