Heine Brothers’ Coffee is certified organic, meaning it’s grown without the use of chemicals or unnatural pest control. This creates a healthier environment for plants and the farmers as well as a more natural and delicious taste. We believe that great tasting coffee is grown naturally and in the traditional fashion- under the shade of taller trees on the steep slopes of volcanoes or on mountain foothills. You can explore where the different varieties of Heine Brothers’ coffee come from on the map below.
Africa
Indonesia
Ethiopia
Sumatra
East Timor
Dominican Republic
Trading Partner: Federacion de Caficultores de la Region Sur (FEDECARES)
Founded in 1985
7,600 families
13 provinces: Baní, Azua, San Cristóbal, Polo, La Descubierta, San José de Ocoa, Barahona, Pedernales, Juan Santiago, Los Ríos, El Cercado, Neyba and Hondo Valle.
Coffee growing altitude: 700 - 1200 meters
Harvest season: November-April
Mexico
Trading Partner: Maya Vinic
Founded July 31, 1999
500 members (60-70 women)
Coffee: Arabica coffees, including varieties such as Typica, Caturra, and Mundo Novo
Coffee growing altitude: 900 and 1400 meters
Characteristics: Smooth body, balanced, with pronounced sweet, fruity flavor
Annual production: Approx 6 containers (240,000 containers)
Trading Partners: MICHIZA
Founded in 1985
1033 members, of which 321 are women (2008)
Represent 1% of Oaxaca Coffee Farmers
First international exports in 1989
Present in 43 community
Coffee is Organic Certified by NATURLAND, Germany
The english translation of Yeni Navan "Permanent Sunrise"
Crop diversification: oranges, corn, beans and sugar cane
Trading Partners: Cerro de Cintepec
Founded in 1984
Organic certification: 2003; FLO certification: 2006
Members: 351 total organic; 150 transitional (towards organic)
Location: Sierra de las Tuxtlas mountains near Catemaco, Veracruz
Elevation: 800-1000 meters above sea level
Varieties: Arabica, Bourbon, Criollo, Costa Rica Oro Azteca
Average farm size: 1-2 hectares
Agricultural diversification: peppers, avocado, citrus, guayaba, peanuts
Trading Partners: Yachil
Founded in 2001
Organic Certified in 2005
Over 800 Members in 8 municipalities
Annual Production - approximately 65 containers
All Coffee Organic Certified or in transition
Altitude of plots between 1,000 and 1,300 ft
Guatemala
Founded: 1992, legalized under Guatemalan law in 1998.
Membership: 400 farmers in 17 communities
Region: Southwestern Highlands San Marcos, Guatemala
on the slopes of volcano Tajumulco (the highest volcano in Central America)
Coffee: Arabica, SHB Certified Organic by Mayacert-Oko Garantie Characteristics: A sweet, clean coffee offers good acidity and body in the cup.
Their annual assembly is between January and March
Trading Partner: Asociacion Chajulense
1,668 coffee farmers in 56 communities, all organic
Annual production: around 50-60 containers
Diversification projects: cardamon, honey, The Posada lodge, garment-making
Founded in 1988, FLO registered
Future: improve dry mill
Trading Partner: Rio Azul
Membership: approximately 200 members (46 women members)
Region: Jacaltenango (city), Huehuetenango (department), Guatemala
Annual Production: approximately 160,000 pounds of green coffee
Founded: 1967
FLO certified: 1992, Organic Cert: 2005
Diversification: Bee-keeping that produces around 15,000 lbs of honey
Local Language: Jacaltec (Mayan descendants); often called Popti
Harvest season: May-June
Nicaragua
Trading Partners: Cecoafen
Founded: April 29th of 1997
Region: Matagalpa, Jinotega and surrounding region
Members: 2,600 producers (of which over 700 are women)
Comprised of 12 sub-coops
Coffee: SHB Arabica, Bourbon and Caturra
Characteristics: Medium acidity, smooth light body, with a sweet mellow flavor and nutty notes.
Trading Partners: PROCOCER
Founded: 1999
Located: Nueva Segovia (northern Nicaragua)
600 member families, 100% organic farmers
Approximately 30 containers per year
Colombia
Trading Partners: Fondo Paez
Members: 550 producers (of which 285 are certified Organic)
Harvest season: May to July
Approximately 8 containers annual production
Growing altitudes: 1300 - 1900 meters above sea level
FLO certified in 2005
General Assembly in March and October
Crop diversification includes sisal, beans, tropical fruits
Trading Partners: Asociacion de pequenos caficultores de Ocamonts (APCO)
Founded: 1994
Approximately 300 farming families
Crop diversification: sugar cane, plantain, corn, beans, bananas
Located: Eastern Mountain Range of Colombia
Peru
Trading Partners: Central Fronteriza del Norte de Cafetaleros (CENFROCAFE)
Founded: 1999
Located: Jaen and San Ignacio, Cajamarca (Northern Peru)
Approximately 2,000 members in over 84 local organizations
Coffee growing altitude: 1,300 to 2,000 meters
Diversification projects: roasted coffee (and cafe in downtown Jaen!), agricultural training program (young "promotores" are trained to train farmers
Trading Partners: Central Piurana de Cafetaleros (CEPICAFE)
Founded: March 25, 1995
Located: Piura
Umbrella organization that represents 6600 coffee, sugar, and fruit producers grouped in 90 separate organizations in Northwestern Peru
Exported products: coffee, panela (raw brown sugar), jams, cocoa
Trading Partners: Sol y Café
Founded: March 2008
Located: Provinces of San Ignacio and Jaen, Cajamarca (Northern Peru)
Sol y café is comprised of 59 local organizations, constituted by 1019 members (2012), 10% of which are women
Coffee growing altitude: 900 to 2050 meters
85% of coffee is bourbon, typica and caturra
Other varietals include pacche, mondonovo, Bourbon, catuai, catimor
Trading Partners: CAC Pangoa
Approx. 600 members
Located: San Martin de Pangoa (450 km east of Lima; in central Amazon)
Coffee grown altitude: 1,100 - 2,000 meters
Economic diversification: cocoa, honey, roasted coffee (domestic market), ecotourism
FLO Certified since 2003
Organic certified since 2002
Bolivia
Trading Partner: Federacion de Caficultores Exportadores de Bolivia (FECAFEB)
Founded: 1991
Secondary-level organization that offers services such as commercialization, technical assistance, training, and financial aid to its member cooperatives
Comprised of 35 farmer-coops (21 with FLO cert, 28 with organic cert)
Varieties: 70% criolla; 30% caturra
Altitude: 1200-1800 meters above sea level
Ethiopia
Trading Partners: Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative U
nion (OCFCU)
Founded: 1999
Members: 180,000 as of 2011
146 cooperatives; 28 FLO certified
Regions: Limu, Sidama, Yirgacheffe, Nekemte,
Jimma, Neqemte/ Ghimbi, and Harrar
Trading Partners: Sidama Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (SCFCU)
Founded: 2001
Members: 87,000 farmers as of 2008
45 cooperatives; 30 FLO certified
Regions: Sidama (southwest Ethiopia)
Since we co-founded Cooperative Coffees, we have had many opportunities to travel to meet with the farmer groups from whom we buy our coffee. We have been buying coffee from several of these groups for 10 or more years and we’ve gotten the chance to meet their families, share meals with them and learn about their lives. During these visits, we’ve learned first hand that a small company like Heine Brothers’ can make a real and positive difference in the lives of people all over the world by choosing to buy our coffee on a Fair Trade basis.
Fair Trade is both a social movement and alternative business model that addresses the injustice of conventional trade by ensuring that farmers and crafts people earn a fair wage for their goods. Fair Trade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and an improved standard of living for some of the world’s poorest producers. Heine Brothers’ is committed to our Fair Trade partnerships that focus on reciprocal benefits and mutual respect as we seek to create a sustainable and positive change in developing countries, as well as our own.
Heine Brothers’ Coffee is committed to Fair Trade, rather than the conventional free market, approach. Free trade allows the open, free market to determine who will succeed. The result? With no guidelines, the poor and disenfranchised often get left behind. Free trade is no where near fair for these individuals.
Coffee farmers are typically some of the poorest people on the planet. We expect them to grow the most fragrant and delicious coffee and individually pick each ripe coffee cherry by hand. In the end, they are rarely paid a living wage for these efforts.
We purposely source our coffee from small-scale producers, who rarely have access to capital and basic market information. Often these small farmers cannot directly export their coffee – and are therefore forced to deal with middlemen, also known as coyotes. Cooperative Coffees develops direct relationships with partner-producers based on fairness and an open exchange of information.
Heine Brothers’ is a 100% fair trade & organic coffee roaster. We opened our 1st shop in October 1994 in the Highlands neighborhood of Louisville, KY, and now have 17 shops all in Louisville. From the beginning, Heine Brothers’ has been committed to operating responsibly and sustainably – donating to numerous community groups, recycling, being founding members of the world’s 1st fair-trade coffee buying cooperative, buying locally. Through your support we strive to do even more, while offering exceptional drinks, perfectly-roasted coffee and friendly service.