Our mission
Coffee with a mission
The story of Etiopika is the story of Simon and Samuel Addisalem. Two brothers from Ethiopia. Of the €3.95 paid for a cup of coffee in a Dutch coffee shop, only a few cents go to the coffee farmer. The rest disappears into the commercial chain. That has to change, according to the brothers.
Their dream: 100% honest coffee. This starts with you. Yes, with you, the coffee drinker who enjoys a cup of coffee at home or in a hotel, restaurant or café. Simon and Samuel are very eager for you to be aware of what you are drinking, where it comes from and who grew it, and to then make a well-considered choice for the most delicious and 100% honest coffee. And that’s Etiopika.
100% honest coffee
Not 30%, 70% or even 95%, Etiopika is a 100% honest and sustainably grown coffee. Each bean goes directly from the coffee farmer to your coffee cup, without the intervention of various parties or an unfair commercial chain that collects a large part of the profit. The beans are imported, roasted and sold at cost price. For the coffee farmer, this means a much better price for his top product. And for the local community in Ethiopia it means more money for education, innovation and development.
How it began
Etiopika turns the dream of Simon and Samuel into a reality. As Ethiopians, they know the coffee regions like the back of their hand and know exactly where the best, ecologically sound coffee is grown. They know the farmers and buy directly from them. They pay a fair price and invest in the training and development of the farmers. They also contribute to the improvement of agriculture in Ethiopia. By realising their dream, Etiopika has a lasting impact on the personal lives of coffee farmers and the development of coffee cultivation in Ethiopia. You contribute to this by enjoying Etiopika.
A word about the coffee itself. It is grown organically without the use of pesticides. Etiopika’s premium quality is grown in coffee fields located more than 4,000 metres above sea level. The harvesting process, which starts before sunrise, followed by washing, is completed by 9:00 hrs. Rush hour! Roasting and packing the coffee takes place in Deventer in one of the most sustainable coffee roasting plants in the world.
Honest coffee, what does it actually mean?
People all over the world like to drink a cup of coffee… and rightly so! This global demand resulted in the emergence of a world market over the centuries with corresponding revenue models. It is fair to say that a lot has gone wrong in the history of coffee and continues to do so. Slavery and modern slavery ensured and continue to ensure the lowest possible cost of cultivation. The profits rarely go to the people who grow the coffee; the coffee farmers. Most money is made after the harvest, when the hardest and riskiest work has already been done.
Who doesn’t know them: expensive, exclusive Italian coffee brands. Coffee is a very important source of income in Italy, but not a single coffee bean is harvested there. The climate is not suitable. The same is true for the Netherlands and other major Western economies.
Coffee comes from countries such as Brazil (60), Vietnam (137), Colombia (80), Indonesia (117) and Ethiopia (172), the motherland of Etiopika. Here the position of coffee farmers is extremely weak. They produce the best coffee but are dependent on big buyers for their prices. The fact that they don’t make enough money out of the product greatly affects their personal lives. Their existence is poor, there’s seldom any money available for the education of their children, and the same applies to the means required to hire normally paid workers and thus combat unemployment. Those numbers in brackets? It refers to the position of these countries in the world rankings when it comes to prosperity.
This is what Etiopika, an honest coffee, stands for:
- A good price for the coffee farmer.
- Ecological coffee cultivation without pesticides.
- A good salary for coffee farmer employees.
- Safe working conditions.
- Positive impact on the development of the region and innovation in the sector.
To achieve this, Etiopika coffee goes straight from the farmer to your coffee or espresso machine without any brokering. Coffee that not only tastes good, but also feels good.