COFFEE WITH A CONSCIENCE
Estate Grown. Organic. Socially Responsible. Certified by Utz. Environmentally Friendly.
OUR PURPOSE
IS TO BRING PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE TOGETHER AND PROVIDE THEM HOPE, USING COFFEE AS OUR COMMON GROUND.
Our Story
In 2003, Chad Wallace and Jeff Loftsgaarden purchased a 350 acre coffee plantation that had been in the Lopez family since the early 1970’s. Since then, the Wallace family, under Chad’s leadership, has taken a very hands on approach to creating a unique agro-forestry project with a vibrant focus on educational tourism, all revolving around coffee and set up to benefit educational reform.
OUR PLEDGE
We focus on producing high quality coffee in an environmentally sustainable way while developing authentic relationships with our roasters.
ORGANIC
We are internationally certified by UTZ, signaling our commitment to ensure sustainable agriculture becomes a reality.
Estate Grown
The coffee we sell is grown on our 350 acre plantation in the mountains of the Dominican Republic. Our farm is located at the prime average growing altitude of 4,000 ft. More than 200 varieties of trees provide the coffee canopy.
Socially Responsible
We seek to care for the communities near Spirit Mountain by investing deeply in education via the Doulos Discovery School and the Manabao public school. Our coffee is both Smithsonian Bird Friendly and Rainforest Alliance certified, which means that we take of not only the biodiversity of the earth, but the water sources and communities surrounding our plantation.
Much of the high end specialty coffee is grown within underdeveloped areas by very poor farmers who don’t actually benefit much from the value added by roasters and coffee shops. Brokers make most of the margin and farmers are left with little voice in the business of price. The process of sourcing coffee has begun to change with the flattening of global trade and as farmers gain internet access. Farmers, who just a generation ago may not have known how to read, are now learning to navigate the complicated world of marketing their coffee to potential buyers around the world and leveraging the shift towards Direct Trade.
Our background and driving passion is education. Only when people who have been historically oppressed are educated and equipped with the proper tools can they begin to rise up and challenge an unjust status quo. We do that locally through our continued support of the revolutionary school we founded in Jarabacoa, the Doulos Discovery School.
A more educated consumer population has put pressure on every link in the supply chain to improve the process for getting quality coffee from remote tropical mountains to their cup. Farmers are learning new growing and processing techniques. Roasters are starting to visit farms where their coffee is coming from and establishing authentic friendships with their growers…which generally leads to better prices. These same roasters are also improving their craft and making individual tweaks to their process for each coffee they offer. Coffee shops have also followed suit and have really dialed in their brewing while a whole food service specialty has emerged…the Barista.
We are encouraged every time we hear a story about a coffee shop or roaster who’s decided to engage directly with farmers. If you are a consumer, keep doing your part or start by asking the question at your favorite shop…Do you know your farmer? Have you been down to visit? How are we taking care of them? The more we can know about the people who provide us with our morning cup of joe, the more delicious it will be and the more we will value the whole experience.
EXPLORE OUR COFFEE
We harvest our coffee when the fruit is fully ripe, one cherry at a time. We take great care in how we harvest and process our coffee. We dry all of our coffee in Raised African Bed – all so you can enjoy an even better cup of Spirit Mountain coffee.