TEIKEI Coffee

We at fairalpaka became aware of the project through personal contacts with the creators of Teikei and have been following it since its inception. We thought you might find it as exciting as we do.

What is behind it?
Teikei Coffee is fairly traded coffee and an alternative to the conventional coffee industry. A truly fair and certified coffee that is traded in solidarity. As a community, Teikei sees co-determination and sharing of responsibility as tasks of the solidarity economy. In order to guarantee the transparency of the value chain, the distribution of the coffee beans must be as direct as possible. In doing so, you support the production of excellent coffee and the principles of a global solidarity (agriculture) economy. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) means that the coffee fincas in Mexico are pre-financed. The harvest and cultivation risks are borne jointly by the producers and consumers.

A sustainable economic model is being created with the partners in Mexico and the consumer communities in Europe. The Teikei community guarantees the farmers in Mexico, the sailors of the Timbercoast shipping company and the roasters here in Europe security of supply and direct trade. The bundled delivery not only saves shipping costs, it also protects the environment.

Work on the farm
On the El Equimite farm (Veracruz, Mexico), the coffee farmers are trained according to the standards of the Demeter Association. The certified farm supports the Teikei farms in their transition to biodynamic agriculture. In addition to the principles of permaculture and agroforestry, this CSA farm is a place to come together. Gibrán Cervantes (founder and managing director of Bios Comunidad Sustentable, director of El Equimite) shares the wish that as many farms in the area as possible manage their farms sustainably and biodynamically in a community-based manner.

Diego Porras is the director of Ensambles Cafés Mexicanos. Ensambles handles all important steps of production and distribution, such as final inspection, packaging and logistics from the fincas to the sailing ship. Ensambles is building a network of community-based economies in Mexico with Teikei.

On a sailing trip
The coffee is sailed to Hamburg on the sailing ship Avontuur. Once it arrives in Hamburg, the coffee is unloaded by hand and taken to the warehouse by cargo bike. After roasting, the coffee is distributed to consumer communities, which are spread across Germany and as far as Switzerland.

Teikei Coffee reinvests all profits in sustainable agriculture and educational work for solidarity-based cooperation. As a coffee lover, you subscribe to a share of the harvest and finance it in advance. The roasted beans are distributed in portions, i.e. in harvest shares, to consumer communities and households. Fair trade coffee as a coffee subscription costs €29 per kilo roasted, or €27/kg for orders of ten kilograms or more.

There are no external costs, we pay truly fair wages and harm natural resources as little as possible. We started with coffee and showed that our vision of business is possible. In the future, we want to expand the reach of this business model by applying it to other products such as Teikei Tea, Teikei Spices, Teikei Chocolate and much more. Quote from Lotti from Teikei's press department.