POM Reserve "Sophie's Blend"
Roast Level: Medium
Weight: 12 ounce / 340 gram
Origin & Processing Method: Costa Rica (washed process) + Colombia (washed process) + Ethiopia (natural process)
Variety: Organically-Grown Arabica (Bourbon, Castillo, Catuai, Caturra, Colombia, Ethiopia Heirloom)
Flavor Profile: Dark Chocolate, Hazelnut, Caramel
About the Blend:
Approachable yet complex, this is a coffee that everyone can come home to. We pick the best Latin American and East African coffees of the current harvest and combine them for a balance of acidity, body and sweetness. Our tasters get caramel, hazelnut, and dark chocolate, along with light notes of bittersweet cacao. This blend is appropriate for all brewing methods.
Social/Ethical Impact:
Living Income Pricing
Currently, 80% of the world’s coffee farmers live below the poverty line, with the prices they receive often falling short of what is needed to sustain their livelihoods. Because existing equitable pricing models like Fair Trade and Direct Trade don’t go far enough to lift farmers out of poverty or create sustainable livelihoods for their families, this coffee was purchased using the Living Income Pricing benchmark created by Bellwether Coffee Company. This benchmark guarantees that coffee producers are paid a fair and sustainable wage. By choosing this coffee, you’re actively helping to combat poverty among coffee farmers by paying a price that helps close the living income gap.
What It Is:
Traditional pricing models like Fair Trade and Direct Trade, while helpful, don’t go far enough to lift farmers out of poverty or create sustainable livelihoods for their families. To break the cycle of poverty for the world’s 12 million coffee farmers, a new pricing model is needed—one that pays farmers based on living income rather than global market demand.
How It Works:
Partnerships are formed with farmers and production organizations, such as cooperatives, to gather comprehensive data, including their cost of production, productivity, and lifestyle expenses such as food and education. Using this data, a new minimum price for coffee is established that not only covers production costs but also ensures farmers can thrive in their daily lives. Contracts signed with producers based on this Living Income Pricing model ensure a fair and sustainable wage for their work.
Farmer Impact Fund
Purchasing this coffee also supports the Farmer Impact Fund which directly invests in coffee-growing communities. Through this fund, producers receive balloon payments that they use autonomously for community and farm-level projects. A small surcharge is added to the price of the green coffee beans, and these funds are directly distributed to farmers, creating a direct connection between the consumer, the coffee roasting company, and the lives of coffee producers and their families and communities, something unprecedented in the coffee industry.