ShareTrade is the transformational sourcing model we have been developing over the last five years in conjunction with coffee growers, agronomists, and our origin partner, Cafexport.

Our ambition is for ShareTrade to become a new industry standard for ethical and sustainable coffee sourcing. ShareTrade coffee will make transformational change to the lives of smallholder growers, ensuring farms become economically viable enterprises whilst adopting environmental best practices.

In practice, we forge a long-term relationship with each grower and make a plan to bring about transformation. We then determine with each grower the ‘right’ price for their coffee. This is significantly higher than the market price and reflects the quality of the coffee, our commitment to an equitable standard of living, and the cost of farm transformation.

The ShareTrade model is underpinned by five key principles:

Principle no.1

Growers deserve a bigger share of the price paid for a cup of excellent coffee and this is why we pay the ‘right’ price – the price necessary to support the other principles. It is significantly higher than the current market price, and is based on the situation of each grower.

Principle no.2

Our partners, who work hard to produce high quality coffee, deserve an income that rewards that effort – and should be able to contribute towards social benefits.

Principle no.3 

Our growers have access to professional advice to ensure that their farms can become economically and environmentally sustainable. We call this farm transformation and will result in improving quality, yield, and environmental performance; it may also require additional land rental or purchase.

Principle no.4

Smallholders should have access to affordable loans to invest in their farms, and be able to take responsibility for repayment.

Principle no.5

A direct and long term relationship exists between our grower partners, the agronomists, the origin team and Big Rock. We make a commitment to buy at each harvest and see through the farm transformation plan. Sustainability takes time and requires consistent and reliable support.