Meet Our Incredible Partner: Drip Roasters!
(L-R) Arleen Jimenez of La Angostura, Fabian of Drip Coffee Roasters, Maria Jimenez, and Mario Jimenez both from La Angostura Mill in Costa Rica.
Our partner, Drip Roasters, is based in Bern, Switzerland, and runs a specialty cafe and roastery. We chatted with one of the founders, Fabian, to learn more about their love of specialty coffee and why they believe in a more sustainable and ethical coffee trade.
How a Dynamic Duo Started Drip Roasters
(L-R) Fabian Schmid and Dennys Schmid behind the Bar at Drip Coffee Roasters in Bern.
Fabian and Dennys are two brothers who got their start in the coffee business by investing in a roasting machine as a bit of a spontaneous choice after starting to learn about coffee. They were both big coffee fans but wanted to start small and steady. Once they began to dig deeper, Fabian had some realisations–"There's so much more to making coffee than roasting and brewing it in different ways."
Learning as they went along, Drip Roasters was born out of an ongoing passion and commitment to sustainable practices; fast-forward a few years, and from starting with one roasting machine, they now also run a top-rated cafe in Bern!
Why Each Farm is Carefully Selected
Drip Roastery selects sustainably produced single-origin coffee from countries including Kenya and Costa Rica. Something that sets them apart from other cafes is that they consistently source the same high-quality coffee from small producers each year.
Right now, they source around 24 coffees from producers in 12 different countries, including Costa Rica, with Bean Voyage from Maria and Arleen Jimenez at La Angostura. The coffee isn't just reputable; Fabian and Dennys ensure it's also bought and farmed fairly.
Fabian shared details of how Drip Roasters is accountable through its supply and production chain: "We put emphasis on the selection of farms and producers that we buy from–we ask them if they can consent to basic commitments to sustainable practices on their farms, a fair and safe work environment, and the protection of biodiversity."
View from La Angostura Mill in Costa Rica
How Drip Roasters and Bean Voyage Became Partners
Drip Roasters works with smallholder coffee farms and women-led initiatives because they want to invest in a more inclusive and environmentally friendly industry, so after Fabian read about Bean Voyage's mission, he reached out!
The brothers eventually visited a family-run farm, La Angostura in Tarrazu, three years ago in Costa Rica, and we have been partners and working together ever since.
The Magic of Sourcing From Costa Rica & Mexico
Fabian and Dennys visited Mexico and Costa Rica to familiarise themselves with the coffee farms they would be working with. The area of production in Mexico has steep hills, where it's impressive to see the amount of hard work it takes to cultivate coffee by hand.
He shared more about how their visit impacted their pricing–"It's easy to understand why coffee from these farms is priced higher when you see how it's grown and the hard work it takes to cultivate it. We do business with local farms instead of using large industrial producers where the coffee is picked by machines."
Drip Coffee Roasters’ Coffee Bag
(L-R) Maria and Arleen Jimenez and Fabian Schmid at the processing facility in Costa Rica.
Advocating for Gender Equality
One of the best ways to advocate for a fairer industry is by paying farmers and producers properly and not going below the fair trade recommendation. That's exactly one of the ways that Drip Roasters ensures they support small independent farms. They also give 1% of their revenue back to the countries that they supply from because investing back into communities can help build a better future.
They buy coffee from producers ahead of time to help them plan ahead and also give some security to smaller farms so they can boost cash flow rather than make them wait months. To ensure fair pay, they stay above fair trade-recommended prices, and specialty coffee is usually above the threshold anyway.
1% of Drip Roasters' revenue goes back to the producers' countries as a commitment to help fuel a more fair and prosperous coffee industry for all involved. Part of their ongoing commitment also helps to sponsor causes such as our 2024 Women Powered Coffee Summit in Mexico.
How Coffee Businesses Can Become More Gender Equal
Every industry has specific challenges to overcome in relation to gender equality, but it's also up to people in positions of power and privilege to step up and advocate for change when they can. As part of trying to make actionable changes on the ground, Drip Raosters has partnered with NGOs like Bean Voyage who work directly with women coffee farmers in vulnerable communities.
Fabian also pointed out that all businesses should apply the same basic rules to help combat gender inequality–"Elements like equal pay and not looking the other way shouldn’t be coffee industry specific because they're important for all businesses."
What's Next for Drip Roasters?
Fabian mentioned how Drip Roasters looks forward to doing more of what they love–"We're planning on growing sustainably step by step in a healthy way because we're not in a rush. We've learned from the past that we sometimes started too many projects at the same time but didn't have enough time for each. We want to buy, roast, and sell more coffee to make sure we can continue doing what we're doing."
They're also trying to adapt flexibly to climate change issues that affect coffee by being as innovative as possible and continuing to advocate for a fairer industry by talking directly to customers in their cafe through events like a potential collaboration with Bean Voyage!
So watch this space, and in the meantime, if you're in Bern, head to Drip Roasters for a cup of their freshly brewed specialty coffee.
Written by Amina Katana
Photo Credit: Drip Coffee Roasters
