We Do Business Differently

Built with farmers

Cafédirect was created to show that business could be done differently. More than 30 years later, that idea is still built into the way our company works.

We’re a social enterprise and our purpose is protected by an independent Guardian Share Company, and coffee farmers are shareholders in our business and represented on our Board.

It means doing good isn’t something that sits alongside our business. It’s part of how our business is built – and how we make decisions about its future. That includes becoming the first UK-based coffee company to follow through on a commitment to living incomes for coffee farmers, working with Fairtrade to help turn that commitment into action.

Protecting our purpose

Our founding purpose is protected by an independent Guardian Share Company, helping ensure we stay true to the values we were built on. The representatives include Oikocredit (a social impact investor cooperative) and largest shareholder, Oxfam (one of our founders) and Cafedirect Producers Limited (for the farming cooperatives we buy from).

Changing how coffee is traded

We're open about our goals, transparent about our progress and committed to changing how coffee is bought and sold. We're the first UK coffee company to put a living income commitment into practice, but we can't change the industry alone. Our ambition is to help make Living Income Reference Prices the norm, not the exception, so farmers everywhere can earn enough to invest in their farms, support their families and secure the future of coffee.

Meet Our Producer Directors

Cafédirect works directly with farmers, paying fairly and investing in farming that lasts.

Michael Montalván

Michael is General Manager of CAC La Prosperidad de Chirinos, a coffee cooperative in Peru, and represents coffee producers on the Cafédirect Board.

Silvia Herrera

Silvia is Finance & Marketing Lead at Unión de Ejidos y Comunidades San Fernando in Chiapas, Mexico, and represents coffee producers on the Cafédirect Board.