SUSTAINABILITY

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT PROJECT

25% of the farmers Emmanuel works with at Fugi Washing Station are women. Emmanuel values their work, reliability and their high quality standards. However, as there are currently few incentive programs for farmers to improve the quality of their cherries and the equity is too low to invest in agricultural equipment themselves, the long-term increase in quality is not assured.

In order to emphasize the commitment of these women, to strengthen their work and to motivate them to continue to work in a quality-conscious manner, the "Female Empowerment" project was launched. The project aims to select 25-30 female farmers whose coffees will be used for Intango processing at the Fugi Washing Station. These women are to receive trainings in good agricultural practices and will get the chance to decide as a group on a fund that they can use for activities or equipment.

In this way, the women are trained as role models in their communities, they are enabled to earn a higher income and are given the opportunity to make their own investments for their farms. With each bag of our Intango Anaerobics (P10301 & P10302) sold, 1 € / kg goes directly to the "Female Empowerment" project.

TRANSFORMING THE ENVIRONMENT

One of the biggest environmental challenges at Fugi Washing Station is that farmers use the unprocessed cherry pulp as fertilizer. Due to the high chemical composition of coffee pulp (presence of bacteria, fungi and yeast & acidic pH level) the direct application of fresh cherry pulp on farms has negative impacts on soil organisms and the surrounding environment. This leads to declining soil nutrition, resulting in decreased productivity and quality. In addition, the poor waste management of coffee pulp can disrupt the cleanliness of the process at washing station level.

Tackling this challenge became a priority for both us and Emmanuel, owner of Fugi WS, and led us to the decision to set up the first organic vermicompost facility at Fugi Washing Station. A process including earthworms, allowing a twice as fast decomposition compared to traditional mineral fertilizer. Vermicomposting is a great environmental practice as it allows the return of organic matter to the soil without harming the environment.

Each bag sold of our Fugi Grade A1 (P10310) will raise a total of 1€/kg for the "Transforming the Environment" project. 50% of the premium (0.50 €/kg) will be financed by the buyers, the other half by Touton Specialties.

QUALITY ENHANCEMENT PROJECT

In order to tackle one of the biggest qualitative challenges at Fugi Washing Station, we have launched the "Quality Enhancement" project. With this project, we want to enable the construction of six covered drying shelves at Fugi WS, thus ensuring a slow and rain & wind-independent drying of the beans.

The current infrastructure at Fugi Washing Station complicates uniform drying of the beans, which affects the productivity and quality of the beans. For example, a potato defect often occurs as a result of improper drying. In addition, the current drying beds have to be renewed frequently because the quality of the materials is insufficient.

Each bag sold of our Baho Blend, a total of 1.25 € / kg goes directly to the "Quality Enhancement" project. € 0.5 / kg will be funded by the buyers, the remainder from Touton Specialties.

Rainforest Alliance Certified™ &

UTZ Certified

Rainforest Alliance Certified™ and UTZ Certified (organisations merged since January 2018) address the environmental, social and economic challenges faced by farmers and their communities. The Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal and UTZ Certified logo shows consumers that the coffee they are buying was produced on farms that help support the rights and well-being of farm workers, the preservation of natural resources and the protection of wildlife and the environment.

In January 2020, the new combined organisation will create a single agriculture certification standard, simplify the certification process, and continue to improve livelihoods for farmers and forest communities.