Our values

Quality

The Project Origin stamp of value comes from a relationship between score, cup profile, price and purpose. We take the combination of these four elements to establish a new understanding of quality in the coffee industry that works in tandem with our direct trade model. For more traditionally processed lots, we categorise the coffees into one of three labels: black, green and gold, depicting three groups of cup scores as a representation of cup profile. For our carbonic maceration processed coffees, we use the gemstone labels: Indigo, Jasper, Amber, Diamond and Opal, to represent colours and qualities in the CM cup profiles.

All our labels

Our quality control protocols

Our QC team measures every coffee that arrives in our warehouse. We record data to understand the coffee’s potential shelf life, and other helpful information for roasters. Each coffee shipped to us will be checked for its density, water activity, moisture content, and green grading. You can find more information about these measurements, our process and protocols in our QC Protocol below. This information is stored as additional notes to accompany the cupping results and farm details.

Our quality assessment

We take our coffees and our partner relationships very seriously. This is why we do what we can to celebrate what we have and to highlight the positives in every lot. We cup our coffees using an adapted version of the Cup of Excellence scoresheet so that we can reward the coffees for favourable qualities such as sweetness and clarity. We will never (ever) send beans back to origin, and we will always value the cup profiles of a lot over the appearance of the beans. We believe coffee exists to be enjoyed and drunk, so we stamp our quality based on this belief coupled with our value of maintaining and building relationships across the world.

Our Core Values

Quality

Quality, for us, is more than just a cupping score. We take the relationship of score, cup profile, price and purpose to stamp our Project Origin mark of value on a coffee.

Sustainability

We take economic sustainability seriously. By working with farmers and producers directly, we can help create a sustainable business model that helps them both thrive and produce high quality specialty coffee beans.

Community

We value the community efforts that go into producing coffee and so we invest in projects that can better both the quality of the coffee and livelihoods of those working to produce it.

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Stay up to date with our Project Origin projects and latest specialty green bean coffee imports