Blockchain Coffee

We can never really guarantee that the coffee we source is ethically produced, nor that the price we pay is being fairly distributed back to the farmer. In most cases, we rely on trust of our partners, and of course, with contracts.

The blockchain is a ledger of contracts on a distributed network. As long as the network agrees on the ledger, the ledger is considered true and the contracts are valid. Coffee has numerous contracts signed. As a lot of coffee goes though its many stages of production, each transaction could be written to a blockchain ledger, and in theory, that ledger is irrefutable. It could offer a stronger guarantee that all the contracts in a coffee's history are correct.

That is how our new release from Honduras is being purchased. Each transaction in this coffee's history has been written to the blockchain, and those contracts are available for everyone to see:

Francis Omar transparency report

Catracha Coffee-- the producers of this coffee, and Bext360-- a digital logistics platform, partnered to create this leap forward in coffee transactions.

Not only have the price transactions been written to the ledger, you'll also notice a great deal of physical analysis is available. All of this information was collected and written in to the blockchain as well.

This way of sourcing coffee and ensuring it's physical and economic properties is not perfect. But it's a step closer to the type of transparency we'd like to see (and not just in our industry). And it's quite fun to dig into.

Every retail bag of Honduras Francis Rodriguez that we sell will come with a QR code that can be scanned to access this report. We are very excited to continue to work with Francis, Catracha Coffee, and Bext360 on future harvests.

Third Payment

In addition to the blockchain ledger, this year's release of Francis's coffee comes with a third guaranteed payment. At Catracha, Francis gets paid once for the coffee itself, and receives a second payment in the form of a profit-share from the cooperative. We at H+S are also adding a third payment of $1 per pound for the lot. This third payment will be sent once Francis's coffee has sold out.

Check out this amazing new release here!

We are thrilled to announce our 2022 Good Food Finalist status for this stunning coffee from producer Ernedis Rodriguez of Finca El Paraiso. Located in Huila, Colombia, Finca El Paraiso is a 7-hectare farm on steep hillsides. Ernedis has reinvested in his farm over the last several years, adding quality control and biodynamic processes, as well as increasing efficiency of labor and water use. This is the type of coffee, and this is the type of producer, that we strive to work with year after year.

Read the full list of GFA Finalists here.

We are so excited to announce that one of our offerings-- Kenya Chwele Peaberry-- has been selected as a finalist for the 2020 Good Food Awards!

A Good Food Award is among the coffee industry's most coveted. It is an award given not only for a high-quality product, but also for social and environmental responsibility throughout the product chain. The coffee category is unique as we must ensure these responsibilities at origin (which can be very difficult to do), as well as within our own company.

This selection means so much to us. It represents a great deal of work that we undertake which isn't obvious in the coffee cup. While we have always worked hard to present high-quality and tasty coffees, we have also made a commitment to bringing transparency to our offerings, always utilizing best practices to reduce, reuse and recycle, and being a positive participant in our local community. All of these things, and more, are vetted towards a Good Food Award finalist selection.

We have a very small amount of Kenya Chwele left. About 50lbs. Consider picking up a bag if you haven't tried it yet!

Thank you for your support of H+S! More great things are always up ahead.

H+S Coffee Roasters won 11 medals at Golden Bean 2018, the largest roasting competition in the country.

Every coffee entry was pulled from our regular production. No special work was involved in producing these results. This is just who we are, and these are the coffees as we drink and enjoy them.