The Pachamama Coffee Cooperative’s Midtown headquarters is a special place. Full disclosure: I buy my beans there every month.
It’s such a feel-good buying experience in that sleek, open room. Photos of farmers—in Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Peru, Mexico—line the walls in brilliant color. More than 100,000 small-scale farmers own 100 percent of Pachamama, which means farmers earn 100 percent of the profits.
All that’s missing is the hum of a roaster. And that’s where Pachamama’s new kickstarter comes in.
Pachamama hopes to raise $50,000—plus a contribution of $50,000 from farmers—to get a zero-emissions roaster up and running by April 2015.
That might sound like a lofty goal for a local coffee business whose only cafe is in a Davis art gallery. But Pachamama is actually a global business, known more for its farm-to-market website CoffeeCSA.org. Basically, coffee lovers go online and buy organic beans directly from a farmer, and bags are delivered to their front door each month.
Currently Coffee Works in East Sacramento roasts all of Pachamama’s beans, and Pachamama CEO Thaleon Tremain says it’s been a great relationship.
“We are only bringing this operation in-house because we are growing so fast that it’s best way to control quality and insure our customers receive the freshest coffee possible,” he says.
Added bonus, Tremain also estimates that farmers will earn a buck more per pound.