Relationship Coffee - Direct Trade

The world of Specialty Coffee is awash with buzz words and labels geared towards marketing. This is not to say that certifications such as Fair Trade, Utz, Bird Friendly, Smithsonian, etc. are not making some difference in how coffee is grown and ultimately prepared for market. Having said that, none of the certifications listed above have anything to do with quality standards, and further to that, none of the above certifications guarantee a living wage to the producers or those who work within the specialty coffee industry at origin.

At Transcend, we have largely ignored these certifications, and have instead focused onsourcing and purchasing the best quality we can find. Truthfully, our own standard of quality has been a moving target. As we have grown and developed in our own understanding of the many issues facing the Specialty Coffee industry, the standard has moved accordingly. Said differently, what we once thought to be great quality, wouldn't meet our current standards for quality today.

To that end, Transcend has adopted a "zero defect" standard which is focused both on the flavour characteristics of the coffee (how it was grown, harvested, average growing temperature, washed, dried) but as import, the physical characteristics of the coffee. The zero defect standard requires careful preparation of the green coffee prior to export, which involves an intense attention to detail in sorting the green (screen size, density, colour, and ultimately hand sorting) to ensure the highest levels of quality.

Rather than focus on situational definitions for marketing terms like direct trade, we have chosen to focus on the building and nurturing of meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships with producers and other key service providers. As these relationships have grown, we now view these relationships as true partnerships which are critical in the process of bringing some of the best coffee in the world to Edmonton and Canada.