How we source matters as much as what we source. We buy direct from the farmers who grow the crop, pay rates that reflect quality, and keep every batch traceable back to the ground it came from.
Shipping raw crop across an ocean to be processed, then shipping it back, carries both cost and carbon. Where processing can be done well closer to origin, we do it there — as with cashew, and with vanilla curing at our own facility in Lugazi.
We buy at origin from farmers and producers rather than through layers of intermediaries, and our East Africa team is on the ground year-round rather than arriving at harvest. Vanilla is hand-pollinated and hand-harvested by the growers we work with.
Farmers are paid directly, without intermediaries taking a share of the price, and at rates that reflect the quality of the crop delivered. Support continues across the growing season rather than ending at the point of purchase. Because payment does not depend on early delivery, no crop is harvested before it is mature: vanilla is left on the vine until it is ready, as premature harvesting permanently limits the quality a bean can reach.
Every batch of our vanilla is traceable back to the farm it came from. In a category exposed to adulteration, being able to name the source and show each step of the path is the substance behind the claim.
Our woven cotton retail bags, made in India, replace plastic packaging on the shelf — currently supplied to a Greek premium-legume brand.
Sourcing one commodity from several origins on different harvest cycles means no one farming community carries the weight of a bad season, and buyers get continuity without a scramble to cover the gap.