ORGANIC
All of our coffees are certified organic by the USDA and Oregon Tilth, which means grown without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers – and that they’re non-GMO! But high-quality organic is more about what’s put in than what’s left out.
It starts with the soil.
Organic farmers work to develop a deep, rich topsoil by creating mulch out of the coffee cherry pulp. Adding other nitrogen-rich elements to it, they turn it for a full year to create a compost to spread around the base of the trees. This allows the plants to develop a longer root structure, improving moisture content, reducing soil erosion, and resulting in a clean taste.
Jim’s Notes: If you’re choosing based on ecological conditions, certified organic is the pinnacle of environmental excellence.
SHADE GROWN
Jim’s Organic Coffee is all shade grown. There are many benefits to shade grown coffee:
- Limits the sun’s heat and drying effects on the topsoil and coffee cherries.
- Allows for biodiverse shade, ranging from banana, mango & orange to old-growth trees. Varying layers of fauna drop each year, eventually composting into the soil
- Provides better habitats for birds in and around the farm. The birds in turn help to combat pests, creating a natural insect-controlled environment.
- Gives snails, slugs, and other large insects, like the dragonfly, a nice home. They help keep the soil healthy by keeping out other insects that prey on coffee trees.
Jim’s Notes: Pictures don’t do the biodiversity of farms justice. To be there is to be remote, to be surrounded by flora and fauna, and to truly appreciate how organic coffee is produced.
FAIRLY TRADED
We work with farmers to ensure we get their best coffee. To do so means paying top dollar in this highly competitive coffee buying world. The long-term relationships we’ve developed with the farmers that grow
our coffee means we treat them with the respect they deserve. We pay more-than-fair prices to keep producing quality coffee, as well as sustain the farmers and their communities.
Jim’s Notes: Call it fair trade, call it ethical sourcing, call it socially responsible free trade, we just call it the way we do business.
SUSTAINABILITY
All of the energy in our office and roasting plant comes from renewable sources, including 100% wind for our electricity. This is done using offsets.
We were the very first company to introduce renewable resources into our one-way valve coffee bags.
We make our coffee ‘chaff’, a roasting by-product, available for free to local farms (many organic!). The soil this produces is incredibly rich and fantastic for veggies and flowers and is a great way to complete the cycle.
Jim’s is B-Corp Certified, which recognizes us as a company that uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. Of course we do plenty more, mostly unadvertised.