Supporting the Coffee Community
16/11/2018 2021-11-24 1:42Supporting the Coffee Community
Supporting the Coffee Community
Supporting our coffee bean farmers
Altura Coffee has been roasting some of New Zealand’s finest coffee for 25 years. Every batch of our green beans can be traced back to single farms in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Papua New Guinea. The long-term relationship we have with our coffee bean farmers ensures on-going support for their communities and a consistent supply of the best green coffee beans at fair prices for both our growers and customers.
In the beginning
Over time, Chris White started to become frustrated by the quality of green coffee beans coming into New Zealand. Buying from large mixed consignments of green beans without the ability to trace the beans to the source farms in coffee producing countries was not for him.
Around the same time, a young Kiwi barista, Carl Sara won the NZ Barista Championships – and then went on to compete in the World Barista Championships (and guess who roasted his coffee?) Carl shared Chris’ frustrations when it came to sourcing green beans. So the champion barista and perfectionist coffee roaster teamed up to start coffee trading company, Mountain Top Coffee New Zealand (MTC NZ).
Single origins
Altura also sources smaller, exceptionally high grades of coffee in specialty micro-lots. These are smaller, limited lots of coffee offered by Altura. Sometimes we source these in quantities as small as a single sack. No matter how small the lot, we are lucky to have them. By working consistently with coffee bean farmers in the countries of origin, MTC is able to scoop up special project coffees for Altura that other coffee roasters simply miss out on.
At Altura Coffee you don’t just get great coffee – you get great coffee that you can’t get anywhere else.
The perfect cup of coffee
The perfect cup of coffee is beautiful in its simplicity but its journey from coffee bush to cup is far more complicated. You can be confident that with every sip of Altura coffee, you are enjoying the product of a global collaboration between people who dedicate their lives to coffee.
From a seed on a tree on Joao Antonio’s farm in Cerrado Brazil to the espresso you enjoy with friends in New Zealand, Altura’s there every step of the way.
Directly sourced from coffee producing countries
Creating a transparent, fair and sustainable source of green coffee beans directly from farmers in the coffee producing countries was a major driver for Carl and Chris. Carl set off on the daunting task of scouting the globe for coffee that would meet the high standards that Chris demanded for Altura Coffee.
Carl eventually set up a network of coffee bean farmers, agronomists, processors, quality controllers and exporters extending into the furthest flung coffee-growing regions. At last, Altura coffee could be continuously quality controlled from the moment that the coffee cherry is plucked from the bush to the instant that the hot coffee hits your cup.
Balancing the perfect blend
MTC sources coffee for Altura for two main purposes – to create consistent blends and outstanding single origin coffees. In order to deliver award-winning blends like Altitude, Altura has to deliver a consistency of profile that keeps thousands of cafe customers and home coffee drinkers happy. Continuously sourcing enough of the single origin coffees that make up each blend can be challenging.
MTC creates long-standing relationships between Altura and coffee bean farmers like Joao Antonio of Fazenda Aurea (Aurea Farm) in Brazil. These relationships are the cornerstone of Altura’s green bean sourcing.
