Traceability of Single Origin Beans

Welcome to part 3 in the 3-part series discussing bean traceability.  Visibility and clarity around our food supply chain has become ever more desired in recent years by consumers.  Knowing where our food, or coffee in this case, has come from and whether it can be traced back to a single source, single farm and even single acre is actually becoming a lot easier to execute with the rise of micro lots.

Typically, micro lots also known as “small lot” or “nano lot,” the term is used interchangeably, is an agricultural model used around the world that is highly dependent on local laws and customs to help isolate the roots of a bean to a single farm, selected for the quality or species of the bean.  This is a complex subject better suited for a separate blog post with more detailed examples…

But back to the topic now because traceability is important because it provides a secure living wage to the farmer in exchange for products they produce and consumers to have greater access and insight into the supply chain that produces the coffee.  Large scale farms typically exploit the people and natural resources to turn a higher profit and produce a bigger yield.

Small lot, nano lot or micro lot is not the only way to trace bean origins there are PLENTY of brands and roasts on the market that fall into the category of “estate lot” grown but are still HIGHLY traceable, hand inspected, and hand washed before export.

Do your research and find out where your coffee comes from, you might be surprised.  Ss always, leave a comment below and let us know, what’s your favourite single origin coffee roast?

-MyBeanMachine Team