Tradewinds Timor Leste Coffee

This speciality East Timorese Arabica coffee is grown sustainably in the village gardens and high mountain rainforests of the Ermera District. The medium roast gives a light and mild taste. Tradewinds buys the green bean directly from ATT, a small co-operative of growers. WithOneBean roasts and packages the coffee in Australia and returns 100% of the profits from sales, to environmental and educational projects in Timor Leste. Packaged in resealable packs with valve.

Timor Coffee Producer Information

Tradewinds Timor-Leste partner is Alter Trade Timor (ATT), a Timorese-run coffee co-operative. ATT works with 24 village collectives comprising a total of 435 farming households. Located in the Ermera district, this mountainous region is distinguished as one of the major coffee growing areas, with a rich heritage of smallholder coffee farms, spread throughout the district. Each village collective has a supervisor (appointed by cooperative members) to oversee the harvesting, sorting and supply of coffee parchment to ATT. Farmers selectively hand pick ripe red cherries which are processed at a wet mill on the same day. The fermentation, washing and sun-drying occurs in the district before the dry parchment is bagged and transported to the capital, Dili, for final hand sorting and grading. ATT negotiates the sale and export of coffee beans to local and international buyers.

ATT is modelling best practice in the Timor-Leste coffee sector by implementing practices which build trust and holistic support for coffee households. They have invested heavily in training and support for the co-op members to improve yields, to increase quality and consistency, and develop more sustainable incomes. ATT buys the highest quality coffee from the co-op members and assists members to sell lower quality coffee to other buyers. In addition ATT provides a partial pre-payment to member households prior to the harvest season and ensures prompt payment during the May-August harvest time.

Read more about Tradewinds partnership with Alter Trade Timor.

Certification Status

1. Direct Partnership - Tradewinds deal directly with the farmer collective, they visit the farms, they negotiate the terms of trade directly, they import directly from the source. They invest heavily in the partnership to support positive outcomes for farmers.
2. Organic (non-certified) - All coffee in Timor-Leste is organic, whether it is certified or not. ATT adheres to organic farming practices, and no chemicals are used in the production of the coffee. They are investigating the process of organic certification.

Why won't I see the Fairtrade Label on the Timor-Leste Coffee?

The cost of obtaining the fairtrade label is very expensive and for smaller farmer collectives, this is a significant barrier. In fact the costs in terms of money, time and the required administrative training means that the certification adds limited value to these groups. Tradewinds have chosen to partner with ATT (who are not currently fairtrade certified) because their first hand experience assures them they have fair trade credentials, and much more. In addition, Tradewinds are paying a significant premium to support development projects among coffee-producing households in Timor-Leste (even though they are not required to by any certification body).