Direct trade vs. fair trade: what's really in your cup?

Not all sustainable coffee is the same. Find out why direct trade makes the difference, and why at Not Now, we didn't want to make any other choice.

When you pick up a bag of coffee in the shop with a fair trade label, it feels good. And rightly so the label stands for a minimum price for the farmer, better working conditions and a protected market position. Fair trade is an important step forward compared to conventional coffee trading, where middlemen and speculative market prices often leave farmers in a vulnerable position. Yet the system has its limits: certification is expensive, bureaucracy is extensive, and the premium the farmer ultimately receives gets filtered along the way by cooperatives and exporters. As a consumer, you buy peace of mind, but you rarely know who is behind the beans.

"Direct trade means no middleman, no noise, just an honest conversation between grower and roaster."

Direct trade goes a step further, and is far more personal at the same time. Instead of relying on an external certification body, the coffee roaster builds a direct relationship with the coffee farmer. Higher prices are paid than the fair trade minimum, because the quality of the bean, and the relationship with the person who grows it, comes first. No middlemen skimming margins, no annual audits slowing the system down. The roaster visits the plantation, tastes the harvest on the spot, and comes back season after season. The result? Farmers who invest in quality because they know it will be rewarded, and coffee drinkers who taste something that could never have come off a conveyor belt.

Our Miles Away coffee is exactly that story in a bag. This single origin coffee comes directly from an organic farm in Colombia, with no detours or middlemen. The beans are grown organically, free from pesticides and artificial fertilisers, on elevated grounds where the mineral-rich soil and microclimate lay the foundation for a distinctive flavour profile. We pay the grower a price that truly reflects their work, not what the market happens to dictate that day. You taste that difference: in the gentle sweetness, the clear acidity, the full finish. But you feel it too, in the knowledge that every sip of our Miles Away coffee is a choice for transparency, respect and quality, from the root to your cup.