We're excited to announce that we're supporting a crowdfunding appeal to help change the lives of coffee growers in Southeast Asia.
Non-profit organisation Raw Material, which supplies coffee from five countries including Timor-Leste, is running a kickstarter campaign to plant 11 million trees in the country to help coffee farmers climb out of poverty.
On its campaign website, Raw Material explains: "Coffee is grown by 37.5% of Timor-Leste's households. However, most coffee-farming families live below the poverty line, relying on trees that are decades past their prime and growing in depleted soils, producing only a fraction of their potential.
"11 Million Trees is a long-term effort to significantly and sustainably increase the incomes of coffee-growing families in Timor-Leste, aligned with the national sector development plan and personally endorsed by President Jose Ramos Horta."
It has ben shown through research that making even small improvements in the country's coffee production could have a significant impact. Experts have estimated that if Timor-Leste could double its income from coffee, the poverty rate among coffee-growing families in the country could drop from 50% to 28%.
This is just the kind of project we at New Eden Coffee Roasters are keen to support - a project that makes a real difference to help people working in the coffee industry develop their businesses and improve their income and quality of life.
As a result, we've joined forces with our sister brand, Shiloh Coffee Roasters, to pledge more than £4,000 to the project. This will fund 1,000 Hybrido de Timor and Typica trees planted under native canopy in Shiloh and New Eden's names
In return, we'll get 600kg of green coffee from the trees' first harvest in several years' time, and take part in a tasting project that will see us receive samples of other coffees. But, while the coffee is a nice gesture, it's the opportunity to support Raw Material in its work to support coffee growers that's important to us. And it's been a long time coming.
Allow us to explain: Back in 2016 - the year Shiloh was launched - our co-founder and coffee roaster Mark met Matt Graylee, one of the founders of Raw Material, at the London Coffee Festival. Mark explains: "Shiloh was brand new. Matt stopped and took time to show me the differences between the different varietals grown in Colombia. His support for our brand new business was really important to me."
Around the same time, Raw Material was running a similar crowdfunding campaign, this time to support the coffee-growing industry in Colombia. Mark says: "We really wanted to join up and support them but we just didn't have the money then as a fledgling business so it's great to now be in a position to support 11 Million Trees.
"For us it's not about the coffee. Yes, that's a bonus but it's about supporting people who wouldn't necessarily have a job otherwise. They say give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach him to fish and he'll feed himself for life. This is about giving coffee growers what they need now - new trees - that will help them feed their families for years to come.
"As small businesses we don't have stacks of money sitting in the bank waiting to be donated but we want to support causes like this."
Although the initial target date for the Kickstarter campaign has now passed - with the appeal exceeding its target - there are still opportunities for businesses and individuals to support the initiative. To find out more, visit the 11 Million Trees project page.