September 2023 Newsletter |
|
|
We’re catching our breaths after a very busy summer. Here’s what we’d like to share! |
|
|
coffee pricing: how we do it |
|
|
Since our inception, we’ve been very transparent about how we buy coffee, what we pay for the green coffee we bring in, and why we choose buying practices that feel good and do good for the farmer. We, along with many specialty coffee roasters, pay an average of $6.00 per pound on average to get green coffee in the door. After 11-15% moisture loss from roasting and packing materials, the cost of goods comes to $7.50 per pound on average, sold for $12 per pound, wholesale. We’ve found that in specialty coffee, producers and farmers see an average of $3.00 per pound for milled coffee. After harvesting, processing, farm maintenance, etc., they’re left with about $1.00 profit. How does this compare to the C-market price for arabica? Producers and farmers see only $1.75 per pound on average, leaving a small margin for quality and profit for the farmer. The balance of the costs we pay goes to shipping, customs, shipping again, and our (wonderful!) importers. Buying coffee at higher prices is a good start, but we want to continue to learn more — and want to continue to share it with you. We’re grateful to our importers who continue to connect us with great coffee farmers and are open about the ins and outs of the process so that we can be as transparent with our community as possible. |
|
|
introducing the Developed Series |
|
|
The ‘Developed Series’ is born out of the desire to find the sweet spot for various coffees we bring in from time to time. By nature, we select and roast coffees that thrive with less-developed roast profiles, allowing the nuances of the coffee to shine. But some want to live in a space of further development in order to come into focus — and so we listen! The first release of our Developed Series is ‘El Arrayan’, from Antioquia, Colombia. This coffee shines when developed a little further than we typically would roast. We taste grilled peaches, dark chocolate, and orange peel. This first release is available for purchase on our site, or for breakfast sipping at Middlebury’s Swift House Inn! |
|
|
what’s our style, you ask? |
|
|
As we finish off our second year of business (!!), we’ve been reflecting on our own personal style as roasters, the coffees we select to roast, what we love, and what we could live without. There’s a clear path in what we gravitate toward, even within the little world of specialty coffee. First and foremost, we roast coffee grown by skilled farmers. Though among specialty coffee, this is not inherently unique. Many specialty roasters across the country, and even across our state of Vermont, have similar practices. What is unique, is the often washed (but not always) coffees we roast and share focus on subtle but unique notes that bring joy and curiosity to the palate. We love a super funky coffee from time to time, but it’s not who we are, and it’s not what we’re passionate about roasting. We place an emphasis on exploring different fermentation processes and varietals, resulting in a range of coffees with clean and elegant balance. |
|
|
little seed Ledger: you sip, we give, we evolve |
|
|
little seed Ledger is our blog inspired by the little seed team and what we’re passionate about. This September, we share a little about how our ‘you sip, we give’ initiative will soon be evolving to create even more of a positive impact. |
|
|
Our ‘you sip, we give’ initiative has been a core part of little seed since we started out. We’ve committed to donating 5% of our profits to different organizations doing good in coffee-producing communities. A challenge we’ve been met with, however, is the inequality between periods of time when we’ve chosen a different area of support — and how different these donations can look depending on those periods. We also wanted to be able to share our initiative, and how it works, in more simple terms. We wanted our wholesale partners to be able to have a firm handle on how much money is supporting the initiative with each order. Likewise, we wanted our customers in the shop to be able to grasp how much of their purchase would be allocated toward the initiative. So, we’re re-working what this looks like. Beginning later this fall, we’ll be donating 50 cents from every retail bag purchased in the shop, and 25 cents from every pound of coffee a wholesale partner purchases, to our initiative. We’re excited to move forward in a way that will more greatly impact coffee growing communities and those who support them, and look forward to sharing our new ‘you sip, we give’ partnerships along the way. |
|
|
|
|