Non GMO Coffee: Pioneering Commitment from Cafe Altura
Consumers want non-GMO coffee—coffee without genetically modified ingredients.
After all, they’re aware that GMOs harm the environment.
Genetically modified foods also pose health risks, due to the overuse of pesticides.
So, customers crave coffee with a non-GMO commitment right on the package.
This is still true even though genetically modified beans aren’t available for sale yet.
They are afraid that modified experimental beans could get approved for sale at any time.
Also, they know that some coffee chains mix in genetically modified additives.
So, they choose home-brew coffee that they know is non-GMO.
Organic and Fair Trade certifications both verify this commitment to avoiding GMOs.
After all, for a food to be Fair Trade or Certified Organic, it can’t contain any genetically modified ingredients.
And Cafe Altura Organic Coffee is an organic and Fair Trade pioneer, setting the standards for other non-GMO coffee brands!
Explore the slideshows to learn more about how Cafe Altura Organic Coffee has paved the way.
Cafe Altura: Setting Standards From the Start
Cafe Altura began in 1980, as the first-ever organic coffee supplier in the United States. As an organic supplier, Cafe Altura has never allowed farmers to use synthetic chemicals, like those found in some pesticides or fertilizers. Also, since it’s an organic company, it has never allowed GMOs to contaminate the coffee it sells!
When the eventual founders heard about a Mexican coffee farm that used organic practices, they first had the idea to found Cafe Altura. Before starting the company, the founders visited this farm, called Finca Irlanda. The farm also served as a model for farming sustainably.
Cafe Altura also started in response to unfair coffee practices. In the 1980s, larger coffee plantations repeatedly forced smaller coffee farmers to sell their crops at prices far below the livable wage. This soon drove the smaller farmers out of business and off of their land. Some farmers had previously held that land for many generations.
Disgusted by the exploitation of small farmers, the founders of Cafe Altura took action. They bought all of their coffee directly from smaller farmers at ethical wages. This ensured that farmers could keep their farms. Cafe Altura’s decision showed a commitment to ethics, rather than short-term gains. At that time, this was revolutionary.
It was Fair Trade before Fair Trade coffee even existed!
Soon, in 1989, Cafe Altura’s existing practices served as a model for the first Fair Trade coffee regulations. Under fair trade rules, companies must pay a minimum living wage to farmers. This ensures a better quality of life for farming communities. Also, it gives farmers long-term sustainability, even when conventional coffee prices keep fluctuating.
Cafe Altura: Committed to Organic, Sustainable Non-GMO Beans
Sustainability’s at the heart of Cafe Altura’s organic, fair trade, Non-GMO principles. Cafe Altura’s commitments to farmers and the environment are intertwined.
From the start, Cafe Altura has maintained strict standards to keep their coffee pure, organic, and non-GMO. If any artificial substance would contaminate the coffee, it would lose its organic status. Thus, soil, mulch and other farming aids must not contain synthetic ingredients. Artificial additives must not enter the coffee during processing or transportation, either. And GMOs are forbidden.
Inspectors check Cafe Altura’s roasting facilities, and the beans it imports, every year to make sure they meet USDA Organic rules.
Cafe Altura’s small partner farms are environmentally friendly.
Small farmers traditionally use smaller plots, mix coffee with other crops, and shield the coffee with bushes. This keeps the soil fresh without chemical fertilizer. Also, this protects the coffee from insects and diseases naturally, so pesticides are unnecessary.
Meanwhile, bigger farms pack coffee together, in large amounts. As a result, insects and diseases can run rampant. Bigger farmers pile on the pesticides in response, endangering the water, native plants, and human health.
Poisonous pesticides aren’t just unnecessary for Cafe Altura. They’re also off-limits. This is refreshingly distanced from GMO farming, which involves the overuse of dangerous pesticides.
Cafe Altura farmers grow coffee under shade trees, in keeping with tradition. These trees benefit native birds, insects, and the soil. Plus, they add “more complex flavor” to the coffee, since shade-grown coffee takes more time to ripen.
Cafe Altura offers whole-bean, ground and canned varieties. They also offer instant freeze-dried coffee for on the go. In addition, there’s decaf—the caffeine’s removed using only mountain water. All varieties are organic, so they’re inherently non-GMO. Also, the canned and instant versions are all Non-GMO Project Verified.
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Jessica Huhn is a graduate of Mount St. Mary's University and a content writer for GreenDropShip.com. When she is not engaging in her passion for writing, there is a good chance that Jessica is singing, whether by herself or with one of her choirs. She might also be admiring cows, animals that she has seen a unique beauty in since the age of two.
