In specialty coffee, we emphasize the impact of terroir in creating the unique, special profiles we find in beautiful coffees, and we speak poetically about the diverse microregions in which those coffees are nurtured and grow. An equally—if not more—important view of terroir is as the communities involved in coffee’s cultivation, and the people and processes which preserve the beans’ quality at every point of production. High-quality coffee is a representation of the hard work and dedication of the growers, farmers, pickers, millers, exporters, and importers involved, as well as the people who support and sound those various contributors and their contributions.

We believe there is a synergistic relationship between coffee, community, and progress: It can take an entire community to progress in producing coffee, and coffee can create progress for a community. While we believe this philosophy to be true with most coffee grown worldwide, Cafe Imports has developed and continues to seek community-driven programs on which we can collaborate with our producing partners, designed to support and contribute local initiatives within a myriad of coffee-growing communities.

Click to read our 2017 Community Report

At the end of each year, we take a collective breath and look back over how well we have lived up to our mission, stayed true to our values, and kept up focus on the guiding principles that inspire and motivate us here at Cafe Imports: Quality, Service, Education, and Progress. Progress is a key word, as it implies not simply sustaining, but moving forward, pushing the limits of quality and performance and making sure that we are never content to rest at “good enough.”

We aim for constant progress with regards to community, development, and environment. As 2017 comes to a close, we are proud to share our annual progress report on Cafe Imports’ engagement with Community over the past year, as well as a projection on where we plan to focus, redouble our efforts, and grow in 2018.


Please enjoy the report, and we welcome feedback and questions about it and future Community progress; feel free to e-mail progress@cafeimports.com with your thoughts.