Ekita, good coffee and ethics!
My coffee discovery

"Back in 2006, my cup of coffee tasted really bitter!"
I discovered this beverage when I created my very first company for distributing organic and fair trade drinks to cafés, hotels, and restaurants in 2006.

At that time, I discovered coffee—specifically espresso in restaurants made from coffee beans. It was the flagship product of fair trade, and also the one my restaurant clients loved. I tasted all the coffees in Paris (too bitter), and then searched all over Europe for fair trade and organic green coffee from importers.

But after tasting so many coffees in restaurants, I realized how disappointing espresso was and, paradoxically, how even fair trade coffee sometimes failed to meet expectations, seen by some as a false solution to real problems.

So, I created 'Ekita Café.' I didn't know where I was headed or what I was going to do with it... I met roasters, green coffee importers, and baristas; then, I bought my first professional machines and green coffee sacks, and started learning to love coffee, taste it, and discover the amazing variety of origins and flavors.
It eventually became a passion I wanted to share! And since everyone drinks coffee and has a strong opinion about it, new passionate discussions always arise...

Spreading the culture of good coffee

Ekita allowed me to give a name to my coffee passion, and now I try to share it with you. There's a paradox, or rather schizophrenia, in France: people constantly praise the way small Italian bistros make their coffee (ristretto), but refuse to invest in equipment and quality coffee or learn the proper techniques for making a good espresso in France... which explains the success of George Clooney's pod machines and the decline in sales in traditional restaurants!

At Ekita, we are at war against bad coffee, promoting good practices.

First, coffee must be fresh to offer flawless quality. But once harvested, sorted, and dried, green coffee sacks can sit in warehouses for years, later showing up on the market at rock-bottom prices... Not at Ekita! We treat coffee as a fresh product, so we only work with coffee from the current harvest.

Next, you need the right coffee machine (the cheapest is often not the most effective or appropriate), the right grinder (we highly recommend an instant grinder), and to learn the best practices. Finally, you must clean your machine regularly (every day for professionals, once a week for individuals), otherwise the quality will quickly degrade.

Good coffee, of course, but not at the expense of the environment and small producers!

Ekita is also a little bird that takes flight...

Indeed, there's no question of making coffee like the industrial giants pushed down by large-scale distribution to offer cheaper, often worse, coffee. The little bird above Ekita symbolizes the desire to break free from the industrial way of making coffee and, even more so, the global trade rules where small coffee farmers always lose out, selling their crops at a loss (or without making real profits); hence the concept of sustainable or fair trade coffee. And organic coffee too, to spare people and the planet from a flood of pesticides...

Moreover, coffee should not only allow the seller to make a profit; the producer should also earn a living from their work. Just like a simple French farmer, a coffee grower faces costs, puts in labor, and braves climate uncertainties, without knowing before the harvest how much or at what price they will sell their crop. Which of us would agree to work an entire year, fronting expenses, without knowing how much we will be paid? After all the international summits promising to end poverty while we continue to thrive in the West, it’s no longer acceptable to do nothing.

Here is a concrete and immediate action, without subsidies: to pay farmers fairly for the difficult work of harvesting the coffee that brings us our daily joy.
That’s why, through the organic supply chain, we buy our green coffee 30%-40% more expensive than conventional coffee. Our coffees are also sold at a higher price than in supermarkets; but now you know why: quality and fairness behind the scenes!

Being organic and fair trade is great, but we can always improve!
First, we must pollute as little as possible to make sure our economic activity is sustainable: I started delivering to my restaurant clients in 2006 using a GPL vehicle, then printed my invoices on non-bleached recycled paper, and later decided to make only biodegradable coffee pods...

And then there’s all the outsourcing that’s downright chilling… so we decided our coffee would be roasted only in France and Belgium (the largest coffee warehouses are in Antwerp).

France is the origin where the first kilograms of Ekita coffee came from the roaster's drum! And also biodegradable paper ESE pods because it was unthinkable for us to generate waste with plastic or aluminum pods.

Belgium, because green coffee arrives from all over the world, particularly at the port of Antwerp, and there we found an artisan roaster with organic and fair trade certification, as well as a vast knowledge of coffee origins inherited from his father.

Organic and fair trade coffee, selecting the best beans from around the world, choosing biodegradable paper pods, and processing in France and Belgium to support our local economy: don't you think we breathe easier now?

So, get your coffee machines ready! To honor this wonderful product, from the faraway coffee grower to the roaster, to end up under the ruthless judgment of YOUR taste buds!

I apologize for the relative length of this presentation (a good communicator would never have published such a long and sincere text), but I felt it was essential to explain our approach and to consider you as co-actors, not just consumers.

Nicolas Nass, creator of the Ekita Café brand and website 

www.ekitacafe.com
Founder and majority shareholder