Coffee Circle was founded in 2009 in Berlin. To realize their concept, the two
founders Martin and Robert travel regularly to Ethiopia to get personal contact
with the farmers. In Ethiopia itself they select the coffee beans and take care
that the beans are from traditional forest gardens and that they were
cultivated without pesticides. The founders pay a fair price which is triples the
one of the world market so that the famers have the chance to actually live
from their work.
Furthermore, the customer plays an important role in
their concept. For every kilogram of coffee sold the company donates 1 Euro to
one of the development projects in Ethiopia, which were chosen with the population
itself. After buying a kilogram of coffee, the customer can decide which of the
projects he/she wants to support. In the past Coffee Circle was for example
able to buy school furniture and to establish a local health station with the
collected money.
This concept also explains the name of Coffee Circle.
The “Circle” is the way the coffee takes. Its journey starts in Ethiopia and
over Hamburg reaches the end customer.
Coffee Circle started as a small business in Berlin
but grows fast and by now customers can buy the fair trade coffee in many Cafés
in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In 2011 Tengelmann took over 30% of Coffee
Circle.
