ALLIE & LENNIE

This is our sixth harvest from the wonderful importer Aequitas. Run by Yuki Minami, the group's mandate is to "foster equitable and transparent relationships by enabling connections between producers and roasters". As Yuki states, "Aequitas is Latin for equity. But she was also a goddess that meant justice, transparency and fairness. And this is what I wanted to do, I wanted to promote a fair trade for producers”. This year, we went with four farms, this first of which is Marcelo Morita!

Marcelo is equal parts talented farmer and community organizer. In 2003, he assembled seven of his neighbours into a collective partnership. Operating as the CEO, he helped the 'G8 Group' focus on growing garlic across their farms. Nearly two decades later, he turned his attention to coffee with the purchase of Fazenda Triunfo. Despite being relatively new to the field, the combination of the award winning farm with Mareclo's agronomic talents and knowledge has garnered well-deserved acclaim. He has since joined the ranks of Aequitas, which happens to also feature the sons and daughters of his original G8 farming group!