A Simple Idea Becomes A Reality
In March 2007, I was a New York-based photographer riding on the rural back roads of Southern Mexico, in a van with a handful of specialty coffee professionals: roasters, writers, agronomists and traders, all on hand for a unique coffee-buying trip. 

New to the coffee industry, I was wide-eyed when I heard from these pros about historically low coffee prices that put communities at risk and the lack of market information that hindered farmers from getting fair prices for their hand-selected organic coffee beans. But I also saw the relationships between these buyers and the growers in Mexico as powerful tools for change, where challenges faced by farmers were being addressed with peer-to-peer training and sharing of best practices.

That week in Mexico, with lots of input from everyone, I committed to create a new, charitable coffee label, and the Organic Coffee Cartel was born, with all those in the van as de-facto founding members. We'd sell quality coffee and then turn around and use the money for charitable good all while having fun and thumbing our noses at conventional design and branding. The whole idea is to do good with great coffee—and to have fun doing it. So far, we've kept to the plan.

The Coffees
The OCC's limited-edition specialty coffees change with the seasons. This way, you get to enjoy them at their pinnacle of freshness and flavor. It's more of the mindset you'd bring to summer tomatoes or autumn apples. OCC coffees connect you to the exotic micro-regions of Africa, Central America and South America, and to the personalities behind them. Unlike so many mass-produced beverages, specialty coffee allows for a direct connection with a place and a people. Anyone who has visited a winery knows the sentimental value meeting the winemaker and seeing their operation. Accessing a coffee farm is often harder due to their remoteness but with the OCC, we hope folks can engage that world just a little more easily.

OCC coffees are 100-percent organically grown and roasted on equipment that uses 85 percent less energy than other roasters. The coffee is then packaged in steel cans—the most eco-friendly material available. And each 10,000-can run is uniquely printed with original photographs taken at origin.

Our aim is to positively impact the people, communities and environments in which we all work.  Since quality coffee reaps quality prices, the OCC works with coffee farmers to improve their coffees and pays them the prices they deserve. With a viable income, coffee farming families and their communities are stabilized and their quality of life is improved. Traditions and cultures are preserved.