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Organic Certification

A few months ago, we made a decision at Has Bean to be Organic Certified, after a number of years of letting our previous certification lapse. I’ve had a few people ask me why we have done this, so I thought I’d share my thoughts and ideas on this with you.

Many of our producers are not organic, but follow organic principles using sprays only when its the last resort. This is because some farms its not possible to be organic, due to climate reasons, plant disease and whether changes. But I’ve never meet a coffee producer that likes to spend money on sprays they don’t need, or to put chemicals in the ground of the farms they love.

But we do have some lucky producers who can use 100% organic certification, and pay a yearly charge to maintain the certification. It seems silly that the last part of the chain cant sell it as organic.


Added to this we also import green coffee for other roasters who expressed an interest in offering that certification too was the final push.


But theres something else that really interests me. Followers of old will remember that we used to be Biodynamic certified too. Whats Biodynamic mean ? Well let me give you the official and a more understandable approach.


Biodynamic agriculture is the oldest consciously organic approach to farming and gardening, and is one of the most sustainable in existence. It is founded on a holistic and spiritual understanding of nature and the human being, and builds on the pioneering research work of Rudolf Steiner.


I’m going to give you my Has Bean Steve summary of what biodynamic is in one short sentence. Biodynamic means the farmer gives a stuff about the farm, the land, the animals on the farm and the people that live and work on it. Like the sound of it? Yes, me too, and that’s why we are involved at the ground level. Ignore the hooky cooky stuff you may or may not have heard about (burying cow skulls and spreading small vial of lavender over many many acres), remember this – as long as growers follow the good principles of biodynamics then that’s good for the cup, the environment and everyone involved. If they want to pick when the moons at a certain part of the sky. Thats all fine with me is people, animals and the environment are looked after.


Lovers of natural wine will already know about biodynamics, and it has a very positive taste in that sector, so I’ll be interested to see how we can develop this with our coffee.


I’ve already started work trying to source some great Bio Dynamics, but already we have found some great organics that have started and will continue through the year.


This doesn’t mean that organics are better, or the non organic is terrible, its a step towards giving you some options and choices.

About the author Just Steve Leighton

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