Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Where is your café located?
A: We’re not actually a cafe…even though ‘café’ is in our name, Café Etico translates to ethical coffee in Spanish!
Q: Where can I buy your coffee?
A: Our coffee is available in various local retail stores, through large distributors like Jiva Organics and Aramark or by order through our website, email or phone. Check our website here for the most up to date information retail locations.
Q: What type of coffee do you have? Where is your coffee from?
A: We offer 6 different varieties of coffees. We have three different dark roasts from Guatemala, Nicaragua and Cuba as well as our Espresso Blend which is a delicious blend of our three dark roasts. We also offer a medium roast from Nicaraguan called “Full City” and our medium-dark roast Decaf coffee hails from various areas in Mexico.
Q: Is your coffee Organic?
A: Yes! All of our coffee is certified organic by CSI except for our Cuban Dark Roast and Espresso blend (see below). The organic certification process is arduous and expensive, especially for small scale farmers. Organic certification is more accessible to the farms and farmers in the case of our Nicaraguan coffee, because they belong to farmer cooperatives.
Q: Why isn’t the Cuban Dark Roast certified organic?
A: We’re proud to be one of the only retailers of Cuban coffee in Vancouver. In the past, our Cuban coffee was certified organic, but because of the damage sustained to their infrastructure during a hurricane they have decided not to rebuild to renew the certification at this time. However, it is highly likely that their coffee growing & harvesting practices haven’t changed and are the same as when they were certified, especially when taking into consideration that due to the embargo they no not have the same access to sprays and pesticides the way that other countries do. Similarly, because our Espresso Blend is a special blend of our dark roasts including Cuban, it also cannot be certified organic.
Q: Are you Fair Trade Certified? If not, then how come?
A: We practice a “fair trade plus” model. By working directly with our partner farmer cooperatives and paying them a premium fair-trade wage, we can support small-scale farmers’ rights to a dignified standard of living. Like most certification agencies, Fair Trade certification bodies charge a licensing fee to certify a product is “Fair Trade” which at the end of the day cuts into our ability to pay the farmers a real, fair wage.
Q: What’s your highest altitude coffee?
A: At 1600 feet, our Guatemalan coffee is cultivated at its highest level.
Q: What is Swiss Water Decaf? What is the Swiss Water method?
A: Our Mexican Decaf is decaffeinated using the Swiss Water Method. It’s a scientific method to extract the caffeine out of the green bean. But we’re not the experts, they are, so let them tell you all about it here!
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