At The Artery Community Roasters, we are proud to adopt a transparent and equitable Direct Trade model when sourcing our specialty green coffee.Direct trade is a form of sourcing that aims to build direct relationships with the farmers and processors who grow our coffee. The practices vary as a reflection of business and ethical priorities of roasters, which is why we want you to do your research! We will share as much as we can to help consumers make an informed decision and we aim to be as transparent as possible about how we are committed to putting our relationships with our direct trade partners (growers, processors) before the pursuit of profits and the 'perfect cup'. The same goes for our own staff, who we will always invest in first before investing in expansion or a new cottage extension. We want you to rest assured that your support of our social enterprise not only supports the ethical sourcing of some incredible coffee, but will also greatly help provide a living wage for people living with various disabilities.We approach our commitment to direct trade as an alternative to the limitations of the fair trade model. We generally pay higher premiums to farmers than those mandated by fair trade practices. Direct trade also opens the playing field to small farmers and processors, who under other models, were too small to compete and could not afford certification costs.And at the heart of this model is building relationships with the people and places that are growing our coffee. Trust, transparency and teamwork is the name of the game, and we are thrilled we get to help our partners achieve this new vision for a third, and even fourth wave, of coffee sourcing and production.