At Tribes and Nations the only coffee we are interested in selling to you is quality, organic and fairtrade.

While a quality organic product is important, the fairtrade element is our priority. The benefit fairtrade provides in developing communities is amazing - giving farmers much more power over the way they live. They have come to a place of choice - something we regard as a right - through the integrity of the fairtrade system. They have moved from the position of a pawn on the chess board to that of a bishop, or maybe even the king.

It is an exciting transformation and one we would hope to see in any worker - a pride in what he or she produces, with appropriate rewards for their effort. Sadly, the antithesis was personified in 2001 when 14 illegal immigrants, 12 of whom were coffee farmers, died trying to cross the Arizona desert near Yuma. All had sold their family's land - the only real capital the poor have - to the people smugglers.

We have been members of the Fairtrade Association of Australia and New Zealand since 2005. It is a system that provides great assurance to us, as buyers, that the workers have been properly paid.

As for organics, we have seen the massive benefit this has for producers in the developing world. No longer are chemicals stored around the house (if you are a farmer you don’t leave assets outside) and nor do children help spray their family’s crop with no protection. Come harvest time the money made is in the pocket of the producers, not the fertiliser company. Beyond this is the obvious benefit – at a time when the long-term effects of chemicals are still emerging – of a reduction in the number of chemicals in our bodies, in those of the farmers and in the earth itself.

Our coffee is roasted weekly by Ian Vigers from Blue Mountains Coffee Roasters. He has been roasting and selling his own blends since 1996, supplying many cafes in the Blue Mountains and beyond. Ian is a no-nonsense roaster: no fluff, no fancy terms, just quality coffee made with time-honoured methods. In 2006 Ian came fourth overall in the Golden Bean Roaster Awards against other artisan roasters from around the country.

We regularly give him headaches by increasing or changing details of our weekly roasts in order to ensure our stock has a just-roasted freshness. Sometimes this may cause a delay of a few days but we hope this small inconvenience is understood in the light of our aim to maintain the freshness of our product.

Grant Murray March 2008