Now Serving! Equal Exchange Coffee

You asked, we listened. Dark roast coffees are back in the Deli! We are now exclusively serving Fair Trade, Organic coffee from another co-op, Equal Exchange.

If you’ve been around the Co-op for a while, you might already be familiar with Equal Exchange. What you might not be familiar with, though, is their goal of building a better food system, in cooperation with their long-term trade partners and retail collaborators, including co-ops like ours.

Why Equal Exchange Coffee?

Equal Exchange's mission is to build long-term trade partnerships that are economically just and environmentally sound. They achieve this through sourcing ingredients from small farmer or artisan cooperatives, offering higher than conventional market prices, prohibiting the use of more dangerous pesticides and herbicides, and more.

Equal Exchange has been a well-loved staple in the Co-op for years, and their values fall right in line with ours. We decided it was time to build on our longstanding relationship with Equal Exchange, by offering their coffee not only in the store, but in our Deli, too!

One of the cooperative principles is Cooperation Amongst Cooperatives. Given our existing partnership with Equal Exchange, serving their coffee is another way expand that co-op to co-op tie and do business in a way that supports cooperatives around the world. An importance piece of that tie is co-op to co-op pricing on all Equal Exchange coffee, including our private-label roasts in the Bulk Department. As a shopper, that means more bang for your buck!

And the best part? Equal Exchange coffee is Certified Organic and Fair Trade—better for people and the planet! So now you’ll find a delicious rotation of Equal Exchange roasts in our Deli, including some of our Co-op blends, like Tulip Stack!

You can learn more about Equal Exchange’s story and our private label coffee partnership with them here.

Why the Change?

Flavor Profile

We’ve heard from many of our customers that they missed darker roasts. We are PNWesties, after all. While Olympia Coffee Roasters had a unique, bright flavor profile, its roasts were also much lighter than the Co-op blends we’d been pouring in the Deli for years. With your penchant for dark, rich coffee flavor, Portland-based Equal Exchange makes for the perfect sip.

The Cost of Coffee

Simply put, the price of coffee beans continued to increase after we started serving Olympia Coffee in October 2022. It was becoming challenging to keep our coffee prices reasonable. Equal Exchange prices are more consistent, while still allowing us to pour you a rich, flavorful and familiar cup of coffee.