Algrano Partners with Fairtrade Switzerland to Grow Green Trading Platform

Members of Algrano meeting with members of Colombia’s Asociación Nuevo Futuro in Colombia in 2016. Algrano photo.

The Swiss green trading platform company Algrano and Fairtrade Switzerland have announced a partnership to connect more Fairtrade-certified producers direct with buyers through the company’s digital buying platform.

Algrano went live with the platform two years ago, and has since been working to grow its network of coffee producers and roasters/buyers, offering each the ability to interact through translation services, if needed. Buyers can explore a range of coffees scored on a 100-point scale, with information provided about the farms and producers, the coffee’s vital statistics such as varietal and elevation, and samples are typically available. To this point, Algrano has made shipping available primarily to European buyers, with some coffees sporadically available in other markets.

Working with the Swiss branch of Fairtrade International, Fairtrade Max Havelaar Switzerland, Algrano says the new partnership will make the platform available to some 9,000 growers represented by cooperatives in Costa Rica (Coopeagri), Honduras (COMSA), Colombia (Fundación Tayronaca), Peru (Cooparm), and Brazil (APAS). The Fairtrade coffees have begun appearing on the platform this month.

“The collaboration with Algrano shows that Fairtrade and direct trade are not mutually exclusive, but go hand-in-hand very well,” Simon Aebi, Business Development Manager at Fairtrade Max Havelaar Switzerland, said in an announcement of the partnership in conjunction with the World of Coffee event happening this week in Budapest. “Small Producer Organizations will be able to offer their Fairtrade coffees on the platform by having the opportunity to directly reach specialty coffee roasters across Europe.”