Harmony | York Coffee Roaster

"Harmony Coffee stemmed from the desire to bring great specialty coffee to York and become a part of York's thriving specialty coffee scene.

As a dedicated specialty coffee roaster, we work with amazing green coffee partners to bring some of the best specialty coffee beans in the world to the UK via an ethical supply chain that aligns with our values of traceability and trust.

At Harmony, there is no secret ingredient that makes our coffee beans taste the way they do. We simply stick to our values and let the coffee speak for itself."

OUR CORE VALUES

Coffee farmer Jean Paul

TRACEABILITY

AT THE CORE OF OUR VALUES, LIES TRACEABILITY.

TRACEABILITY DOES NOT ALWAYS MEAN TRACKING THE COFFEE BACK TO A SINGLE FARMER. FOR MANY FARMERS, THIS IS NOT FINANCIALLY VIABLE AND THEY RELY ON COLLECTIVES OR WASHING STATIONS TO SELL TO.

TO US, TRACEABILITY MEANS KNOWING WHERE AND WHEN A PARTICULAR COFFEE WAS PRODUCED AND BY WHOM; WHERE IT HAS MOVED FROM AND WHO IT HAS MOVED TO AT ALL POINTS OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN.

TRACEABILITY IS PART AND PARCEL OF ETHICAL AND TRANSPARENT TRADE, MADE POSSIBLE BY THE INTEGRITY OF OUR GREEN COFFEE PARTNERS

LIZA WASHING STATION MANAGER JEAN PAUL (PHOTO CREDIT: OMWANI)

Coffee farmers in Myanmar sorting coffee cherries

PARTNERSHIP

THE ONLY THING WE LOVE MORE THAN SOURCING AND ROASTING AMAZING COFFEE, IS THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING LONG TERM PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE GREEN COFFEE PRODUCERS AND WHOLESALE PARTNERS THAT SHARE OUR VISION FOR WHAT WE WANT THE FUTURE OF COFFEE TO LOOK LIKE:

A FUTURE WHERE NEW PRODUCERS HAVE A PLATFORM TO SHARE THEIR TALENT AND WHERE QUALITY, TRACEABILITY AND ETHICAL TRADE ARE INTEGRAL TO THE SUPPLY CHAIN, NOT OPTIONAL EXTRAS.

PHOTO OF FARM WORKERS HAND SORTING CHERRIES AT RUBY HILLS ESTATE, MYANMAR (CREDIT INDOCHINA)

Burundi Washed Coffee

QUALITY

HARMONY IS FULLY COMMITTED TO PURCHASING SPECIALTY GRADE COFFEE (COFFEES THAT OFFICIALLY SCORE ABOVE 80 POINTS).

BUT PART OF OUR DEFINITION OF QUALITY IS ALSO IN THE QUALITY OF LIFE THAT CAN BE A BYPRODUCT OF IMPACTFUL PURCHASING.

CURRENTLY, ONLY 20% OUR COFFEES ARE SPOT PURCHASED, EVERYTHING ELSE IS PRE-CONTRACTED WITH OUR GREEN COFFEE PARTNERS.

OUR AIM IS THAT AS WE GROW, WE CAN EXPAND THE RANGE AVAILABLE AND MOVE INTO A MODEL THAT ALLOWS US TO DEVELOP LONG TERM FORWARD CONTRACTS, PROVIDING BULK INCOME FOR PRODUCERS WITH THE DESIRE TO IMPROVE THEIR QUALITY OF OFFERING AND QUALITY OF LIFE OVER TIME.

OUR COMMITMENT TO QUALITY DOESN'T JUST STOP WHERE THE CAFFEINE ENDS... OUR COMMITMENT TO THE HIGHEST QUALITY, REALLY GOOD DECAF COFFEE HAS SET SET THE PRECEDENT FOR WHERE WE SEE THE FUTURE OF COFFEE QUALITY.

photo of Migoti washing station worker rinsing freshly pulped red bourbon (Photo credit Omwani)

Coffee farmers walking down the mountain in Burundi

ETHICS

HARMONY HAS NEVER AND WOULD NEVER PARTAKE IN UNETHICAL PRACTICES OR EXPLOITATION. WE ARE INTERESTED SOLELY IN ETHICAL TRADE.

WE WANT TO BE SEEN AS AN ETHICAL, RESPONSIBLE BRAND THAT SEEKS TO MAKE A POSITIVE IMPACT BOTH AT ORIGIN, AND DOMESTICALLY HERE IN THE U.K.

OUR KEY FOCUS POINTS ARE CURRENTLY:

- THE PRICE WE PAY FOR COFFEE, PROVIDING FARMING COMMUNITIES WITH MORE DISPOSABLE INCOME

- MOVING TO A FORWARD CONTRACTING MODEL, PROVIDING FARMERS WITH MORE STABLE INCOME

- MAKING GRADUAL, MEANINGFUL IMPROVEMENTS TO OUR COMPANY'S SUSTAINABILITY MODEL

Photo of the walk down to the washing station, Migoti (photo credit: Omwani)

Expertly Roasted

Harmony's Founder and Head Roaster, Ben, brings over a decade of experience in the specialty coffee industry. Drawing from his background as a Barista Championship competitor and Roaster at a leading London roastery, Harmony was created with the mission of delivering some of the world's finest coffee to York.

His devotion to sourcing the highest quality coffee led him to some of the best coffee farms and farmers in the world, like Basha Bekele, Hacienda La Esmeralda and El Vergel (where he found some of the world's best decaf coffee).

Read More About The Journey