The Story

A Cup of Organic was a vision that came to Douglas Torres and Peter Davidson in early February, 2010. They were both hard working individuals who were very successful in their careers, but they realized they needed to make a change in their lives that could better the lives of millions. They both realized they had a heart for giving and helping others, and a strong faith in God. Their passion became stronger as their friendships grew, both inside and outside of work. This growing, God-given passion gave birth to a company that would allow them to give back money to churches, missions, and ministries; and create jobs in Doug's home town in Honduras. They decided that the organic coffee fields run by Doug's family in Honduras would be the launching pad for the business. Doug's brother, Juan Torres, was very touched when presented with the idea to create a coffee company that would raise money for churches and people in need, as well as provide jobs in his town. Juan quickly joined as a partner and began the startup process in Honduras, which included creating the packaging; roasting coffee; and producing the first full order. Less than a month from the day Doug and Pete had their vision, the dream of “a coffee company that gives back” had become reality. The vision continues, driven by the power of God, and the dream to give back.

Allow us tell you the history behind A Cup of Organic Coffee, and its blessings...

The story began about 10 years ago when the New York Stock Exchange reported an all-time record low on the second most heavily traded commodity in the world - coffee. The price dropped below 60 cents a pound, and pushed already poor farmers to the brink of disaster. At this time, the leaders of a small Honduran village, called El Playon, realized that coffee would no longer be a sufficient source of income, regardless of the quantity of their harvest. The price slump contributed to social tensions, instability, poverty, and forced emigration. Most of the coffee farmers abandoned their fields and did not return to the trade for many years. However, one of the leaders in El Playon said that he would not give up on the crop, but would instead find other ways to grow higher quality coffees that would be valued for their superior taste. He encouraged his immediate family to begin the organic certification process, it took two years for the certifying organization to even make a visit to support their effort. Three years of the process revealed that they didn't produce enough to label and export their product as certified organic. This forced them to sell their organic coffee as non-organic, and only within their country. Exporting companies took advantage of this situation, buying “truly organic” coffee without compensating the farmers for their hard labor and superior product. After some time, this family of farmers was able to join a cooperative in the northern part of Honduras, finally enabling them to export their beloved coffee. They began to be compensated for their responsibility and efforts. Other farmers started to copy the organic process after observing these accomplishments. Today, this small village in the high mountains of the state of Comayagua has motivated many coffee farmers to apply more responsible and healthier organic processes. Though the Fair Trade Market helps producers to achieve better trading conditions and promote sustainability, organic coffee revenues often fall far short of fairly compensating the farmers’ efforts. Organic coffee consumers very often pay more than non-organic consumers, but the resulting profits rarely make their way to the farmers. For this reason, A Cup of Organic has directly partnered with these farmers to provide them with truly fair compensation. A Cup of Organic is a leader in an attempt to provide to farmers the compensation that has been denied them for years.

We have helped and encouraged the farmers to process, roast, and package their own coffee in order to bring true social, economic and environmental sustainability to their communities. When you purchase coffee from A Cup of Organic, you can be assured that you are blessing the ones who work hard to provide you a natural, delicious, organic coffee.