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tags: [] - coffee/business - coffee/business/sourcing - coffee/history aliases: - History of direct trade - direct trade evolution created: 2026-05-10 updated: 2026-05-10


Direct Trade Development

Tags: #coffee/business #coffee/business/sourcing #coffee/history Aliases: History of direct trade, direct trade evolution Related: Direct Trade Definition | Intelligentsia Coffee | Specialty Coffee MoC Status: 🌱 Stub


Overview

Direct trade as a formalised sourcing model developed in the early 2000s, primarily through Intelligentsia Coffee, Counter Culture Coffee, and Stumptown Coffee, who began publishing the prices paid to origin partners and visiting farms personally. This model was a deliberate departure from the anonymous commodity trading system and the limitations of fair trade certification, and became a defining feature of the third wave by linking roaster identity directly to specific producers and farms.

References

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