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Coffee Circle
Partnership and exit (2013–2023)
Founded in 2010 by Martin Elwert, Robert Rudnick, and Moritz Waldstein-Wartenberg, Coffee Circle welcomed elea as an investor in 2013. On its board, we helped build the organization, grow online sales, and develop concepts for its cafés, always with farmer impact in mind. In July 2023, we sold our stake to a consortium of socially committed companies.
Coffee Circle: A conversation with Martin Elwert and Andreas Kirchschläger
Article
How Coffee Circle creates impact:
Challenge
Smallholder farmers in countries like Ethiopia grow some of the world’s finest coffee, yet earn little from it. Long chains of middlemen keep prices low and cut farmers off from the markets where their coffee is sold.
Solution
Coffee Circle buys directly from farmers and cooperatives at prices well above the world market, then roasts and sells the coffee online and in its Berlin cafés. Training and infrastructure, such as washing stations, help farmers improve quality.
Impact
Better prices give farming families more stable incomes. For every kilo sold, Coffee Circle invests EUR 1 in health, education, clean water, and farming projects in the growing regions, benefiting more than one million people to date.
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