Dilworth Coffee Certifications

Dilworth has been committed to our community for 30 years and counting! With this commitment comes a dedication to providing our customers with the highest quality products and services. Dilworth maintains a few different coffee certifications that mean different things, including USDA Organic, Rain Forest Alliance, and Direct trade, and Kosher. We also support an education initiative in Honduras called E2E you can read about HERE.

USDA Organic

We source a few great USDA Organic coffees and blends at Dilworth. Click HERE to view our Organic collection. Organic can mean different things for produce, dairy, and meat. For a cultivated crop like coffee, it means that the trees must be grown in soil that has not been treated with prohibited substances for three years before being certified. Prohibited substances include most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, but not all. Farmers may still use synthetic substances when necessary, based on approval and provided they will have no negative impact on human or environmental health. Genetic engineered seeds are prohibited, as well as ionized radiation and use of sewage sludge as fertilizer. This does not, however, mean all non-organic crops use these methods to grow.

The environmental impact of organic crops is clear. It builds soil quality, reduces the farms carbon footprint, C02 emissions, and nutrient runoff. Given the restrictions to farmers, organic beans are more expensive to produce, but the USDA Organic label has no effect on the taste or nutritional value of the coffee. When you purchase something labeled as organic, you are not so much helping your taste buds or body of the coffee you're drinking, rather you are helping soil quality.

Rainforest Alliance

What does the little tree frog mean when you see it stamped on a burlap sack of green coffee beans? Frogs are bioindicators – happy frogs indicate a healthy environment. We source a few coffees from farms that are Rainforest Alliance certified. What does the frog represent? RA has lists and outlines of sustainable agriculture standards that farms are to adhere to. As well as the Union for Ethical Biotrade (UEBT) standards. These RA standards range from the biodiversity of growing conditions to energy efficient practices to human rights such as worker treatment, gender, and economic equity. It takes a lot of time and effort for farmers to commit to this standard, and we’re proud to support farmers who have the future in mind.

Directly Traded

Directly Traded is our own little certification we use to highlight coffees we source through relationships built with producers and exporters throughout the coffee growing world. While it would be ideal to purchase coffee directly from a farmer and have no intermediaries to split the costs, this isn’t as easy as it sounds. There are many specialized steps in the production of coffee. Each of these steps requires equipment that most farmers do not have access to and could never afford to own and operate.

Through our years of travel, meeting producers, and building relationships, we have come to understand that a certain amount of middlemen are necessary and can add value to the producer and roaster. Our sourcing philosophy embraces this fact. To meet our Directly Traded specifications we partner with importers who are invested in the well-being of the farmer. These importers commonly handle the traceability of the coffee as it moves from the farm through the milling processes at origin as well as serving as exporter to oversee the complexities of international shipping. They finance these costs and provide transparency for us to be able to provide a truly sustainably sourced coffee that our customers can sip in good conscience.

Kosher

All Dilworth coffees are Pareve Kosher! Including our decaf and flavored coffees. Most Kosher dietary restrictions are concerned with meat and dairy and how they’re prepared. Since Dilworth is in the business of expertly roasting fine coffee, the only way Kosher affects us is the flavorings we use for our flavored coffee. Pareve is a Yiddish term that refers to foods that contain no meat or dairy ingredients. Any food or drink that does not contain meat or dairy and has not been prepared with meat or dairy is considered Pareve.

The coffee industry is always moving forward and evolving. Through it all, Dilworth is committed to establishing and maintaining transparent relationships, supporting sustainable and ethical practices, and roasting delicious beans for your cup, however you like it.