The future of the earth is in our hands.
Today it is paramount to live and work without compromising the opportunities and resources of future generations.
Even if we don’t know what the future will bring, today we can contribute to a sustainable world, making mindful choices, like drinking an organic coffee. A small daily habit which will enhance sustainable development of local populations, ensure respect of producer’s rights, improve economic, social and environmental conditions of a whole community.
Organic is much more than a word on a certificate: it is a working philosophy, based on respect, correctness and dialogue which aims to create equity in the business relationship between producers and exporters. Farmers and their families are granted a sustainable access to market, thus favouring development of local economy and self-sufficiency. The methods used to work the land and to grow coffee are respectful of nature’s cycles and rhythms, so the environment is preserved for future generations.
Earth decides the times of coffee growing, and farmers have learnt to comply to it, as the seasons change. Organic agriculture is based on careful field rotation and natural fertilizers, such as leaves and branches from pruning and manure from livestock. To prevent insects from attacking the young coffee plants, no chemical agents are used, but ancient remedies are put in place, such as mulching and cooperating insects, which prevent proliferation of noxious plant bugs.
In this way underground waters and nearby water sources do not get polluted by chemical fertilizers nor noxious agents, and the environment balance is preserved. Thanks to that, a future is granted to farmers, their families, their children, grandchildren and the generations to come. Furthermore, the total lack of soil exploitation and the improvement of working conditions make this type of agriculture a form of art, a millennial heritage to be handed down from father to child.
This art becomes essential during picking, when in the rain season the coffee plants are ripe with fruits and only the best coffee berries are hand chosen, one by one. This is a very delicate moment, as the quality of the berries is thoroughly checked, and all the fruits which show defects, moulds or imperfections are discharged. After picking, the berries remain lying in the sun for twenty days, while the workers gently tumble them every now and then, wishing they could rest in the sun, as well. Only when the peel, pulp and seeds are totally dry, the fruits are placed in the hulling machines, which free the seeds from their skin. Sometimes only a single seed is recovered from a berry, a precious coffee bean that local farmers call “caracolito”, a coffee pearl.
At the end of the process the berries have become green coffee, which is stored in big jute sacks to travel a long way, until it reaches a distant country, and Hardy’s roasting facility. Roasting is a long and delicate process: at Hardy we use low-temperature warm air to transform the green coffee in precious, light, scented brown beans, full of taste. Our modern plant enables us to keep intact all the organoleptic characteristics of the coffee bean, enhancing and enriching the full taste of this organic product, so that we can offer to our customers not just a common coffee, but “the Coffee of Milan”.
From plantation to cup, through processing and packaging, every step is thoroughly checked with internal and external controls. In Europe products of organic origin are regulated by “Eurofoglia”, an official regulation (Reg. CEE 834/2007 – issued January 1st 2009) which has set a unique official standard, simplifying controls and establishing certifying bodies, such as Bioagricert, which certifies our coffee. Another important certification is VeganOK, the first and only ethic certification for vegan products: this Italian certification body is the most widespread ethic standard worldwide, as it certifies more than 1000 companies and products, including Hardy coffee.
Choosing a certified organic coffee will help sustaining the whole production process, from farmer to distributor, because behind a cup of Hardy coffee there are lots of sacrifices and a constant commitment to safeguard our planet, for us and for our children.
Perù: organic, single-origin, according to Hardy
In Peru coffee is not just a pleasant drink, but it is a way of life, a daily habit which has been repeated for thousands of years, passed down from father to child.
There people grow, work and live on coffee, learning to love it when it is a small plant, which grows on wild valleys and steep hills.
This is where our Peru single-origin is born, from a single organic plantation.
Hardy Organic is also Zanzibar
The crystal waters of the sea, the horizon limited only by clouds, a feeling of mystery and the charm of a far-away place.
Zanzibar is a refined coffee blend, with a high percentage of top quality Arabica, as beautiful to the senses as the island it gets its name from: exotic, unique and unforgettable.