The tradition of producing quality coffee in the DR has been handed down, from generation to generation, for hundreds of years. The heart and soul of this coffee culture is found in country’s peaceful rural areas, or “campos”, where coffee is nurtured from blossom to bean.

In the countryside, people have a saying: “Community first.” Life revolves around the community. And in many ways, the community revolves around coffee.

Buying specialty coffee from the Dominican Republic, you’ll be doing more than just treating yourself to an entirely new coffee experience. You’ll also be helping to sustain hard-working coffee growers and protect a unique island ecosystem.

How is this possible? The livelihoods of approximately 500,000 people in the Dominican Republic revolve around coffee. Most of these individuals are subsistence farmers and their families. Many live in poverty. Coffee is one of the few environmentally sustainable crops that can be grown successfully by small landholders with limited resources, and in perfect harmony with many indigenous plants.

The coffee grown by Dominican Republic farmers is produced following strict guidelines designed to insure high quality and foster environmental protection. That coffee is almost exclusively shade-grown. In the DR, shade-grown coffee farms form a vital buffer zone between agricultural lands and the island’s forests. These farms help protect natural habitats that are home to rare orchids, the world’s tiniest lizard, and a stunning array of birds.

In fact, more than 40 percent of the birds often spotted on shade-grown coffee farms in the Dominican Republic are migratory species that breed in North America but spend the winter months on this Caribbean island. Helping to preserve critical bird habitat in the DR will ensure the long-term survival of some of America’s best-loved birds.