Frequently Asked Questions
For Whom Does Distant Lands Produce Coffee?
We can’t tell you, because our private label partners like to keep their competitive edge, well, private. Distant Lands sources and roasts coffee for grocery stores, club stores, mass merchandisers, drugstore chains, restaurants and convenience stores. We also supply green coffee to specialty coffee roasters.
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We can tell you that Distant Lands is the leading private label specialty coffee supplier to grocery stores in the US. In fact, on average, our grocery customers’ private label brands enjoy a 50% greater share of specialty coffee category sales than other grocery store brand coffees.
Can I Buy Coffee Directly From Distant Lands?
Yes. Our La Minita Coffee, considered by many to be one of the finest coffees produced in the world, is available for purchase at the Distant Lands Online Store. We also offer additional trademark brands from our farms and mills.
Do You Help Other Coffee Producers Achieve Sustainability Standards?
Distant Lands Coffee is committed to promoting quality growing, milling, and roasting standards throughout the industry.
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The company is a longtime member of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), a non-profit trade organization dedicated to promoting collaboration for the betterment of the coffee industry by setting and maintaining standards, expanding professional certification programs, and by conducting industry-specific research.
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Distant Lands is also a member of the Roasters Guild, an official trade guild of the SCAA. The Guild furthers roasters’ knowledge of and skills in the history, fundamentals, art and science of coffee roasting and through international community and year-round events.
How Long Have You Been Producing and Selling Coffee?
The company began growing coffee in Costa Rica in 1968 and started importing green coffee directly from global partner producers in 1987. We began roasting and packaging coffee in 1994, and started milling coffee in Colombia in 2009. Today, Distant Lands is one of the largest privately-owned specialty coffee suppliers in the US, and the only one that is vertically integrated for consistency and quality control.
Is Your Coffee Sustainably Grown?
Long before sustainable farming became a household term, our company innovated and implemented sustainable agriculture practices and milling practices, because that is how the best coffee is grown. We have practiced sustainable land and water use for more than 45 years.
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Our Hacienda La Minita and Hacienda Rio Negro farms are models of sustainable practices; both are Rainforest Alliance Certified™. Additionally, the company’s three coffee mills in Costa Rica and Colombia are Chain of Custody certified to sell coffee from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.
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The mills and facilities on Distant Lands farms are run by clean, renewable hydroelectric power. We designed and installed special biomass furnaces at our mills that use a natural by-product of coffee production to generate electricity.
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Distant Lands customers have different requirements for their coffees. We offer a broad spectrum of choices, from organic and Rainforest Alliance Certified, to more traditional coffee offerings.