Why Organic?
Our Journey to Organic
Our journey to organic began in 2011, when I founded Devon Coffee Co. Completely out of the blue, my bone marrow shut down, and I was diagnosed with Aplastic Anaemia. After nine months of living on transfusions, I underwent a life-saving bone marrow transplant. My consultants believed an untraceable toxin had triggered my illness.
Years later, I began questioning how our food is grown and its impact on human and planetary health. I studied permaculture and soil biology - the more I learned, the more I questioned why pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilisers were still used in conventional farming. We had already switched to organic at home, so transitioning Devon Coffee Co felt like the natural next step. It took a couple of years, but after lots of searching and slurping, each of our coffees were replaced with an organic speciality alternative, and we became officially certified organic in 2022.
After certification I read Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. Her documentation linking pesticides to bone marrow damage stopped me in my tracks. It was the dot-connecting moment that gave me answers to my own illness and validation for the hard work of our team to transition to speciality organic coffee.
Why Organic Matters
Soil Health - Choosing organic coffee is a conscious decision to protect the delicate ecosystems that sustain life. Conventional coffee relies on synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, and herbicides that severely disrupt natural nutrient cycles and strip organic matter from the earth [1]. Organic coffee farming prioritises soil vitality instead. By utilising natural compost, crop rotations, and cover crops, organic methods naturally feed the soil microbiome—enhancing fertility, trapping carbon, and allowing coffee plants to thrive.
Human Health - Chemical residues from conventional farming, which are tied to acute poisonings, neurodegenerative diseases, and long-term illnesses can contaminate local water supplies and farm environments [2]. Organic farming eliminates the use of these synthetic inputs which protects the farmers who harvest your beans, their local communities, and the generations that follow. [2]
Plant & Animal Health - Conventional agriculture relies on heavy chemical applications that compromise plant strength and decimate wildlife. Widespread conventional herbicides like glyphosate cause severe reproductive and behavioural disruptions across non-target animal species, including vital pollinators like bees [3]. Organic farms actively promote biodiversity and act as biological sanctuaries, protecting native birds, beneficial insects, and wildlife to build a balanced, self-sustaining ecosystem.
Our Promise
We believe speciality coffee should taste incredible whilst honouring the health of the people who grow it, the life in and around the soil that produce it, and the future for the generations that follow us.
That is why organic sourcing is one of our three core sustainability pledges. It’s a promise we are proud to keep, and the guiding compass behind every coffee we source and roast.