thinking through coffee's toughest questions.

I’ve spent more than 25 years in the coffee business, and the question that inspired me to launch Think Coffee still drives me today: How do we make the most responsible coffee purchasing choices?

At Think Coffee, that question shapes our decisions every single day.

Coffee is grown in some of the most remote corners of the world, across a wide range of farming systems and conditions. The supply chain is complex and historically opaque, making it extraordinarily difficult to trace beans back to the specific farms where they were grown.

Yet transparency matters. Without it, consumers are left in the dark about the realities on the ground.

That complexity raises a series of challenges we’ve wrestled with over the years:

- Can we source responsibly and still keep prices accessible?

- Do customers understand and trust our sourcing practices and do they care enough for it to guide their choices?

- Are we making real, measurable improvements in coffee-growing communities?

- Are we doing everything we can to protect the planet?

In this blog, I’ll share how Think Coffee approaches each of these questions, and why we’ve chosen to prioritize impact and environmental responsibility over scalability and marketability.

I’ll also explain why we are not a “Direct Trade” company, why certifications like Fair Trade don’t fully meet our goals, and why vague or unverified claims of “ethical sourcing” often get in the way of real progress for coffee communities.

Thanks for reading, and for joining us in the work of brewing the most responsible cup of coffee we can.

– Jason Scherr, Founder & CEO