United States-based green coffee importer Sustainable Harvest has announced it will acquire the United Kingdom’s Twin Trading and assume management of its supplier and customer relationships.
Matt Earlam, former Head of Twin Trading, will lead UK and European operations for Sustainable Harvest.
“Twin was an inspiration for me when founding Sustainable Harvest and it will be an absolute honour to serve Twin’s customers,” says David Griswold, Founder and CEO of Sustainable Harvest.
“We are committed to maintaining Twin’s spirit and I have no doubt that together we will dream up new ways to use coffee to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges.”
Formed in 1985, Twin played a role in leading the approach to trade in favour of smallholder producers, laying down the principles of fair trade and ethical and transparent supply chains in coffee, nuts, and cocoa.
Upon news of Twin’s closure, the leadership team at Sustainable Harvest says it felt a responsibility to preserve the longstanding relationships between Twin’s invested customers and producer groups in East Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia.
The deal will allow the former Twin Trading team to continue their work and will enable Sustainable Harvest to open a London office to better serve European customers.
“Sustainable Harvest fully embodies the ethos of Twin, while providing the global platform, experience, and tools that our staff need to continue building a brighter future for all in the coffee world,” Earlam says.
“We are pleased to resume full service for all of our partners with a renewed energy.”
Over the past three years, Sustainable Harvest says Twin Trading has demonstrated exceptional commercial viability, with increasing volumes from high-performing specialty producers across the globe, in addition to building strong relationships with emerging producer groups and offering customers coffee from rising origins like the Congo and Burundi.
“In this new chapter, we integrate immense talent and history as we combine forces to champion sustainable sourcing models and certifications that provide dignified livelihoods for farm families at the foundation of the coffee industry,” Griswold says.
The acquisition marks Sustainable Harvest’s first time serving the UK.
“We are convinced that this new combination of Sustainable Harvest and Twin will produce synergies that will result in more meaningful impact,” says Aurora Izquierdo, long-time Twin Trading and Sustainable Harvest partner and leader of the Asoanei cooperative in Northern Colombia.
“This is an organisation that will promote the best for humanity and for the planet.”
Sustainable Harvest’s North American customers will also gain access to coffees from Twin’s producing partners.
“As a board director for Twin Trading since 2016, I have admired the staff at Twin and Twin Trading for pursuing new strategies for growth,” says Kim Ionescu, Chief Sustainability Officer for the Specialty Coffee Association.
“To see Twin Trading and Sustainable Harvest, two long-time champions of producer-focused coffee trading, join forces is a boon to all who believe in different ways of doing business.”
