Caravela Limited

Equity investment to foster sustainable coffee trading in Latin America

United Kingdom

Fair trade

Trade in products that have been certified and carry a fair trade label. An example of this is a farmer’s cooperative that collectively sells its cocoa to a fair trade organization.

Green

Promotes and/or supports the protection of the environment. An example of this is an organic farming cooperative.

Caravela Coffee is a responsible speciality coffee trader which works closely with about 4,000 smallholder farmers and their communities in eight Latin American countries to source high-quality coffee which it sells it to specialty coffee roasters in more than 25 countries. 

Oikocredit made an equity investment in Caravela in 2019 in view of its positive impact on the lives of the region’s smallholder coffee growers. The equity investment enables Oikocredit to support this partner by collaborating with its management, appointing a quality board member and active participation in the company´s annual general meeting.

Besides providing the smallholder farmers with access to international markets, Caravela offers training, technical assistance and quality analysis to the coffee producers through its team on the ground. This enables farmers to produce higher-quality coffee and to receive higher prices for it.

Such support is crucial given the challenges faced by coffee growers such as fluctuations in coffee prices, natural disasters and crop diseases.