For us, a seal is not marketing but a verifiable minimum standard. Where one exists that means something, we carry it:

Demeter — Finca Mariposa, Peru: biodynamically farmed and certified.
Rainforest Alliance — our Blend: certified protection of ecosystems and labour standards in cultivation.
Slow Food Coffee Coalition — Finca La Victoria, Mexico: origin and farming practice guaranteed.
In biodynamic conversion — Golden Farm, Ethiopia: farmed organically from the start, now on its way to certification.

Honesty is part of it: not every one of our coffees carries a seal — and that is no oversight. Certification costs money, administration and years; for many small farms, that is exactly the hurdle. Our direct trade is our answer: we know the people, visit the farms and pay prices above market level — trust through relationship, where an audit would weed out the wrong ones.

A seal proves a standard. A relationship proves more. Best is both — and where only one is possible, we choose the relationship and say so openly.