2025 Impact Report
Our very first impact report is now available. It provides a clear, data-driven overview of our actions, our figures and our results, to measure our contribution to the specialty coffee sector.
From awareness to action.
We have been sourcing coffee for over 15 years and are constantly working to make this field more responsible, committed, and sustainable.
Our sustainable convictions are not innate; they have been forged over time, by being on the ground, in contact with producers and by refining our sourcing work. Our goal? To offer much more than just good coffee: sustainable coffee, that we can still enjoy 100 years from now.
"If we accomplish our mission, sustainable coffee will be the norm within 10 years. Consuming less, but better, has become essential."
Alexandre Bellangé, Founder of Belco.
2 KEY FIGURES ABOUT THE FUTURE OF COFFEE
50% of cultivable areas of arabica are expected to disappear by 2050.
What can we do?
Support projects and coffees from farms transitioning towards resilient agricultural practices, encourage agroforestry to provide more shade for farms.
55 years: the average age of a coffee producer worldwide.
What can we do?
Promote the expertise of producers, ensure better payment upstream in the sector to increase the job's appeal, encourage family succession and young people to get involved, fully recognise women's contribution, and guarantee a fairer redistribution of the value generated by coffee.
OUR JOURNEY TOWARDS GREATER SUSTAINABILITY
2014
Belco takes a turn
From a importer model to a sourcing model.
2015
Forest Coffee®
A brand to promote Ethiopian agroforestry coffee farming.
2023
CEC Programme
Following the path of the Business Convention for the Climate to write the regenerative Belco of 2030.
2024
Sail transport
First sailing cargo ships arrive in Le Havre
Fresh Coffee
Clean Ocean®
500+ roasters in Europe.
2025
Price transparency
on all our coffees.
Belco Impact Score®
A tool to measure coffee sustainability.
2026
Become a purpose-driven company
Changing our status to include social and environmental objectives.
AGROFORESTRY = 34% of the producers we partner with 45% of our coffee references
Agroforestry is a farming method that combines trees, crops and sometimes livestock on the same plot. It helps optimise water and space, preserve biodiversity, improve soil fertility and diversify producers' income.
EUDR = EUROPEAN UNION DEFORESTATION REGULATION
We guarantee you 100% compliance.
From 1st January 2026, Europe will introduce a new rule for imported products linked to deforestation: beef, soya, palm oil, timber, rubber, coffee and cacao.
Each imported product must be accompanied by proof of no deforestation.
Sail Transport =
10% of our coffees in 2024
80% by 2030
This mode of transport reduces maritime freight emissions by 70 to 90%.
By choosing this option, you also benefit from the strength of FCCO brand and turnkey marketing tools to highlight your commitment.
PRICE TRANSPARENCY
We believe in genuine transparency, not perfection. Conscious of the work ahead, we’re launching this initiative and vow to be clearer at every step as we grow with you towards complete transparency.
We show the full breakdown of purchase prices on every coffee.
- INVESTMENT AT ORIGIN
Sourcing, subsidiaries, supporting producers, and projects at origin. - TRANSPORT AND STORAGE
Insurance, transport from production areas to the port of Le Havre, storage and financing costs. - CUSTOMER SERVICES, OPERATING COSTS AND NET MARGIN
Data collection, quality control, marketing tools, training, taxes, wages, rents, charges and net margin. - PRODUCTION
Costs for all players at origin, from producer to exporter.
COMING SOON
BELCO IMPACT SCORE®
Coming soon to your coffee sheets, a score that assesses the sustainability of coffees. This tool will serve a dual purpose: to help you incorporate the sustainability criterion into your purchasing decisions; and to help us identify agro-environmental, socio-territorial and economic projects at origin. Discover the methodology used to create this score, the list of indicators we take into account and their weighting.
WOMEN IN COFFEE =
80% of the workforce
20% in governance
Women play a vital role, taking part in every stage of the supply chain but often handling the most time-consuming, most seasonal and lowest-paid tasks (like sowing, harvesting and sorting). Studies show that when women manage household income, there are many benefits: better child education, health, economic stability and overall family wellbeing.
WOMEN COFFEE, an initiative to support women coffee producers.
55% OF OUR SUPPLIERS AT ORIGIN HAVE SIGNED OUR ETHICAL SOURCING CHARTER.
This charter plays a vital role in raising awareness and supporting the various stakeholders in understanding issues related to universal human rights and international labour law.
Signatory suppliers commit with us to uphold these criteria in their plantations, farms or cooperatives:
- Access to drinking water
- Zero child labour, zero forced labour, zero discrimination, zero workplace violence, zero harassment against women
- Freedom of association and collective bargaining, freedom of expression
- Respect of the country's minimum wage
- Respect through consultation of indigenous peoples on decisions likely to affect their rights and land.
What about equipment?
LOW IMPACT IS THE NEW STANDARD
Building on our commitments in coffee sourcing, we began changing how we source equipment in 2021. We want to apply the same coffee values to equipment: traceability, quality and trusted relationships with suppliers backed by a responsible purchasing approach.
Our partners
Developing sustainable sectors is a collective task, carried out with a variety of stakeholders who bring their expertise to help us achieve our ambitions. We currently work, or have worked, with: TOWT to decarbonise large-scale sea transport, CIRAD to conduct an LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) on forest coffee in Ethiopia, Carbone 4 to measure the carbon footprint of our coffees, the CEC (Convention des Entreprises pour le Climat) to build a regenerative roadmap for 2030, the Association d'Agroforesterie Française to create a set of guidelines for coffee agroforestry and for our brand Café de forêt®, Risome to analyse the impact of climate change on coffee growing in producing countries. Thank you to them.
