Bean There Coffee Company

Bean There opened in 2005 as South Africa's first Fairtrade-certified coffee roaster, at a moment when the country's specialty coffee culture barely existed. The company built its identity on paying farmers directly rather than working through intermediary exporters, a structure it argues keeps small-scale growers' operations sustainable rather than merely compliant with a certification label. Its single-origin lots come from seven African countries — Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda — sourced through those direct grower relationships rather than blended commodity stock.

The roasting profile leans medium-dark, aiming for what the company describes as a bold, full-bodied cup: dark cocoa, toasted caramel and earthy spice notes rather than the lighter, brighter roasts common among third-wave African-focused roasters. That's a deliberate positioning choice — Bean There markets clarity of origin alongside richness, rather than chasing acidity-forward profiles.

Two decades on, the roaster operates a flagship space at 44 Stanley, Johannesburg's converted-warehouse retail and dining precinct, alongside its original fair-trade sourcing mission. The through-line from 2005 to today is the direct-trade structure itself — not just a marketing claim, but the mechanism by which the company sources every bag it sells.