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Warrior Coffee Project Facts

• Our Warrior coffee beans for 2018-2019 are sourced exclusively from farmers in the El Naranjito region of the Dominican Republic. Lycoming College students and faculty have worked with farming families in this region since 2013. El Naranjito is the community found at the pinnacle of the mountain range that surrounds the town of Peralta. While we use Peralta as our base and have worked with the farmers of El Naranjito the longest, we travel throughout the mountains to work with coffee farmers.
• We paid $2.47 per pound for all coffee purchased directly by Lycoming College. This coffee was purchased through the El Naranjito Association and the San Rafael Cooperative in the town of Peralta.
• In addition to the $2.47 per pound that we pay for green coffee, all Warrior Coffee profits fund quality of life projects (for example: our clean water and solar power projects) undertaken in the El Naranjito region and to subsidize the cost of travel to the region for Lycoming College students.
• Lycoming College is committed to working with the Cooperative, Association, and individual farmers to determine a fair price for their coffee based on availability and quality. While Warrior Coffee is not certified Fair Trade, we pay more than the fair trade floor price ($1.40 per pound in 2017). We have also made the intentional decision not to require the farmers we work with to acquire fair trade certification, as it is extremely expensive and cost-prohibitive for these impoverished families.
• With the support of our campus food service provider, Parkhurst Dining Services, our roaster Alabaster Coffee Roaster & Tea Co., and the dedicated customers of our retail Warrior Coffees, our purchases of green (unroasted) coffee have grown tremendously in the past three years. In 2015, we bought 100 pounds of Dominican coffee; in 2016, we purchased 900 pounds; and in 2017 and 2018, we purchased 6600 pounds!