FAQ

When placing your orders please remember that we make all efforts to roast, pack, and ship out your coffee the following business day. To be safe, please assume that your order will ship within two business days of placing the order. A shipping confirmation with tracking will be emailed to you once your order ships.

Coffee Products

Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee is committed to freshness and seasonality. We roast all coffee to order and work to ensure that each customer receives the best version of exactly what they ordered. In order to uphold this commitment and because of the perishable nature of coffee, we do not accept returns. However, if there are any errors in your order or you are unsatisfied for any reason, please email info@drinkcoffeedogood.com within a week of receiving your order.

Merchandise and Coffee Gear

We gladly accept returns and exchanges on unused merchandise within 30 days of the purchase date. Items purchased online can only be returned through the mail. We are not able to accept returns at our cafe locations.

Damaged Shipment

We are happy to replace any items damaged in transit. We typically ask for a photo of the damage to pass along to our shipping department in case there is a trend in breakage. Additionally, if the box was also damaged, a photo of that can help us get information to our shipping carriers.

Every year, shipping carriers review their pricing and make adjustments to their shipping rates due to fuel costs and industry demands. These updates are normally implemented in January of the new year.

USPS First-Class Package Service changed to weight and zone-based pricing. That means the cost to ship will be determined by both the weight of your package and its destination. Previously, the cost was determined by the package weight alone. While USPS First Class is the cheapest shipping method, the maximum weight allowed is 13oz. The typical package containing (1) 12oz, bag of coffee plus the box weighs 15.2oz. Carries always round up to the next whole number making it 16oz total billable weight.

We do have negotiated rates with FedEx and we pass those savings on directly to our customers. We do not add on any additional service or handling fees.

Providing the best shipping rates for our customers is a high priority and we will continue to make improvements to save you money.

See our handy brew guides here.

No, for k-cup manufacturing we would have to send our roasted coffee off to another manufacturer to be fulfilled. This alone would take away from the freshness that we highly value. K-cups are also not environmentally friendly despite the recycle forms. If you have a k-cup machine, we recommend using reusable filters filled with Kivu Lake or Kira Ikawa!

Fair Trade-certification model—which pays producers an above market “fair trade” price provided they meet specific labor, environmental, and production standards. 

Fair Trade certification requires expensive fees that would take away from our farmers. Fairtrade Minimum Price of US $1.40 per pound for washed Arabica coffee sold on Fairtrade terms (30 cents more if organic), plus an extra 20 cents per pound Fairtrade Premium to invest as they see fit, 5 cents of which is dedicated to productivity and quality investments.

Through our model of Collaborative Trade, we take direct and fair trade one step further by investing in community projects such as water, orphan care, nutrition, medical care and job skills. 

Learn more:

https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_problem_with_fair_trade_coffee

https://www.perfectdailygrind.com/2017/07/study-confirms-many-coffee-farmers-dont-earn-enough-live/

No, this is yet another expensive certification. However we are a member of the Specialty Coffee Association of America. We also work directly with the farmers so we can ensure a higher level of quality control over each bean. 

I too was curious about what fertilizers and pesticides farmers use so I reached out to our head agronomist, Manu, in Rwanda and he wrote, "For the fertilizer & pesticides, we use manure from cows or domestic animals, and for pesticides, we use pyrethrum insecticide which is organic . And rarely, we use chemical fertilizer. I can say that our coffee is organic at 60%." (Manu) I also learned that caffeine is a natural pesticide and additional pesticides may not be necessary at higher altitudes. 

Our coffee is not certified organic. Even though the majority of our farmers use natural fertilization methods and some pyrethrum based insecticides, which are often acceptable as being deemed organic, the process of obtaining the official certification just does not present enough value at this time to pursue it. 

Each coffee harvesting season we receive crops from approx. 1,200 (growing) small-scale, single family run farms in Rwanda. It would be a massive undertaking to have each of these farmer’s organic certified and have not found a viable benefit of seeking certification of each individual farm. While certification costs vary by certifier, "fees range from $700 to $3000/year" (SCAA.org) and this expense would fall on the farmers themselves. We are dedicated to improving the livelihood of coffee farmers and these fees are better spent on basic needs such as water, food, education for their children and healthcare. Not to mention, designating roasting equipment to maintain the certification all the way through packaging.

So, in a sense, our coffee is organically grown, but is not certified organic. I hope that helps!

We recommend having between $200 and $500k to start a cafe, including the franchise fee.

5% royalty fee is based on gross sales for the entire cafe, not just coffee sales. Non-profit cafes do not pay a royalty fee.

Payment is due in full upon signing the franchise agreement.

Depending in the donation selection, funds will go to a generic project pool, or to a specific project. 100% of funds go to our projects.

To see our current projects, please see our projects page. To make an unrestricted donation to any project, visit our donate page.

Yes! Prices vary based on the trip. You can learn more about each trip option here.