Here at LIPPOLIS®, we always try to source the best materials and to work with suppliers who operate ethically and environmentally. For this reason, we chose a coffee supplier, that treats its people and the land, where the coffee is grown, with respect – Morola. Like LIPPOLIS®, Caffè MOROLA® is from Puglia. Founder, Pino Fumarola, convinced us, not just because the product is great, but because he’s an original thinker, who has used his world coffee experience to set up an ethical supply chain. We interviewed Pino to find out more about Caffè MOROLA®.

What made you decide to invest in a plantation?
Here in Puglia, there’s a really strong connection between the people and the land, and my own experience of producing oil and wine made me realise that I didn’t want to import coffee from suppliers whose motivation was to maximise volume and minimise cost.

Coffee can’t be grown in Puglia, was that a deciding factor?
The coffee plant needs a temperate climate where temperatures never go below zero. And the plantations that produce the best coffee cherries are to be found at 1,000m above sea level and higher, even as high as 2,000m. On one of our trips to Honduras we found an absolutely enchanting place called Santa Rosa de Copán in the district of Los Capucas, with two rivers flowing through the land: Rio Colorado and Rio Aruco, making it truly unique.

What is it like working on the plantation?
We’ve always had people at the heart of what we do and we’ve always wanted work in a way that really is ethical. Getting to know the Capazars and their families and building a relationship with them has enabled us to do that.

What kind of coffee do you produce?
In Puglia, we produce olive oil by combining different species of olive in varying amounts to obtain the best result possible that will satisfy even the most discerning palate, and we’ve applied the same approach to our coffee production too.

We started by selecting the species of coffee plant most suitable to our land and then selected the plants which produce the end result we are looking for in the coffee cup.

How long did it take?
Mother Nature takes her own time and any attempts to rush things can mean that there is a price to pay later on. But, if you enjoy the process and you’re always looking to improve, then it doesn’t matter if it’s neverending.

In one of our plantations we grow the Geisha variety, a high end coffee, grown from the finest Arabica beans and also the most expensive coffee in the world. However, I’m fully convinced that the best coffee in the world is a combination of place, harvest, production and roasting, and above all, lies in the skill of blending the coffee. That’s what distinguishes it!