“There have been some crazy moments.”
Over five years ago, the core team that founded Wize Monkey Coffee Leaf Tea took a leap of faith. Rather than working their way up the corporate ladder, they booked a trip to Nicaragua, in search of one thing.
The coffee leaf.
Co-founded in 2013 by Max Rivest and Arnaud Petitvallet, Wize Monkey creates “tea” using the the leaf of the coffee plant, which is typically discarded by coffee farmers, who only harvest the coffee cherry or bean.
“People drank coffee leaf tea before they drank roasted coffee beans - it’s actually the first way that the coffee plant was ever consumed over 1300 years ago by monks in Ethiopia” says co-founder Max Rivest, who came across an academic study about coffee leaf tea while seeking caffeine alternatives following a school-exam induced coffee overdose.
That search led to an important realization for Rivest and co; typical coffee farms only harvest the beans few months of the year, leaving these communities out of work for up to nine months at a time. During those 9 months, the farmers prune coffee leaves for maintenance, but don’t use them for anything.
“It’s called the ‘thin months in local languages’”, says Rivest. “Seasonal hunger is rampant in the off-season and it happens globally in the industry to the point where farmers are protesting and asking the government for help every year. The migrant caravans you see in the news is mainly coffee farmers abandoning their crops because it’s not profitable to cultivate the coffee bean, and hasn’t been for at least 7-8 years”.
Short harvesting seasons combined with corruption have led to poor working conditions and systematic inequality that prevents coffee farmers and their families from ever moving beyond “surviving”. While shifts towards Fair Trade have aided these issues, conditions are far from perfect, especially as farmers look at the increasing threat of climate change on their industry.
“Climate change is the biggest issue facing coffee”, says Rivest, “but the coffee leaf is less finicky than the bean and it makes world-class tea if you craft it properly.” This led the team behind Wize Monkey to ask a bigger question, “What if the coffee leaf could stabilize the industry?”
This curiosity resulted in a sort of “mock-up” of the company for the co-founders’ final thesis project (while studying for a Masters of Int’l Business in Bordeaux, France). After enough research behind the sustainability and the health properties, inspiration took hold and the team decided to gamble it all on the coffee leaf.
After a one-month trip turned into three months abroad spent visiting farms, speaking with families, harvesting leaves, and enduring hundreds of mosquito bites, shady business people and even being mugged, it all paid off when they came back with the world’s newest incarnation of coffee leaf tea.
The result is a single estate, handcrafted product that’s lightly caffeinated and never gets bitter even if steeped for hours. Wize Monkey’s original flavour has rich body, notes of roasted hazelnuts and honey with a light sweetness and a clean aftertaste.
In order to scale and have better quality, they partnered with Enrique Ferrufino, a third-generation coffee grower, and brought him on as a co-founder and equal equity partner. “People think we’re crazy to have our farmer own as many shares are we each do, but that’s what makes us unique and also takes away any sort of politics or bias because we’re all in the same boat and just want to get work done.” As it stands, they’re the only tea or coffee company that has the actual farmer as a director and major shareholder in the consumer brand they’re directly supplying.
It’s a remarkable product, with everything from harvesting to crafting the leaves has a positive impact on the industry. One that directly benefits coffee farmers, their families, the environment in which they work, and brings new added-value skills as they’re learning how to become tea masters. “This is a potential parachute for 25,000,000 coffee farmers worldwide, and so far we’ve employed over 120 on our farm with 1,000 being our next milestone”, notes Rivest.
Over the past five years, Wize Monkey has carved out their own niche in the market, offering consumers a healthier more sustainable option that still delivers on flavour and affordability. Their products, which were first sold at Greens on W Broadway, are now available in retail stores across North America, including Whole Foods.
Wize Monkey’s holiday packages are the perfect gift for tea lovers, people trying to reduce coffee consumption, and anyone who feels passionate about sustainability, social impact, and supporting local businesses. You can order Wize Monkey tea and their new apparel online HERE.
To learn more about Wize Monkey and coffee leaf tea, visit wizemonkey.com
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