Press photo of Frinj Coffee.
A California-based coffee growing and production company Coffee Frinj is engaged in two land-use partnerships that aim to shed lightweight on coffee’s potential as a regenerative crop.
The Santa Barbara County-based company grew out of a decades-old business Good Land Organic Farmcurrently has coffee-growing agreements with dozens of farms across the region. In an announcement today, Frinj said he hopes two novel partnerships with environmental nonprofits will facilitate further develop regenerative agriculture movement while increasing interest in California-grown coffee.
The first partnership concerns Gaviota Coast Conservancy (GCC)also based in Santa Barbara County, which awarded Frinj a $50,000 grant to fund a three-year study on improving soil health, water management and ecosystem resilience.
As part of the study, the test plot will include about 1,800 novel coffee trees, mostly Gesha, on the Good Land Organics farm, along with a variety of other trees and crops. The project will be documented using time-lapse photography and is expected to ultimately benefit other progressive farmers in the region.
Frinj is now also working with a non-profit organization based in Summerland White Buffalo Land Foundation (WBLT), which works to create sustainable food systems through regenerative agriculture. The collaboration will include 300 mixed-variety coffee plants on a 12-acre test farm with a management plan that includes site and irrigation design, pruning, soil cover, nutrient cycling, plant health, and organic production.
In addition to these research partnerships, Frinj has been actively marketing California-grown coffee since 2017. He started with Oakland-based Blue Bottle Coffee, which sold a 100-gram can of its Gesha and Caturra blend for $65.
Last year, Frinj coffees were featured at a tasting in San Diego, for which a ticket cost $125. Bird Rock Coffee RoasteryThe six single-estate blends in 5-ounce bags, currently promoted on the Frinj website, have sold out for $75 each.
