Claro organic coffee rescue

This organic fair trade coffee from Claro comes with a best-before date set for November 26, 2026. That’s too short a window for most retailers, who require a much longer shelf life before they’ll even put a product on their shelves. But a best-before date isn’t a hard cutoff: it indicates the period during which the roaster guarantees an optimal flavor profile, not a date after which the product becomes unsafe to consume. Stored properly away from air, light, and moisture, this coffee remains perfectly enjoyable beyond that date—its aromas simply soften gently over time.

Rather than letting these batches sit in a warehouse, Claro chose to offer them directly through UglyFruits at a reduced price. The coffee hasn’t lost any of its quality; it’s just that its clock is ticking a bit faster.

Fair trade coffee, right from the source

Claro has long been one of Switzerland’s fair trade pioneers, with a simple principle: pay producers a fair price and guarantee complete traceability, from field to cup. The 50/50, both caffeinated and decaffeinated, come from supply chains where Claro works directly with producers rather than through anonymous intermediaries.

The caffeinated half comes from the MEACCE cooperative (Mount Elgon Agroforestry Communities Cooperative Enterprise), a federation of eleven organic and fair trade certified cooperatives nestled in the mountains around Mount Elgon in Uganda. MEACCE gives small-scale producers direct access to the international market, training, and reduced-cost inputs. The caffeinated beans are exclusively Bugisu variety, grown on small plots at altitudes up to 2,100 meters, hand-picked and hand-sorted. Fair trade also funds shade trees and protective hedges against erosion—an increasingly vital safeguard against the heavier rainfall linked to climate change.

The decaffeinated half comes from Latin America, from Peruvian and Mexican producers with whom Claro has worked for years, using a natural decaffeination process that preserves the bean’s smoothness.

Everything is then roasted in Switzerland, with the care of artisanal expertise that lets the raw material shine rather than masking it.

• For whole beans, grind only the amount you need right before brewing: aromas stay much better preserved in whole beans than in ground coffee.
• Ground coffee loses its aromas faster once the package is opened—think weeks rather than months to enjoy it at its best.
• Skip the fridge: humidity and surrounding odors affect the taste. A dry, dark cupboard works perfectly.