Our History
Creating A Strong Partnership Towards Sustainability
More than 20 years ago, during the coffee crisis, Michael R. Neumann felt the need to act towards a more sustainable coffee sector. Back then he was CEO of Neumann Gruppe and he took the initiative to meet with some of his most relevant corporate partners: Tchibo in Germany, Löfbergs in Sweden, Paulig in Finland, and Lavazza in Italy. They agreed that if everyone is working alone towards coffee sustainability, they won't achieve enough. It is only by working together that things can be changed. That moment built the foundation stone of International Coffee Partners.
The five companies were all family-owned companies. Later three additional family-owned companies joined as shareholders: Joh. Johannson Kaffe in Norway, Franck in Croatia, and Delta Cafés in Portugal. All of them sharing the same core values.
International Coffee Partners is now a group of eight dedicated coffee companies cooperating pre-competitively and joining forces to help improve the livelihoods of smallholder coffee farming families.
2001
Foundation of International Coffee Partners GmbH (ICP). Directly after the registration of ICP, the first projects start in Guatemala and Honduras. Projects in other countries like Peru and Cameroon follow.
2010
The first phase of initiative for coffee&climate (c&c) starts, focusing on development, piloting and evaluation of the c&c approach and methodology.
2011
Joh. Johannson in Norway joins ICP.
2014
Franck in Croatia joins ICP.
2016
The second phase of c&c starts. The second phase focuses on upscaling the initiative in the pilot countries and expanding the c&c network.
2018
Delta Cafés in Portugal joins ICP. Read more.
2020
The third phase of c&c starts. The phase focuses on promoting climate-resilient livelihoods and minimizing carbon emissions while enhancing the carbon storage potential in coffee farms and coffee landscapes. Read more.
2020
ICP adapts approaches to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more.
2021
ICP celebrates 20 years of implementation being currently active in six coffee producing regions. Read more.
2024
The seven shareholders Delta Cafés, Franck, Joh. Johannson, Lavazza, Löfbergs, Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, and Tchibo commit to continuing the long-term work of ICP with a new five-years strategy after the successful completion of the previous one.