Bacha Coffee: Our Sourcing Philosophy

The Moroccan way

Morocco's passionate coffee expertise can be traced back over six centuries ago. Legend has it that it was the Moroccan scholar, Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili who is responsible for coffee's popularity today. Stories across time tell tales of him bringing the coffee plant from Ethiopia to Yemen after experiencing its invigorating effects around 600 years ago, and later founding the Yemeni port city of al-Mukha, known as Moka. Another tale spoke of his disciple, Omar, carrying the beans back to Moka after they sustained him in a desert cave near Ousab.

As time passed, word of this magical bean grew and soon trading vessels sailed to the port of Moka in search of bringing bags of this Coffea arabica or "Arabica coffee" throughout the Arabian Peninsula, and around two centuries later, to Europe.

Sourcing the finest Bacha coffee beans

Our sourcing philosophy extends a welcoming hand back in time to the origins of Bacha Coffee in 1910. Moroccans have long been obsessed with quality— from cuisine to coffee, artisanal craftsmanship to decadent design. Marrakech is place where people have always shared the fruits of their culture with a unique blend of passion and discipline. This deeply hospitable culture has always welcomed strangers, celebrated refined taste, and sought the world’s finest flavours, so sourcing the world’s best coffee beans was of course part of our mission from the very beginning.

Our commitment to excellence

Achieving this feat begins with discipline. We simply will not purchase beans that do not meet the highest standards, and even after roasting, if the quality does not align with our expectations, we will not offer them to our customers. Honouring this commitment means that Bacha Coffee sourcing experts often forego some of the world’s premier coffee-growing regions if the harvest in a particular year does not meet the brand’s quality standards. After all, sourcing the world’s finest coffee requires uncompromising discipline. That is what sets us apart: our passion and dedication to creating and serving the finest coffee in the world.

This refreshingly detailed approach is engrained throughout everything we do— from sourcing to roasting, branding to packaging, storytelling to service, decor to fine dining and has become one of the magic ingredients for which the brand experience has become synonymous worldwide with customers: Consistent quality. This commitment to consistency begins at the source of our journey.

A close relationship with farmers

Bacha Coffee in-house coffee experts are able to source coffee beans directly from farms and cooperatives because they take time and effort to develop direct, long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with suppliers. Relationships with local farming partners are built on integrity, trust and a shared commitment to passion and discipline.

By sourcing each harvest directly from coffee planters, Bacha Coffee also ensures that the best cultivation techniques are consistently applied. This guarantees that only the freshest beans are selected and carefully handled before they reach our roasting facility. Since we have no intermediaries, this also translates to having the lowest carbon footprint possible.

Always going the distance

A passion and curiosity for new flavours carries Bacha Coffee all over the world, even to coffee farms in rural and remote areas, seeking the opportunity to bring new tastes to consumers. Sourcing from remote locations, however, takes dedication.

In Ethiopia, for example, our Yirgacheffe Heirloom Coffee  undergoes a momentous journey to reach our customers' cups. This washed harvest is shade grown at between 1,600 and 2,000 metres above sea level with the altitude and terrain of the highland plateaus providing ideal growing conditions that yield beautifully ripened beans. The exceptional heirloom varietal, with delicate notes of lemongrass, cane sugar and bergamot, yields a medium body and a bright acidity for a truly unique experience.

Yet this outstanding and rare coffee’s flavour is only part of the story. If the beans could speak, they would tell of an epic journey, from leaving the nurturing hands of Sidama farmers, to being transported for days along dusty, inaccessible roads, up and down treacherous mountaintops, avoiding bandits, clearing countless roadblocks and security checkpoints, to eventually make their way into the Addis Ababa milling house. Only then, after our secret process, do these special beans make the long journey to Marrakech, home of Bacha Coffee. There, our meticulous roasting takes place before the beans are finally being shipped to our locations and customers worldwide.

This is one journey of one coffee. Bacha Coffee offers a selection of over 200 different coffees, including single-origin, blended, and flavoured Arabica beans. To understand the full story of our unique brand requires a journey around the globe into the world of Bacha Coffee. It begins with Mr. Bouqdib’s personal passion for new flavour notes.

“Whenever I see an opportunity to introduce a new flavour to our customers, I follow my intuition and travel to the regions where we source our coffee,”says Mr. Bouqdib.

“Spending time at these farms allows me to quickly determine if the product holds real, long-term potential or one that is simply dressed up for short-term appeal. That is why I personally visit our sourcing locations— not just for business, but to discover something truly exceptional for our Bacha Coffee collection. I want our customers to take that first sip and think, ‘I have never tasted coffee like this before'.”