Description
Terra Etica, long known as Café Michel, is a worker cooperative (SCOP) in Pessac near Bordeaux that roasts organic, fair-trade coffee and sells tea, chocolate and sugar bought from small farmers’ cooperatives.
Michel Gélis founded Café Michel in 1981. In 1993 it became the first French roaster to make organic and fair-trade coffee for organic shops. The staff took it over as a SCOP in 2007, the year Ethiquable took a stake in it, and it moved into a new roastery in Pessac in 2017. Teas and chocolates have been sold as Terra Etica since 2011; in 2024 the members voted to put all 38 products under that one name. The cooperative has 27 employees, 21 of them members, who elect the manager.
It says it works directly with 53 producer cooperatives, among them Fondo Paez in Colombia and Majomut in Chiapas, Mexico. The packs carry the EU organic logo and, depending on the product, the Small Producers’ Symbol (SPP), Fairtrade Max Havelaar or the “Bio équitable en France” label, and the company is a member of the World Fair Trade Organization. It sells through Biocoop and other organic chains, independent organic shops, La Fourche, its own shop in Pessac and its webshop. In November 2026, 250 g of ground Mélange Doux cost €6.63 and 250 g of Mexico €7.73.
Strengths
- The roastery belongs to the people who work there: a worker cooperative whose members elect the manager.
- Many packs carry the Small Producers’ Symbol, a label owned by producer organisations themselves, as well as the EU organic logo.
- It has roasted organic, fair-trade coffee for organic shops since 1993, and buys from 53 named cooperatives.
Weaknesses
- It is sold mainly in organic shops and online, not in ordinary supermarkets, so it is harder to find outside larger towns.
- A company profile on Makesense noted that it had not yet published an impact measurement.
- The site lists its labels but not the bodies that certify each product, so checking a pack’s label takes extra searching.
Who it is for
Households in France who buy their coffee or tea in an organic shop and want it roasted in France by a cooperative that buys from small farmers.
Sources
- Terra Etica: home, about, our SCOP, fair trade, shop, stockists, legal notice (checked November 2026)
- WFTO Europe: our members, Café Michel et Terra Etica
- Le Journal des Entreprises: Café Michel, une nouvelle usine pour son café bio et équitable
- Makesense: Café Michel I Terra Etica
- Businesscoot: Café Michel Terra Etica