Dealflow | May 23, 2019

Oikocredit invests in responsible coffee company Caravela, while Annona exits

Jessica Pothering
ImpactAlpha Editor

Jessica Pothering

ImpactAlpha, May 23 – Oikocredit is buying out its fellow Dutch impact investor Annona from its investment in Caravela, a responsible coffee trading company that operates across Latin America.

Caravela launched in 2000 to purchase and export coffee from Latin American growers. Its network has grown to 4,000 farmers in eight countries, 90% of whom are smallholder farmers. The company pays premium rates for a product known for price volatility and to farmers struggling with unpredictable growing conditions as a result of climate change. 

Annona, a 10-year-old impact investment firm launched by a group of private pension funds in the Netherlands and the Royal Tropical Institute, first invested in Caravela in 2011. The company fit with Annona’s mandate of backing sustainable food and tourism businesses in Latin America and Africa. It has backed 15 portfolio companies.

Oikocredit has bought Annona’s undisclosed amount of shares for $4.7 million.