The Roastery

In the cooperative’s roastery, we take care of freshly roasted coffee both for our own coffe shop and for a growing number of customers.

The roastery was the first activity of Zadruga BUNA and the reason the cooperative came into existence. In 2014, Živa Lopatič, Tine Čokl, and Rene Suša decided to turn their experience with fair trade into reality. As the founders of the cooperative, we aimed to raise awareness about the exploitation of people and the environment—an inseparable part of the global coffee industry—through lectures on coffee and fair trade. But words alone weren’t enough. Because we wanted to prove that coffee-based business models can exist without exploitation, we decided to take a step further.

From the idea to the creation

We founded the cooperative, purchased our first coffee roaster, and set up a micro roastery. This step was not only symbolic—it was proof that fair trade principles could be implemented throughout the entire chain, from import to final sale. And we added one more key element to our approach: quality and freshness.

The demand for freshly roasted coffee quickly grew. That came as no surprise—what we offered was something the Slovenian market hadn’t seen before: transparent, ethical, and high-quality coffee that tells its story from origin to the final cup in your hands.

Growth and relocation

A few years later, we moved the roastery to a larger space. The reason was practical—we needed more room to store green coffee. But the move also symbolized the growth of the movement we had started. From a small micro roastery, we developed into a significant player on the Slovenian coffee scene.

From a local need to a broader offer

At first, we thought the roastery would only supply Café Čokl. But that changed quickly. Today, coffee from the BUNA roastery is served in 12 cafés and restaurants, and brewed by employees in over 15 offices across Slovenia. How many homes stock our coffee, we unfortunately don’t know—we don’t keep track—but it’s certainly in the hundreds.

This growth showed us that there is genuine demand for good coffee—and even more so when that coffee comes without exploitation.

Looking to the future

Although our current roastery is much larger than the first, it no longer meets all our needs and aspirations. So we decided to build a new one, better suited to our goals. Right now, a new building is taking shape in a small village in the Notranjska region, and our roastery will soon have a new home there.

But this will be more than just a workshop like we have now—it will also be a place for tastings and education. While we can’t invite you there just yet, we’re looking forward to the day you can visit us. We have many stories to share and a lot of knowledge we’d love to pass on.

More than just roasting

Until then, enjoy freshly roasted coffee from our roastery—and don’t forget that we’re happiest when you take it home in reusable packaging.

The BUNA Roastery is more than a place where coffee is roasted. It is the embodiment of our values—a place where ethics meet quality. Every bean roasted in our roaster carries with it a story of fair treatment of producers, care for the environment, and a commitment to quality.

The roastery remains the heart of the cooperative—where the principles of fair trade become tangible products we can enjoy every day. And that was our goal from the beginning: to prove that a different, fairer way of doing business is not only possible—but successful.

Assessment by the Slovenian Consumers’ Association

At the end of spring 2023, the Slovenian Consumers’ Association (Zveza potrošnikov Slovenije – ZPS) decided to test coffees available on the Slovenian market. Among the selected samples was our coffee blend of two Arabicas (from Brazil and Colombia), roasted in our own roastery. This blend is currently our most consumed product on the Slovenian market – it’s served in our café, enjoyed at our partners’ locations, and brewed at home and in offices.

We’re happy to share that this very coffee was rated the best among all tested samples. We are especially proud that, among all tested coffees, our blend had the lowest acrylamide content (well below the reference level set by the EU Regulation on acrylamide 2017/2158) and contained no ochratoxin A. In addition, it received a very good rating for its origin labeling.

You can view the test results, published in the ZPS Test magazine, on their website – this time, the results are freely available to the public. You can find them here: https://www.zps.si/testi/test-mlete-prazene-kave-za-pripravo-turske-kave-294.