Our Story: An Entrepreneur with a Heart

Carlo Granito, a passionate humanitarian and entrepreneur, founded Terra Coffee & Tea in 1978.

Carlo's father flourished as an importer of fine Italian foods. He conveyed the values of hard work and love of quality products. It inspired Carlo to conduct his business with honesty when he began visiting and building relationships with coffee growers at the young age of 23.

Handcrafted with Passion

Carlo began importing and experimenting with different varieties of green coffee beans. He felt inspired and determined to roast each of them to their highest potential.

Carlo spent four decades perfecting his specialty roasting technique, Torrefazione Artigianale Granito (TAG). This method involves fully caramelizing the natural sugars in coffee beans to highlight the complexities of its origin. Requiring extreme precision and intuition, it takes years of roasting experience to achieve this result.

Driven by his spirit for adventure, Carlo expanded his knowledge of specialty teas and soon after launched ARIEL Tea. It offers an extensive selection of creative blends and superior quality single-origin whole-leaf teas.

Today, he also offers a wide selection of handcrafted hot chocolates, organic sugars, and cocoa.

Carlo's Humane Approach

Carlo is concerned for the well-being of growers, their families, and people in need in his community, so he created the Humaniterra Foundation. Since its date of conception, he has donated over $230,000 from sales to local and foreign non-profit humanitarian organizations. Carlo also joined forces with UTZ Certified (now known as Rainforest Alliance), an independent party that ensures that buyers meet the needs of growers and growers maintain sustainable agricultural practices.

"In 1999, I visited our Cuban coffee supplier's plantation for the very first time. He and his family invited me to their home for dinner. As a gesture of hospitality, they prepared a special feast, including dishes made with the one and only pig from their farm. I was moved by their kindness, especially considering their limited resources, yet they shared with me what was truly precious to them. This is just one of the many reasons why I believe it is crucial we offer responsible coffees, meaning that we properly pay all growers for the high quality green coffee beans they produce for us and also, support them in running their business and taking care of their employees and the environment."

Today — a Family Business

Carlo's youngest daughter, Aimée, and her husband, John, plan to take over the family business one day.

"I have so many great memories of Terra. From climbing up mountains of green coffee bags in the warehouse as kids, to tasting and even serving my very first cup of coffee! Working here has always been a pleasure. Not only do I get to catch up on lost time with my dad who spent countless days and nights at the office when we were little, but I also get to be a part of an honest company whose main objective is to make people happy."

Learn more about our team and TAG specialty roasting craft.