Independent Swiss foundation · est. 2021
Supporting lasting change in coffee-farming communities.
ViFOUNDATION partners directly with coffee farmers at origin to lower risk and strengthen their futures, funding work in agroecology and financial resilience — with results independently audited and openly reported.
Ten projects across eight origin countries in Latin America, East Africa and Southeast Asia.
Accountability
The foundation's work, set out plainly.
Projects
Impactful projects driven by farmers and community needs.
Every project works in communities where ViCAFE sources its coffee. Open any one for the full account — its budget, its status and its outcome.
Coffee Value Chain for Climate Action
The foundation's largest and most recent project: a three-year programme at Lake Atitlán, Guatemala that turns organic and sanitation waste into biochar-based substrate — rebuilding the soil coffee depends on while targeting more than 1,000 tonnes of avoided CO₂.
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Orang Utan Coffee
In the Gayo Highlands of Northern Sumatra, the Orang Utan Coffee project links certified-organic coffee with rainforest and wildlife conservation, supporting more than 350 smallholder farmers.
Learning Cachoeira
Miriam is one of the leading coffee farmers in Brazil and a passionate advocate for organic farming, agroforestry, women in coffee, and the empowerment of marginalized farming communities.
Digital advice with farmbetter
farmbetter is on a mission to provide digital advice to smallholder farmers, making knowledge about sustainable agronomic practices readily available.
Rwenzori's Potential
In 2023, ViCAFE established a small holder cluster consisting of three farms in the Rwenzori Mountains, situated on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Closing the Equity Circle
Coffee farmers generally earn relatively little but bear considerable risks, especially with the increasingly unpredictable and severe weather due to climate change.
Bio-Fábrica
Oscar is one of ViCAFE's longstanding coffee partners.
Bring back the Trees
Monocultures typically increase the vulnerabilities of ecosystems towards climate change.
Aprolma's Wishlist
Since 2016 ViCAFE works together with the Aprolma Women's Cooperative in La Paz, Honduras (65 members).
Bring Water Up
Ciumenene Farm is in the highlands of Kiambu, Kenya.
Partnerships
The organisations we work with.
Governance, independence & finances
The foundation's credibility rests on independence — so it is documented.
An independent foundation under Swiss law
The ViFOUNDATION is an independent Stiftung supervised by the Federal Foundation Supervisory Authority. ViCOLLECTIVE AG (ViCAFE and Vivi Kola) supports it through a CHF 0.40-per-kilogram coffee pledge and pro-bono work; project decisions rest with the board.
The ViCAFE relationship, disclosed
Three board members are also active at ViCAFE. Each affiliation is stated below, conflicted members are recused from related decisions, and the board is working to add an independent academic voice from a coffee-origin country.
Audited and supervised
The annual accounts — balance sheet, income statement and the statutory auditor's report — are audited by KPMG Zürich and reviewed by the supervisory authority. The annual report will be published on this page.
Finances & oversight
The board
The board, and where each member stands.
Kurt Lambert
Mark Heasman
Pascal Herzog
Silvio Mattanza
academic voice
from origin
Incoming member
Support the work
An open platform, with a clear way to contribute.
Companies, organisations and individuals can support the foundation's work. Every contribution is auditable and reported.
Support the foundation
To make a contribution or discuss a collaboration, please get in touch and we'll send you the details.
Email the foundationQuestions
About the foundation.
What is ViFOUNDATION?
ViFOUNDATION is an independent Swiss foundation (Stiftung) that works alongside coffee-farming communities at origin — funding agroecology, soil, water and financial-resilience projects. Its accounts are audited by KPMG in Zürich and it is supervised by the Swiss Federal Foundation Supervisory Authority.
Where does ViFOUNDATION work?
In the coffee-growing regions where ViCAFE sources its coffee, including Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Indonesia.
What kinds of projects does it fund?
Agroforestry and regenerative-farming training, composting and soil health, tree planting, solar-powered irrigation, digital agronomy advice, support for women's cooperatives, and a farmer financial-participation pilot.
How is the foundation funded?
Chiefly through ViCAFE — a certified B Corporation — which pledges CHF 0.40 for every kilogram of coffee it sells, alongside donations and project-specific partnerships.
Is ViFOUNDATION independently audited?
Yes — its accounts are audited by KPMG in Zürich, and it is supervised by the Swiss Federal Foundation Supervisory Authority.
How can I support the foundation?
By getting in touch with the foundation by email, or partnering as an organisation. Details are in the Support section above.
Contact
Get in touch with the foundation.
Send us a question, tell us about your organisation, or share your own project ideas. For partnership enquiries you may also write to Pascal Herzog directly at pascal.herzog@vicollective.ch.