Review · Instant coffee
Mount Hagen instant coffee: organic, Fairtrade and decaf options
Mount Hagen makes freeze-dried organic, Fairtrade instant coffee from Arabica beans. Here's what's in the jar, where we found it in the UK today and how it compares with mainstream instant.
Mount Hagen instant coffee is a freeze-dried instant made by a Hamburg-based company that says it only buys organically grown coffee from small-scale farmers on Fairtrade terms. In the UK it’s much harder to find than mainstream brands. This page covers what Mount Hagen instant coffee is made from, the certifications, the decaf version, where we could find it on 3 Oct 2026 and how it compares on price with mainstream instant. We haven’t tested this in person. Everything here comes from Mount Hagen’s own site, retailer listings and UK prices checked on the date shown. Read how we compare.
Mount Hagen instant coffee: the short answer
Buy Mount Hagen if you want an instant coffee that’s certified both organic and Fairtrade, made only from Arabica beans and freeze-dried.
Who it isn’t for: anyone who wants the cheapest decent instant. At the one UK price we could verify, it costs about three times as much per kilo as Gold Blend.
Choose the decaf if you want the same certifications without the caffeine. We saw a decaf version listed but couldn’t verify a UK price for it on the day.
Who it isn’t for: anyone who needs it tomorrow from a local shop. UK availability is patchy.
What it costs and where to buy it
On 3 Oct 2026 we could verify two in-stock UK listings for the 100g jar. It was £13.14 for 100g at iHerb UK. See Mount Hagen instant at iHerb UK Amazon also had the same jar (UPC 819385023319, as on iHerb) in stock from a third-party seller that charges for delivery, so check price at Amazon.
We also looked elsewhere:
- Health Superstore listed a 100g jar, but it was out of stock, so we haven’t quoted a price.
- Morrisons and Planet Organic returned no Mount Hagen results.
- Holland & Barrett, Ocado and Sainsbury’s blocked our check, so we can’t confirm whether they stock it or at what price.
Health food shops and online organic grocers are the likeliest places to look. Check the jar size before you compare, because 100g is about half the size of a 190g jar of Gold Blend.
Who it isn’t for: anyone who doesn’t want to pay delivery on a single jar. Check the delivery charge before you order.
Who makes Mount Hagen
Mount Hagen says its story began in the 1980s, and its website lists the company behind the brand as Wertform GmbH, based in Hamburg. The brand’s focus is organic, Fairtrade coffee sold as ground and instant coffee, which is why the instant carries the same certifications as the rest of the range.
Who it isn’t for: shoppers looking for a big-name brand they’ll find on every UK supermarket shelf.
What’s in the jar
Mount Hagen says its instant coffee uses the same basis as its ground coffee: a blend of Arabica beans from Papua New Guinea, Peru and Honduras. The iHerb listing says it’s certified organic by Ecocert and Fairtrade certified, with 100% of the coffee sourced from Fairtrade producers.
Mount Hagen says all its instants are freeze-dried. In its own explainer, it describes the process: coffee concentrate is frozen into sheets, the ice is removed under vacuum, and the dried sheets are broken into granules. It contrasts this with spray-drying, which it says is cheaper but uses heat that costs some aroma. Freeze-dried instant looks like coarser granules; spray-dried looks like fine powder.
The brand’s suggested serving on the iHerb listing is one to two teaspoons per cup, topped up with hot water.
Who it isn’t for: anyone who prefers a Robusta-heavy, punchier instant. Mount Hagen describes its blend as Arabica only.
The decaf and other versions
Mount Hagen also sells a decaffeinated instant, which we saw listed on iHerb UK at 100g, and its own site mentions a newer instant espresso sold in a small jar. We couldn’t verify UK prices for either on 3 Oct 2026, so we’ve left those numbers out.
Who it isn’t for: anyone wanting a wide range to choose from in UK shops. What’s stocked varies by retailer.
How it compares with mainstream instant
On per-kilo price, the gap is large. At Morrisons on 3 Oct 2026, Nescafé Gold Blend was £3.85 for 95g, which Morrisons puts at £40.53 a kilo. Mount Hagen at £13.14 for 100g works out at £131.40 a kilo by our sums.
What you’re paying for is the certification and the Arabica-only, freeze-dried approach, rather than a different way of making the drink. If organic and Fairtrade matter to you, Mount Hagen ticks both boxes in one jar. If they don’t, our Gold Blend review covers a widely available alternative, and our instant coffee hub has the rest.
Who it isn’t for: anyone choosing purely on taste-per-pound. We can’t tell you it tastes better, only what it’s made from and what it costs.
Downsides
- Price: about three times Gold Blend’s per-kilo price at the one UK listing we could verify.
- Availability: not at the supermarkets we could check.
- Small jar: 100g runs out faster than a typical supermarket jar.
- Limited UK pricing for decaf and espresso versions.
From the maker: Mount Hagen’s page for the 100g decaf instant jar (in German) lists organic Arabica from Papua New Guinea, Honduras and Peru, decaffeinated with CO2 and freeze-dried, checked 3 Oct 2026.
Independent review: Clearly Coffee has published a review of the Mount Hagen organic instant coffee. We haven’t summarised its findings here.
FAQ
Is Mount Hagen instant coffee organic? Yes. The iHerb UK listing says it’s certified organic by Ecocert, and it’s also Fairtrade certified.
Is Mount Hagen freeze-dried? Mount Hagen says all its instant coffees are freeze-dried.
Where can I buy Mount Hagen instant coffee in the UK? We found it in stock at iHerb UK for £13.14 (100g), checked 3 Oct 2026, and at Amazon from a third-party seller (check price at Amazon). Several big retailers blocked our check, so look at health food shops too.
Does Mount Hagen make decaf instant? Yes, a decaffeinated instant is listed, though we couldn’t verify a UK price for it on 3 Oct 2026.
Verdict
Mount Hagen Organic Fairtrade Instant Coffee (100g)
A niche pick for people who want instant coffee that's both certified organic and Fairtrade, made only from Arabica and freeze-dried. It's hard to find on UK shelves and costs far more per kilo than supermarket instant, so it suits buyers who care about the certifications more than the price.
Pros
- Pro: Certified organic (by Ecocert, per the iHerb listing) and Fairtrade
- Pro: Arabica blend from Papua New Guinea, Peru and Honduras, according to Mount Hagen
- Pro: Freeze-dried rather than spray-dried, per Mount Hagen
- Pro: Decaf version available
Cons
- Con: £13.14 for 100g at iHerb UK, checked 3 Oct 2026, several times the per-kilo price of Gold Blend
- Con: We couldn't find it at the UK supermarkets we could check
- Best for
- Instant coffee drinkers who want organic and Fairtrade certification in one jar.
- Who it isn't for
- Anyone buying instant mainly on price, or who wants to pick it up with the weekly shop.
See it at the retailer: the Mount Hagen Organic Fairtrade Instant Coffee at iHerb UK (no maker product page found)Link: the Mount Hagen Organic Fairtrade Instant Coffee at iHerb UK (no maker product page found). Not an affiliate link.
Sources
- See Mount Hagen instant at iHerb UK (uk.iherb.com)
- page for the 100g decaf instant jar (mounthagen.de)
- review of the Mount Hagen organic instant coffee (clearlycoffee.com)