SCAA and Party in Americus!

For the second year in a row, Cooperative Coffees hosted a booth at the SCAA. Amidst the coffee stirrers and cup sleeves, the fruity syrups and sugary cookie accompaniments, the latest espresso machines and top-of-the-line roasters, Cooperative Coffees, together with four roaster-member companies, set up shop – complete with comfortable burlap bean bags! – presenting the work we’ve been doing for ten years and counting! As usual, the trade show provided a great opportunity to meet with our partners and allies as well as establish some new contacts in the Fair Trade business. And as usual, after countless meetings, evening events, and daytime lectures, we were all pretty exhausted by Sunday evening when the show ended. But the fun was only just beginning!!

After the closing of the SCAA, approximately 75 of us – staff, members, producer partners, and allies of Cooperative Coffees – gathered together and loaded into vans for a group “field trip” to Americus, Georgia. Headquarters and birthplace of Cooperative Coffees as well as home to member-roaster Café Campesino, Americus is 3 hours southeast of Atlanta and offered the perfect setting for what turned out to be a fabulously successful gathering to exchange information and experience and to celebrate the official kick-off of Coop Coffees’ 10-year anniversary.

Monday morning began with an early rise and a quick transition into roundtable discussions. The meeting focused on challenges of organic production, current market issues, and status and future of Fair Trade. At perhaps the only time in the year – maybe even in several years – the various actors involved in each step of the coffee process were seated side-by-side, giving them the unique opportunity to bring their own perspective and experience to the table. Producers, cooperative managers, exporters, importers, roasters, and members of the NGO community spoke and listened to one another about key, and often divisive, issues. Though the discussions – which could have gone into the wee hours of the morning! – lasted just a few hours, it was enough for people to take home a more comprehensive understanding of the “other’s” experience and point of view. Lot’s to think of as we crunched on our southern deep-fried chicken lunch!

The afternoon was filled with a quick Coop Sol general annual assembly and then a jaunt over to the historical Jimmy Carter boyhood farm in Plains, GA. The tentative plan was to have a short meet-and-greet with the former President at the Jimmy Carter school/museum. Several years ago, Coop Coffees met with Mr. Carter in Plains after one of his monthly Sunday schools at a local church. In his “retirement,” President Carter has been involved with a variety of projects in Latin America and seemed to have a particular “soft spot” for our hard-working producer partners as well as Fair Trade in general. Sure enough, Mr. Carter didn’t let us down! Our big group listened to the president thank the farmers for their efforts. After a quick photo op with everyone outside, Mr. Carter climbed into his conspicuous SUV and we headed over to Café Campesino to begin our celebration.

True to Coop Coffees’ style, the party at Café Campesino was a wildly fun affair! Tripp Pomeroy, Mike Mays and Bill Harris began the evening with thoughtful words and warm memories of the last 10 years and a hopeful outlook for the next 10! The speeches were followed by an unbelievably delicious roasted pig, an upbeat live band, and conversation with the best company one could ask for! 

The short "retreat" to Americus was a great way to close the SCAA events and take advantage of the presence of so many trusted allies and friends.  We all had a blast getting to know one another and the event certainly helped mark a major milestone in the history of Cooperative Coffees.  Thank you to everyone who participated and made the effort to be there!  Here's to another 10 years!

For more photos of the event, check out our photo gallery.

Read the Americus Times-Recorder's front page report about our event!

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