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June 2009
A Cooperative Coffees e-Newsletter for and about Fair Trade
Issue No. 13 June 2009
In this issue...
Reach out!
As companies tend to fight economic slow down and to pull back in their business plans, the Fair Trade market and movement press on with what seems to be unprecedented force! Events like World Fair Trade Day and the Fair Trade Resource Network's record-breaking Fair Trade Coffee Break show that the movement is successfully reaching consumers all over North America and the world. Projects like Coop Coffees member Peace Coffee's new "mapmybeans.com" indicate both a broadening and a deepening of their commitment to Fair Trade -- for many, the Fair Trade movement is much more than just a social label; it's about the farmers and families behind the product and the relationship behind the trade.
At Coop Coffees, we encourage people to get to know the producer partners we work with. In this month's newsletter, you can find more about Gumutindo, one of our newer partner coops in Uganda. We're thrilled to include this new coffee source, and to be able to collaborate with this network of farmer cooperatives.
The CRS Cafe Livelihoods project - working with Cooperative Coffees and partner farmer coops in Central America and Mexico -- is a good example of such collaboration. We have a brief update on the project for which Coop Coffees members and staff have already met with several groups in El Salvador and Guatemala.
As usual, Cooperative Coffees has been busy both at home and abroad! May the work.... and the fun in Fair Trade never end!
Enjoy your read!
Let us know what changes you'd like to see in this newsletter by emailing us at bignews@coopcoffees.com.
Outreach and Special Projects
Montreal panel tackles "responsible consumption" - which label/system to trust?
 | With so many labels and messages floating in the world of Fair Trade, how do we choose the "right" one? As companies of all shapes and sizes claim a stake in corporate social responsibility, the consumer is often left with mixed messages as to which claim or label is "legitimate." In a discussion hosted by a local NGO in Montreal, key actors of the Fair Trade and responsible consumption movements -- Coop Coffees included -- addressed these issues and the various perspectives at play. |
Roaster News
Peace Coffee launches new traceability site: mapmybeans.com
| A key principle of Fair Trade is traceability; the consumer should be able to follow the path of a delicious cup of joe, bar of chocolate, or spoon-full of sugar back to the farm and coop behind the product. Peace Coffee recently launched a bright, fun, user-friendly website for people to dig deeper into their daily brew and learn about where the coffee comes from and who produces it. |
Producer News
Coop Coffees welcomes a new source and producer partner, Gumutindo
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| Gumutindo began its work officially in 1998 after the coffee industry in Uganda had all but collapsed. With the goal of producing and exporting high quality arabica coffee beans, Gumutindo started with a couple hundred dedicated farmers who were interested in improving quality through organic practices. Now, the coop has more than 6,000 farmers and exports to Europe, New Zealand and North America. |
Travel: Where in the world is CoopCoffees?
Update on CRS CAFE Livelihoods Project for El Salvador, Guatemala
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| Slowly but surely – despite Swine flu-induced rescheduling and all the usual challenges of getting a multi-sector and international project of this nature moving forward in a coordinated way – Cooperative Coffees and CRS, under their recently launched CAFÉ Livelihoods project, have set the wheels in motion in El Salvador and Guatemala. |
The Latest in the Fair Trade Movement
World Fair Trade Day surpasses its goal for 2009's Coffee Break!
| Every year, Fair Traders all over the world join forces for "World Fair Trade Day." This year, May 9 was the special day and the Fair Trade Resource Network worked very hard to organize and promote the largest FT Coffee Break in North America. They surpassed their lofty goal of 55,000 participants and successfully reached thousands of consumers all over the continent! Congratulations FTRN and keep up the good work! |
Fair Trade "holds its own" despite recession, according to CBC
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| In the current economy, reports of growth are hard to come by. If anything, businesses are happy when they're not recording losses. But as an article from Canada's news agency, CBC, indicates - and as we've seen among our own members at Coop Coffees - it appears that the Fair Trade way of doing business is helping to dampen the effects of the crisis. Not only is Fair Trade helping to strengthen and empower producers in the Global South, it's also supporting and protecting the small businesses that live and work by its principles. |
