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September 2009
A Cooperative Coffees e-Newsletter for and about Fair Trade
Issue No. 15 September 2009
In this issue...
Reach out!
Summer's over, the school-year has started up, and Coop Coffees is moving full steam ahead! During the past month, staff and roaster members have visited producer partners in Peru, Nicaragua, Mexico and Colombia...all the while preparing for our Annual General Meeting September 24 -27! Closer to home, our Montreal office is thrilled to see plans progress for our in-house quality control lab. And on the heels of hosting a fun and productive "Green Committee retreat" (our "pre-inauguration"), September 17th is the official cutting of the ribbon for our new office space... so don't hesitate to drop by if you're in the neighborhood! We are co-hosting an inauguration reception with our office-mates and fellow Fair Traders, Direct Terroir and FibrEthik.
In Americus, Cafe Campesino has had the pleasure of hosting Miguel Tzoy, Commercial Manager for la Asociación Chajulense - one of our primary Guatemalan producer partners. Between super-soaker-assassin fundraisers, a trip to visit the Sweetwater roastery in Florida, and weekly English lessons, Miguel and the folks at Cafe Campesino have stayed busy having fun and getting to know one another.
On the other side of the coffee producing world - COOPAC wins another quality award in the Rwandan Cup of Excellence. The coop was able to buy farm animals and equipment for its winning members with the money raised from the coffee sales.
Early on this summer, the Fair Trade Federation was busy on the West Coast participating in Gift Shows and checking in with current and future FTF members. Now as summer cools its heels, the Fair Trade movement is gearing up for Halloween - getting the word out early about Reverse Trick-or-Treating, when children and parents are encouraged to give BACK with Fair Trade chocolate and informational postcards about the chocolate industry. Enjoy your read and, as always.... let us know what changes you'd like to see in this newsletter by emailing us at bignews@coopcoffees.com.
Outreach and Communications
Coop Sol opens their doors to the Green Team!
| In a short but productive weekend, Coop Coffees' Green Committee met in the new office space and site of the coop's future quality control lab to discuss pressing green bean issues and evaluate the next steps in getting our lab up and running. |
Roaster News
Cafe Campesino gives Miguel a taste of Georgia!
| It's not every day that the folks in Americus, GA get to spend time with a farmer and marketing director from a coffee coop in Guatemala -- and it's not every day that a farmer from Guatemala gets to visit a group of Georgians and experience their culture first-hand. But that's exactly what's been jgoing down in the hometown of CoopCoffees and member/roaster Cafe Campesino. Since August, Miguel Tzoy of la Asociación Chajulense in Guatemala has been visiting with the community, learning all about the day-to-day of imports and roasting getting accustomed to the unique cuisine, and fitting in regular English lessons into his busy schedule! |
Producer News
Cows for quality at COOPAC
| Every year, Rwanda's national coffee competition awards the country's best coffee with the prestigious "Cup of Excellence." This year, farmers from Coop Coffees' producer partner COOPAC received fantastic scores and collected enough money from the coffees' auction sales to purchase several cows, goats, and hoes for the winning groups! |
Travel: Where in the world is Coop Coffees?
Coffee, honey, ecotourism and more - a visit with CAC Pangoa!
| From August 11 to 15, a small team from Coop Coffees and Peace Coffee traveled to the Central Amazon region of Peru to visit our producer partner CAC Pangoa. It was the perfect opportunity to contribute to Pangoa's efforts to establish its own quality lab, launch a roasted coffee iniative in their local market and learn about other exciting new projects in the works. Seeing first hand, the accomplishments at Pangoa is proof of the power of Fair Trade... and a testimony of how indispensable long-term, beneficial relationships are for small-scale farmers. |
The latest in the Fair Trade movement
This Halloween, try "Reverse Trick or Treating"
| For three years now, "Reverse Trick-or-Treating" -- where kids hand chocolate back to adults during their regular door-to-door stops on Halloween -- has raised awareness around child labor, forced labor, and trafficking in the cocoa fields. The goal is to rally consumers to put the pressure on the chocolate industry for more fair cocoa sourcing policies. In collaboration with Equal Exchange, Alter Eco, and Sweet Earth, Global exchange has launched this year's campaign and has made thousands of (free!) kits available to the public -- all you have to do is order them! Check out www.reversetrickortreating.org for more... |
Fair Trade Federation tours the West Coast
| The Fair Trade Federation -- North America's association of Fair Trade organizations -- has become increasingly active in promoting its members and Fair Trade in general at various trade shows across the country. This summer, they partnered with the California Gift Show to establish a strong Fair Trade presence at the convention. "FTF is exploring opportunities at other key trade shows, such as the Natural Products Expo" so be sure to stay tuned to where the FTF will be in the future! |
