Forgot your password?
Producer Tours
An integral part of the relationship between CoopCoffees and its producer-partners is getting to know each other's context and country. Members of CoopCoffees often take visits into the various coffeelands where producers live and work and producer-partners gladly reciprocate by making the journey north to get an idea of where their coffee goes and is sold. In this section, you can read up on some of the various Producer Tours that have taken place recently.
2009 Tours
Santiago returns to Canada -- this time to the Great White North!
Muskox, caribou, elk, bison, and moose -- I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore! And even farther from Piura, Peru where Santiago Paz left from in mid-April to catch the annual SCAA, and then to fly up to Whitehorse, Yukon to spend several days with Coop Coffees' member-roaster, Bean North. With a couple quick detours in Montreal and Toronto beforehand, Santiago's brief Canadian tour ended in a couple feet of snow and with extremely grateful company!
Read a report of an interview with Santiago...
Maria Isabel takes a tour of Bongo Java, Heine Bros' and Larry's Beans
After spending time with the Coop Coffees gang at the kick-off of our 10-year anniversary in Americus, Maria Isabel Balbuena of FEDECARES traveled to Nashville to begin a week-long tour of Bongo Java, Heine Brothers' Coffee in Louisville, and Larry's Beans in Raleigh. Miguel Martinez of Fondo Paez joined her for the visit to Bongo Java. The roasters each showed Maria Isabel the context in which FEDECARES' coffee is purchased and consumed and Maria Isabel gave a well-prepared presentation on the coop at a couple of public events. The visit was truly a "success" in that it provided another wonderful opportunity for coffee consumers to connect with a representative of coffee producers and have a whole lot of fun doing so!
Miguel of Manos Campesinas gets a "sweet" taste of Florida
With an early departure the morning after the Coop Coffees' 10 year celebration in Americus, Miguel Mateo, Tripp, and Dan of Cafe Campesino took a road trip to Gainesville, FL. Miguel's visit to the home of our most recently-added member Sweetwater included sampling coffee and speaking with college students at the University of FL Gainesville's Earth Day event. After spending a bit of time with the folks at the roastery, Miguel headed westward to finish up his tour in Santa Rosa Beach. As usual, Amavida had set up several engaging activities from radio shows to Spanish classes at a local school to cafe presentations.
2008 Tours
Post-AGM: ACOES travels South
While the rest of the Cooperative Coffees' gang headed back home and back to business-as-usual, the "party" had only just begun for our producer representatives. After witnessing and particiating in three intensive days of CoopCoffees' meetings, Don Rogelio and Oscar made their way to warmer territories: Americus, GA to spend a few days with the Cafe Campesino crowd and then Santa Rosa Beach, FL to take part in a number of activities alongside Amavida.
Post-AGM: Rigoberto of MICHIZA hangs out with Just Coffee
Rigoberto had quite the busy post-AGM schedule as well! He spent the week following the AGM with a couple of different groups associated with Catholic Relief Services -- a close ally of Cooperative Coffees. Flying to Chicago, then New York City, then back to Chicago and onto Madison, Rigoberto was quite the jet-setter in those few days. He wound up his trip with the folks at Just Coffee.
Canadian Tour with Santiago 
Coinciding with the Fair Trade Weeks, or La Quinzaine du Commerce Équitable, as it is known in Quebec, Cooperative Coffees organised a small producer tour that took place from May 6th to May 10th. Santiago Paz Lopez, the founding manager of CEPICAFE, and long time Coop Coffees partner based in northern Peru, visited several of our Canadian members to talk about his experiences in Fair Trade and his vision for the future of the movement.
Santiago Paz Lopez Presentation on Fair Trade
Below is my recapitulation of Santiago’s presentations that were given during the producer tour in Canada. It is not an exact transcript of his speeches, but rather a summary of what he said, restated to the best of my memory. Read on to learn his vivid descriptions of the significant impacts Fair Trade has had on the communities of Northern Peru, and to read his thoughts on the mainstreaming of the Fair Trade movement.
Mid West Producer Tour Report
Within the framework of the SCAA’s annual meeting and conference in Minneapolis in May 2008, three Cooperative Coffees members, namely Peace Coffee, Kickapoo and Just Coffee, organized a producer tour in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The purpose of this visit was to reduce the gap between consumers and producers by building relationships and understanding through roasters. The delegation of producers got to visit roaster members’ operations, ask questions, share opinions and discuss Fair Trade benefits with consumers and members of Coop Coffees.
