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Maria Isabel takes a tour of Bongo, Heine, and Larry's
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!
**A BIG thank-you to Maria Isabel and Miguel for their time and willingness to participate as well as to all the hosts for their hospitality planning! The following is a compilation of reports and pictures from the helpful staff that hosted our partners.
First stop: Bongo Java
"After this year's SCAA, Bongo Java was proud to host a visit from two of our producer partners: Maria Isabel Balbuena from FEDECARES in the Dominican Republic, and Miguel Martinez from Fondo Paez in Colombia. This visit was a first for BongoWorld and an amazing opportunity for exchange on both sides.
While they were here, Maria Isabel and Miguel toured the Bongo cafes, learning about our clientele and how we operate, as well as tasting different coffees and espresso drinks. They also got a chance to see how coffee is sold to the American masses with investigative visits to the coffee aisles at Whole Foods and Kroger. Miguel spent a morning at the Roasting Co., where he learned about our green bean ordering and storage and the ins and outs of our roasting, packaging and tracking systems. He even got to witness a barista take her final certification exam to work the Bongo espresso bar--fun for him, although it turned the pressure up for the barista!
We tried to make sure Nashville learned a lot from them, too. Miguel and Maria Isabel spoke to a convocation class of Belmont University students and met with folks from Conexion Americas, a local immigrant assistance organization that also partners with us on a private label coffee called Rumba Roast (a custom blend of 100% Fair Trade and Organic Bongo Java coffees). We also held a gathering at Bongo East Cafe for a group of BongoWorld friends and employees, where we sampled coffees from Fondo Paez and FEDECARES and learned about how Fair Trade has impacted their members.
Most importantly, though, we had a chance to get to know each other. The words "Fair Trade" really just reference a stack of documents that conform to a particular set of standards. A truly fair trading relationship requires much more than that: it requires that we open the doors on either side of the contract and get to know each other as people, rather than simply as suppliers or purchasers of a product. We were grateful for the opportunity not only to learn more about the work Miguel and Maria Isabel do in the coffee industry, but to share meals with them, to hear their stories, to learn about their families and bring them into ours. It's those experiences that form the foundation for genuinely respectful, long-term trading relationships and -- hopefully-- allow us to make real and sustainable change in the coffee industry." | Miguel of Fondo Paez hangs out with Bongo "staff" |
Stop #2: Heine Bros' Coffee
While Miguel had to head back to Georgia to catch his flight home, Maria Isabel hopped in a car and headed over to Heine Brothers' Coffee in Louisville, KY to continue her tour. Her visit in Louisville was relatively calm and relaxed with a lot of getting to know the families and people behind the roasting company! May is a good and busy month to visit Louisville: between Kentucky derby season, the art festival, and all kinds of outdoor activities, Maria Isabel got quite a taste of life in Louisville -- complete with soccer games and family dinners!
Final Stop: Larry's Beans
"Maria-Isabel’s arrival was on the final afternoon of the Southern Women’s Show, Raleigh. There she had the opportunity to see us in action, brewing up samples of Fair-Trade coffee to over 40,000 women. After a few hours of overstimulation, she pitched in to break down our booth and load it into our veggie-powered delivery truck. We transitioned to a much more relaxed venue at the home of one of our Sales Managers where Maria found her temporary home. After a long day of travel, the offer of beer was graciously and enthusiastically accepted by all and a home-cooked meal of veggie lasagna was enjoyed by a number of Larry’s Beans crew members and guests, including an impromptu interpreter. It was later disclosed that this meal marked Maria-Isabel’s fifth offering of lasagna since her arrival in the US!
The following day, Larry’s Beans was unveiling the launch of our coffee within UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill which meant an early start for all involved, and yet another long and exhausting day of talking and sampling coffee. Maria-Isabel was excited by the opportunity to personally meet our end consumers and have the opportunity to engage them one-on-one. We had scheduled an interpreter to help bridge the language gap. Technical difficulties foiled her intention to make a presentation to passersby, though it afforded an opportunity to discuss with our roaster, Brad, specific concerns of quality and consistency in our Dominican coffee. Following the event, she again willingly helped us break down and load up our gear. To keep things exciting, the delivery truck failed to start and required towing all the way back to Raleigh. We wrapped up the evening with a home-cooked meal at our Bookkeeper’s home of none other than – lasagna! Yup! Her sixth lasagna since her arrival in the US! Clearly, there was a break-down in communication somewhere. I suppose what they say is true: great minds cook alike!
Her third day with us was, oddly enough, her first to visit the Beanplant. Following a full tour of the facilities, Maria Isabel had the opportunity to meet the entire crew and sit in on a couple of managerial meetings. We visited a customer’s coffeehouse for lunch and made a trip over to see the coffee display at Whole Foods. In preparation for the evening’s Open House at the Beanplant, we stocked up on Presidente at the nearby International Foods store.
Invitations were extended to all of our key buyers in area markets and coffeehouses to come meet one of our producing partners and enjoy an ice-cold Dominican beer (or four) after hours. Turnout was around twenty or thirty folks representing about a dozen different customers in addition to our LB’s employees. After an hour or so of dancing and merry-making, Maria-Isabel was able to share a power-point presentation she had created explaining her work with FEDECARES and helping our customers understand the significance of Fair-Trade practices to those who are toiling on the source end. A question and answer session following the presentation was extremely enlightening to all present, and really drove home the importance of our work.
Early the next morning we saw Maria-Isabel off on her trip to NYC to visit extended family members. Though it seemed like a whirl-wind trip, we are extremely appreciative of the opportunity we had to commune with a producer on our own turf and reciprocate the hospitality we experience during our own source visits. Some valuable information was shared on both sides, and we look forward to bettering our relationship with FEDECARES and are grateful for our newly forged friendship with Maria-Isabel."
For more information on FEDECARES, see their profile.
For more information on Fondo Paez, see their profile.
