Basic Functions

1.  Excellent Communications

• Internal: Information to and from roasters
• Internal: Information to and from producers
• External: Information to allies and general public. This includes offering general info about Coop Coffees and our vision of Fair Trade to allies such as social financiers, friends in the sustainable living and organics world, local economy, student networks, dedicate Fair Traders, and others in the specialty coffee trade networks. This also features actions and collaborations to help build and maintain these relationships.

We maintain communication with members and allies around a variety of issues related to our work and to fair trade in general. We will maintain existing outreach mechanisms (including updating producer and roaster profiles, brochures, newsletters, generating materials for the CC website, etc.). We will also explore new alternatives (for example, participation in FT conferences and roundtables, creating closer relationships with FT promoting agencies ) for improving the outreach of our Fair Trade message.

2.  Promoting Best Practices

We will facilitate the flow of information and exchange between roaster members and producer partners to help us learn more about what we are each doing to further develop their respective companies and organizations, and to promote this to the broader Fair Trade universe. This might include information and actions such as:

• Resources and contact information
• Research and knowledge
• Technological innovation
• Developing relationships
• Direct action for capacity building with producer partners

Top priority is facilitating stronger relationships between grower cooperatives and cooperative coffees and its roaster members. This might be accomplished via helping producers arrange visits to our roasters, helping arrange visits by our roasters to grower communities, helping put together capacity building activities and information, and generally keeping in close touch with grower co-ops while following their progress.

The structure of the Solidarity Cooperative is conducive to bringing producer partners into our organizational structure and direction setting for future activities. Our first producer representatives came in as members at the CoopSol assembly in 2008. 

CoopSol was charged with raising the necessary funds to facilitate ample producer participation during our 2007 AGM. With this experience, we may have opened the door to explore funding possibilities for projects that strengthen the general health and stability of our producer partners’ organizations.

3.  Taking Care of the Mechanics (to get the "right coffee" on a boat at the "right time")

The mechanics include bringing together the nuts and bolts of planning our contracts and container shipment schedule, such as:

• Feedback and commitments from roasters regarding green bean volumes
• Feedback from roasters regarding green bean quality
• Compile this information for an annual "Master Green Bean Purchase Plan"
• Writing up and signing of green bean contracts
• Follow up on delivery for producer contracts
• Quality verification--that landed and pre-ship samples match and are acceptable
• Writing up and signing of roaster purchase contracts
• Follow up with roasters that purchases correspond to commitments