What is "Great Coffee for the Greater Good"?
Catch phrases and tag lines are a dime a dozen, but ours was thought up by a customer after we opened and he learned about our sourcing of coffee beans and our philosophy of how we do business.
What is "The Greater Good"?
As Americans, we often take many things for granted, as we bend over to tie our shoes made in Cambodia by a young child working for room and board to escape starvation. This is something that occurs throughout the world in many of the things we purchase as consumers, and are rarely aware of. Some things that occur to provide developed countries with the goods they demand have consequences that go beyond human rights issues such as deforestation which not only impacts the ecosystem being bulldozed and burned, it also effects the atmosphere globally.
Coffee’s history is a bleak one. Most coffee producing countries haven’t seen fair wages for their workers until the last few decades. Slavery, manipulated poverty, and violent occupation are just some of the ways that oppressive powers have taken advantage of struggling farming communities. While the worst of coffee’s moral problems are probably over, the effects are still being felt. The poverty of coffee producers continues to this day as coffee prices fail to rise with the cost of living forcing many farmers to turn away from coffee and plant other crops.
Not everything done by coffee importers is done soley for altruistic reasons, sometimes doing the right thing produces other benefits. Anyone who has ever reasearched anything about coffee production probably realizes that most coffee producing countries are poor and undeveloped. Farmers who work to feed their families will grow whatever crop will yeild the most money for their effort and expense. When coffee crops do not bring enough money, farmers will turn to growing something else that will. By promoting the formation of small coffee cooperatives, coffee importers can help the farmers recieve top dollar for their crops, and through education on soil management, business management, and finance importers can help farmers be more successful. Since the importers who work directly with cooperatives become important to the farmers, they ultimately have the opportunity to have first chance at the highest quality beans which they purchase at prices much higher than what the farmers recieve from commodity auctions.
Each one of our coffees has a story about the farmers, cooperatives, and communities that grow the coffee we buy. Most of these descriptions will tell you how strategic partnerships have increased profitability for farmers, economic stability for the regions they come from, and how direct trade has made a positive impact on these farmers and their community.
What is "Great Coffee"?
With the explosive growth of chains such as Starbucks, many Americans have started enjoying specialty drinks, but few have had the opportunity to enjoy specialty coffee. "Specialty Coffee" differs from other coffee in many ways. Specialty coffee is graded based on visual defects and then graded by "Q Graders," are trained coffee professionals who must recertify every 3 years. Q Graders do what is called a "Cupping," which is a globally standardized method for assessing the fragrance, aroma, and flavor of coffee. After cupping, coffee is given a score in multiple categories and will be rated from 1-100. A score of 1-40 is rubbish and, as a rule, not exported. A score of 40-60 is commodity grade and typical of most canned coffee you see in the grocery store. Coffee scored at 60-80 is considered gourmet and more typical of coffee outlets like Peet's and Starbucks. To be a specialty coffee, a bean has to receive a cupping score of 80 or more. Beans scoring 80-84.99 are considered "Very Good," beans scoring 85-89.99 are considered "Excellent," and beans scoring 90 or better are considered "Outstanding." As a rule, we only purchase beans with cup scores of 85 or better to roast for our customers, but with some "mission coffees" that have a unique story, we may consider them as low as 83.