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Winter 2013
A Cooperative Coffees e-Newsletter for and about Fair Trade
Winter 2013
In this issue...
Reach out!
Heading into the home stretch of the Mexican and Central American harvests, the big - and disturbing - news of the season seems to be Roya (leaf rust) epideminc sweeping across the region and the potentially devastating impact this could have on overall production. Cooperative Coffees roasters and staff have been actively on the ground, getting a first hand accounting of what this and other challenges in Fair Trade and the market might mean for the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of family farmers. Here you can read more about people "Connected by Coffee" with Higher Grounds and Just Coffee's whirlwind tour through Chiapas, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, documenting farmer stories in their Fair Trade Chronicles. You will also find highlights from CoopCoffees roaster and staff trips to Peru and to Sumatra.
At home, our roaster members and staff have been equally busy. Check out the notes on Heine Brothers' new openings as their Louisvillle, KY coffeeshop network continues to grow, Cafe Cambio in the news, and Peace Coffee, Alternative Grounds and Bean North leading the campaign to bring consumer direct financing to farmers through Grow Ahead, an innovative approach to financing! And CoopCoffees is supporting a series of learning and exchange events.
Step by step, we are each contributing in own way to make trade more fair.
Meanwhile, the broader Fair Trade and Specialty Coffee world continues to change and evolve: Small-Producer Symbol (SPP) hosts their Second International Gathering in Quito, Ecuador; the Canadian Fair Trade Network celebrates its First Annual General Meeting in Calgary, January 2013; get ready for the always interesting SCAA Event to be held in April in Boston, MA and for the FairTradeFederation in May in Raleigh, NC. Planning is already well underway -- don't miss early-bird registration deadlines!
Wrapping up this issue - we must also share with great sorrow. news about the unexpected and tragic death of our friend and colleague Raul del Águila Hidalgo, former manager of COCLA, Peru and a tireless activist for Fair Trade and Small Farmer organizations. On behalf of all Cooperative Cofees roaster members and staff, we share with Raul's family members, close friends and with the greater Fair Trade community our most sincere condolences and regrets.
Enjoy your read!
Let us know what changes you'd like to see in this newsletter by emailing us at bignews@coopcoffees.com.
Outreach and Communications
Register Now for the next SCAA Cupping Course in Montreal
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DesjardinsFond Series – Fair Trade and Coffee « A to Z » Workshops!
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Grow Ahead Update!
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Register Early For the SCAA and Save!
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Roaster News
Congratulations To Heine Brothers'!
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With two new locations in Downtown Louisville, the Heine Brothers’ Coffee crew certainly started the New Year off with a Bang!! They have just added a third new location in February. Congratulations to the Heine Brothers’ team for your on-going and sustainable growth! Check out the Heine Brothers' website .. |
Follow the Fair Trade Chronicles...
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In January, Chris Treter of Higher Grounds and Matt Early of Just Coffee Co-op, along with the film crew from Connected by Coffee, Aaron, Chelsea and Mario, visited our producer partners in Mexico and Central America to see how fair trade has impacted their lives. Check out the amazing Fair Trade Chronicles web series on Higher Grounds Trading Co. website where the team shares thier stories and provides first hand video accounts of the successes and challenges of small scale coffee farmers and their communities in these regions. Photo courtesy of Chelsea Bay Design |
Café Cambio in the News!
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Café Cambio was featured in a recent article in ”Ensemble” an independent newspaper dedicated to the promotion of the cooperative movement as a social project. “You’ll have to tread off the beaten track to find Guylaine Pelletier and Genevieve Demers, co-founders of Cafe Cambio in Chicoutimi. For the last seven years, this micro-roasting enterprise has breathed new life into Racine Street, one of Chicoutimi’s main drags, all the while invigorating international fair-trade and cooperative commerce. Here’s a double shot, espresso paced portrait of the business……Read more |
Producer News
In Memory of Raul del Águila Hidalgo
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Travel: Where in the world is Coop Coffees?
Coop Coffees Travels in Peru
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"A week of travelling across the northern highlands of Peru visiting producer partners at CEPICAFE, CENFROCAFE and Sol y Cafe is like a shot in the arm of remembering why I love what I do so much!" says CoopCoffees Producer Relations manager Monika Firl. In their offices and in their communities, she was able to meet and discuss directly the daily challenges of keeping their coffees moving. With their export staff, with salt-of-the-earth, organic farmers, and with their community cooperative leaders, she learned about their incredible work and the improvements being made to increase production yields and quality control. |
A Visit To Sumatra
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A Cooperative Coffees team -- comprised of Anne Costello, Peace Coffee, MN; Al Teflissi, Coutts Coffee, Perth, ON and Florent Gout, CoopCoffees -- traveled across Aceh, Sumatra from November 28 to December 6, 2012. This was a great opportunity to get a real-time look at what happens on the ground in this often mysterious, yet critically important coffee growing region. |
The latest in the Fair Trade movement
Fair Trade News!
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It's a new year and important discussions and debate seems to have turned a corner in the Fair Trade World. Leaders of the Small Producer Symbol meet in Quito for their annual meeting to continue the growth and development of this innovative, producer-led certification system. Meanwhile, the dust has yet to settle from Fair Trade USA withdrawing from FLO. Read more below - including a couple recent articles on labeling and the EFTA (European Fair Trade Association) Statement to the Movement as it turns 25. SPP Meeting in Quito, Ecuador Fair Trade Coffee: Getting Beyond The Labels Fair Trade Resource Network - EFTA Celebrates 25 years |
CFTN Annual AGM: Building Foundations-Driving Change!
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The Canadian Fair Trade Network (CFTN) held its First Annual General Meeting in Calgary, Alberta Jan 10 - 11 to mark closure on a great founding year, celebrate successes and discuss with its members and followers future plans for a Fairer 2013. Building Foundations – Driving Change was the theme of the event and very appropriate for meeting dynamics, as key stakeholders came together from across Canada to strengthen relationships, build upon existing skills and capacity, and envision a collective strategy to move the Canadian Fair Trade Movement forward. Read more ...... |
Early Bird Registration Deadline for the 2013 FTF Annual Conference!
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A Friendly reminder that Early Bird Registration ends March 1 for the 2013 Fair Trade Federation conference which will be held in Raleigh, NC from May 1 to 3, 2013 |
