Last week I posted some final sales data from our recently concluded CAFE Livelihoods project. It provoked some thoughtful comments and rich discussion, most of which centered around the flaws in the presentation of the data. I look forward to revisiting the issue of assessing impact at origin in the New Year. In the meantime, […]
Earlier this week, two academics published an insightful Fair Trade infographic that sheds some light on the current rift in the Fair Trade movement. Today, I try my hand at putting data from our CAFE Livelihoods project into an infographic that may contribute to the discussion. Our project data from the 2010/11 harvest suggest that […]
The El Pinal cooperative was established in 1980. During the first 30 years of its existence, the organization paid for its coffee to be processed at a commercial mill. This meant higher operating costs and less control over the quality of their coffee. When the CAFE Livelihoods project started in early 2009, we met with […]
The 5 de junio cooperative in Nicaragua was arguably the most conspicuous success story during the three years of the CAFE Livelihoods project. The cooperative took innovative approaches to improve both the quality of its coffee and the quality of life of the communities where its members live, scoring impressive gains on both counts.
Today the CRS Coffeelands Blog celebrates the second anniversary of its inaugural post back on 9 November 2009. The blog has managed to turn our experience in CAFE Livelihoods and other projects at origin into more than 200 original posts over the past two years — posts that have generated thoughtful discussion among leading figures […]
The Las Cruces cooperative was established in 1980 as part of El Salvador’s land reforms. For more than 30 years, the hard-working men and women of Las Cruces produced high-quality Borbon and Pacas varietals from one of the most privileged coffee landscapes in El Salvador, nestled on the northern slope of the Ilametepec Volcano among […]
Today, the CAFE Livelihoods project that I have been working on in one capacity or another since late 2007 draws to a close. As we prepare the final project report in the coming weeks, I will share some of the more notable project outcomes here. Meantime, I want to thank everyone who contributed to the […]
Still more good news for our friends at 5 de junio: the cooperative’s maragogype microlot from Counter Culture Coffee earned a 91-point rating from Coffee Review. We are delighted by the cooperative’s hard-earned success and proud to support the good folks of 5 de junio through our CAFE Livelihoods project.
Good things continue to come from 5 de junio, a cooperative of determined farmers in the rugged mountains of Madriz in Nicaragua. Mostly, they are coming via Counter Culture Coffee, which is offering four different coffees from 5 de junio: a special-process single-origin espresso, a single-varietal microlot, an organic lot, and a Swiss Water decaf. […]
I started asking questions a few weeks ago about communication standards among Direct Trade roasters. My series of posts on this issue did not generate much of a conversation here, but did prompt some very good offline discussion. One of the best-known and best-regarded roasters in specialty coffee — let’s call this person “Sam” — […]
