The B in “Certified B Corporation” stands for Benefit. But the B Corp certification may be the best one out there for consumers who want a holistic assessment of a company’s Business model. .
This post is a featured comment submitted in response to my recent post on the farm-facing cupping form. It combines comments by three people: TJ Semanchin and Caleb Nicholes of Kickapoo Coffee in Viroqua, WI and Mark Glenn of Conscious Coffees in Boulder, CO. Both roasters are recent winners of the Roast Magazine Microroaster-of-the-Year award. […]
When I published this list of New Year’s resolutions earlier this month, there was one I forgot: create a cupping form for farmers.
Today, a roll call of recent developments at origin worthy of note: industry efforts to increase and better measure impact.
In this article in the current issue of Roast Magazine, Fair Trade USA CEO Paul Rice again expresses optimism about the future of Fair Trade Certification in the United States. Before you panic, let me say this is not another post about Fair Trade for All. At least, it is mostly not. Mostly, it is […]
Last night, a grad student from the pioneering agroecology department at UC Santa Cruz turned me on to some recently published infographics on the Fair Trade system. (Thanks, Nick.) I am publishing a link to the graphs here because they are a pleasure to behold. And they also help, at a time of great upheaval […]
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 […]
It is early June, which means that the rains are falling heavier now here in the coffeelands, and Counter Culture is releasing another Direct Trade Certified Transparency Report in the States to much well-deserved fanfare. The report may generate less buzz in its sophomore season than it did last year as a rookie sensation, but […]
In conversations with roasters and importers, I have often referred to farmer organizations as “special.” The term is spectacularly imprecise, since the sources of “specialness” can be so diverse. It is important for cooperatives to articulate clearly just what makes them so special, however, since roasters are not just searching for quality coffee, but quality […]
Maya Vinic means Maya Man in Tzotzil, one of the three indigenous languages the organization’s members speak. Maya Vinic’s members say the cooperative’s name evokes their ancestors and their coffee, which they grow with love and respect for Mother Earth, in the highland forests of Chiapas. Maya Vinic’s members believe that the extraordinary quality of […]
