Posted by TheShot on 17 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: Beans, Fair Trade
While the relentless drumbeat of blindly obedient Fair Trade support continues — vilifying anything that isn’t certified Fair Trade — we have yet another reason why it doesn’t exactly achieve the results consumers may be expecting. Yesterday’s National Post (Canada) reported on how the minimum prices paid to Fair Trade co-operatives have not changed in [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 12 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: Beans, Fair Trade
Today’s New York Times featured an article on how the upper echelon of coffee roasters pursue the finest cup the world over: To Burundi and Beyond for Coffee’s Holy Grail – New York Times. Introducing a number of America’s celebrity roasters, including Stumptown and Intelligentsia, the article touches on some of the key tools of [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 19 Apr 2007 | Tagged as: Beans, Fair Trade, Foreign Brew
Today’s Chicago Tribune published an article that briefly compared Fair Trade, Direct Trade, and a number of their socially conscious coffee bretheren: All’s not always ‘fair’ in coffee labeling | Chicago Tribune. It’s about time the mainstream media tried to clear the air and dispel some accepted myths about certifications and labelling. In specific, the [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 13 Feb 2007 | Tagged as: Barista, Fair Trade, Foreign Brew, Roasting
Today the Chicagoist blog published an interview with Intelligentsia founder and CEO, Doug Zell: Chicagoist: Chicagoist Grills: Intelligentsia Coffee & Roasting Works CEO Doug Zell. Intelligentsia not only boasts some of the best roasted coffee in the country, and the reigning U.S. barista champion from one of their cafés, but they also helped set a [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 29 Dec 2006 | Tagged as: Beans, Consumer Trends, Fair Trade, Quality Issues
One of coffee’s big stories of the past year has been the seemingly sudden discovery and public awareness of Fair Trade coffee. Twenty years after the founding of Equal Exchange, Fair Trade coffee awareness reached critical mass this year in the U.S., the U.K., and many other nations around the world. This awareness began with [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 08 Sep 2006 | Tagged as: Beans, Fair Trade
With coffee prices reaching new highs, suddenly the premiums that organic and Fair Trade coffee beans used to command are dwindling in comparison to the additional overhead required of growers. Or so suggests an article today from Reuters: Reuters AlertNet – FEATURE-Farmers question value of ‘responsible’ coffees. The article points out that coffee farmers that [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 21 Jun 2006 | Tagged as: Beans, Fair Trade, Quality Issues
Cup of Excellence season is in full swing. As a follow-up to yesterday’s El Salvador Cup of Excellence post, today’s International Herald Tribune published a business article on the economics of Cup of Excellence coffee: A trickle-down approach benefits coffee growers – Business – International Herald Tribune. This article starts with Nicaragua’s 2006 Cup of [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 20 Jun 2006 | Tagged as: Beans, Quality Issues
Today’s Lawrence Journal-World (Kansas) features an article on the El Salvador Cup of Excellence competition: Coffee connoisseur | LJWorld.com. The competition enables growers to set aside their best beans and submit them for judging — ultimately in the hope of attaining a top auction prices offered by roasters. By selling premium beans directly to roasters, [...]
[view full post]
Recent Posts