“At the consumer end, making choices which affirm a healthy and viable and sustainable planetary system, well, it's to everyone's benefit.”

- Julia Alvarez,
Author of A Cafecito Story
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New partners in Fair Trade as of April 2004

Coffee Roasters:

American Coffee Co.
New Orleans, LA
Carpe Diem Coffee and Tea Co.
Mobile, AL
Coffee Jones Coffee Roasters
Boulder, CO
Crooked River Coffee Cleveland, OH
D & M Coffee
Ellensburg, WA
Duvall Coffee
Benicia, CA
Ellis Coffee Co.
Philadelphia, PA
First Colony Coffee & Tea
Norfolk, VA
FITSGO
Spokane, WA
Golden Roast
Knoxville, TN
Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Co.
Bloomfield Hills, MI
Great Northern Coffee Co.
Jackson, WY
Java Hut Coffee Roasters
Amherst, MA
Local Goods
Eastsound, WA
Metropolis Coffee Company
Chicago, IL
Roaster Direct
Bloomington, MN
San Francisco Coffee Roasting Co.
Atlanta, GA
Volcanic Red Coffees
Calabasas, CA

Coffee Importers:

Balzac Brothers
Charleston, NC
Harold L. King & Co.
Redwood City, CA
Holland Coffee (NJ)
Sparta, New Jersey


Tea Blenders:

Sapna Foods
 Atlanta, GA
Sebastopol Tea Company Sebastopol, CA


Cocoa Importers:

Gulf Coast Trading
Houston, TX


Online Licensee List >



Read All About Us!

The NYTimes goes bananas for Fair Trade, Time gets lucid about the Fair Trade imperative, and the San Jose Mercury News opines that Fair Trade is at the “tipping point.”

Click here for more about Fair Trade in the news.
May/June 2004
The Results Are In: Nicaragua's Cup of Excellence 2004
Fair Trade coffees received unprecedented high marks at this year’s Nicaraguan Cup of Excellence. Of the 29 samples that made it to the final round, nine out of the top ten were from Fair Trade producers. Most notable among them were PRODECOOP, SOPPEXCCA and CECOCAFEN. !Felicidades Nicos!
Fresh Ground in Tanzania
The 80,000-member Kilimanjaro Native Cooperative Union (KNCU), located in the northeastern Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania, is no doubt one of the largest coffee cooperatives on the planet.

An outgrowth of the strong Tanzanian cooperative movement, which began in 1925, KNCU was founded in 1984 and was admitted to the Fair Trade Coffee Register in 1993. Since then, the co-op has used its Fair Trade revenue to:

Member of the Mwika Kinyamvuo primary cooperative society, KNCU. The co-op's name translates to: "It's raining frequently"

• Establish an education fund to build and operate schools
• Start a cooperative bank, which enables co-op members to get loans, establish credit, and build savings accounts
• Set up an organic production program

The co-op has also clearly instilled a sense of local pride. As KNCU member Matthew Matoli states, "Our cooperative and its Fair Trade supporters give us hope and courage, since we are now able to earn a higher wage and better provide for our families." As for the rave reviews of the co-op's coffee, KNCU General Manager Raymond Kimaro notes that, "The co-op has been investing its Fair Trade premium in quality improvement. We're glad to know that our new programs have translated into a better product."

Fair Trade Bites the Big Apple
We encourage you to make your way to Gotham City June 27th-29th, for the New York Fancy Food Show. We'll be there, hosting our first-ever Fancy Food Fair Trade pavilion
Featuring displays from eight Fair Trade licensees, as well as our own array of materials and presenters, we think this is one show you won't want to miss. Look for the Fair Trade Certified™ banner hanging from the rafters. Looking for a little summer school action? Plan to attend our June 28th education panel, Increasing Customer and Employee Loyalty Through Fair Trade Certification. We'll focus on employee retention, the Fair Trade difference and how to incorporate Fair Trade into your training and marketing messages.

The show runs June 27 to 29, in New York City. For more details on our pavilion and our education panel, e-mail Charlotte Opal.


Peachy Keen: SCAA Atlanta 2004
Thanks to everyone – the 102 producers representing 34 co-ops from 12 countries from Africa, Asia, and Latin America -- who attended the April SCAA show for making it a great event. Whether you participated in the Fair Trade Forum, stopped by our booth to do business with producers, or kicked up your heels at the Fair Trade Reception, we were thrilled to spend time with you.



Representatives from TransFair, COOCAFE Costa Rica and the Green Development Foundation

If you weren't able to attend, listen to what just a few of this year’s attendees had to say about the Fair Trade Forum: “Excellent topic selection.” “Amazing day.” “Thrilled with the panels.” “This show is very essential to know the level of Fair Trade development and sales volumes.”

And no SCAA would be complete without a little after-hours fiesta, where Michael Schimkin was honored with the first Hero of Fair Trade Award.

If you participated in any of these events with us, please send your feedback to Kristan Almgren.

Raising the Bar with Kokoo Cocoa
The Omanhene Cocoa Bean Company has been making premium chocolate in Ghana for more than 10 years. It was the first US chocolatier to set up shop in a cocoa-growing country, rather than exporting the cocoa for manufacture elsewhere.
Steven Wallace, founder of the Omanhene Cocoa Bean Company, gourmet chocolatier, meets with cocoa farmers in Ghana.
Now, the Milwaukee-based Omanhene (Ghanaian Twi for "traditional paramount chief") purchases all of its cocoa from Ghana's Kuapa Kokoo Cooperative. The company's owner, Steven Wallace, says it's a matter of good taste - and good business sense."
Exported cocoa loses its magic," Wallace says. "Cocoa produced right there in Ghana tastes better, and it's a value-added product. Ghana's cocoa growers are unionized, sophisticated, and well organized. The industry touches 9 million Ghanaians, about half the country's population. I feel fortunate to be contributing to the local economy."

Wallace, among the pioneers of single-bean-varietal chocolate, will be raising the bar at this year's Fancy Food Show, where he plans to debut a new dark chocolate (the name is still under wraps) that features a whopping 70% cocoa liquor, along with 4% cocoa butter. And if Fair Trade cocoa gives you a rise, you'll want to check out this recipe for Omanhene chocolate souffle.

www.omanhene.com
800-LUV-CHOC (800-588-2462)
Turning the Market for Pineapple Upside-down
No foolin’: April 1 saw the nationwide rollout of Fair Trade Certified pineapples. The only thing more sweet and succulent than the fruit itself are the ripe comments we’ve been receiving ever since. Like this e-mail from one gushing fruit-lover: “With much excitement I just purchased my first Fair Trade pineapple in Wild Oats yesterday; and with even greater excitement, just read on your Web site about your fresh fruits campaign. Thank you for the incredible work you are doing!!! You're very inspiring!"

Investing for a Greener Tomorrow
The Investors' Circle's 2004 national conference, titled Venture Capital for a Sustainable Future, is designed to introduce companies looking for venture capital to its network of socially conscious angel and institutional investors.

If your company offers products or services that deliver commercial solutions to social and environmental problems, Investors' Circle encourages you to apply. They will invite 30 applicants to the conference to meet the Circle's network of high-net-worth investors.

Day Two is open to the public and will consist of educational seminars covering socially responsible venture capital investing and enterprise creation in the renewable energy and food/organics sectors, as well as the growing stakeholder-capitalism movement.

The conference will be help October 24 to 26, in Cambridge, MA. Applications will be accepted until Aug. 1.

For more information on the Investors' Circle, visit http://www.investorscircle.net. For information on the conference and how to apply, email Amy Dickie at adickie@investorscircle.net.


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