Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/694455
26 STiR tea & coffee industry international / Issue 3, 2016 (June/July) Guatemalan embassies highlighted Fairtrade coffees. The Bolivian embassy showcased Fairtrade, organic coffee grown by small-scale Fairtrade coffee farmers and roasted by Rockville, Maryland-based coffee roaster, Mayorga Organics. Kishe Foods, a California- based company, provided the coffee served at the Guatemalan embassy. "We teamed up with Mayorga and the Bolivian embassy to do two things," explains Fairtrade America's executive director, Hans Theyer. "Firstly, we want to help the embassies promote the excellent, sustainably-grown coffee grown by their citizens. Secondly, we hope to make local coffee lovers aware of Fairtrade's mission to empower small-scale farmers in developing countries." Rodney North, director of market- ing, said of the events, "were a huge success. Everyone, including our two coffee partners (Mayorga and Kishe) were quite surprised by the huge crowds and long lines. We were also – as hoped – able to sign up many people for our Fair Trade Coffee Break Challenge (which ties into World Fair Trade Day)." Approximately 11,000 visited the Bolivian embassy event where 1,200 cups were served. Six thousand attended the Guatemalan embassy event where about 800 cups of coffee were served. Learn more: http://fairtradeamerica. org/en-us/get-involved/events According to a release announcing the award, "His vision to enable small scale farmers to produce sustainable, quality products through critical investments, financial management training, and market linkages has had a profound impact on people and communities." A blog post following the event noted that Foote emphasized the critical role of high-impact farmer organizations and their leaders, mentioning ASOBAG- RI (Guatemala), Cenfrocafe (Peru), Rwashoscco (Rwanda), and Soppexcca (Nicaragua) in particular. Root Capital continues to expand to new regions, including Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Foote was quoted in that post as saying, "My colleagues and I got into this work because we fundamentally believe that investment in sustainable agriculture is one of the most powerful forces we have for addressing some of the greatest challenges of our time – from rural poverty to hunger to environmental degradation to youth unemployment." Previous winners of this award include Sunalini Menon (Coffee Board of India), Timothy Schilling (World Coffee Research), Lindsey Bolger (Keurig Green Mountain), and Sergio Fajardo (Governor of Antioquia, Colombia). Learn more: www.rootcapital.org Fairtrade Coffee at Passport DC Embassies throughout Washington, DC, open their doors to the public to shine a light on their respective cultures for Passport DC, a one-day event held once a year. This year, the Bolivian and UK UTZ Coffees at Lincoln & York James Sweeting, managing director of Lincoln & York said, "We are very proud to be expanding our offering of sustain- able certifications to include UTZ." UTZ is a program and label for sustainable farming of coffee, cocoa, and tea. The program supports coffee farmers to develop their farming methods, improve their working conditions, and take better care of people and the environment. UTZ plays an important role in providing transpar- ency of the sustainable origin of coffee products. According to Gina Reay, marketing and communications officer at Lincoln & York, customers were asking for UTZ-certified coffees. She said, "UTZ is well-recognized across Europe and as we roast private label coffee for more and more brands and operators overseas, it was clear that to satisfy demand we should expand our range of certifications to include UTZ." Learn more: www.lincolnandyork.com US Medal of Merit to Foote The Coffee Quality Institute awarded their 2016 Leadership Medal of Merit to Willy Foote, founder and c.e.o. of Root Capital during a luncheon that took place during the Specialty Coffee Association of America Expo in Atlanta. The honor recognizes Foote's accom- plishments in working to alleviate poverty and to foster rural prosperity. Utz coffees at Lincoln & York Medal of Merit to Foote Hans Theyer, executive director for Fairtrade America and Nidia Gomez, brand manager for Kishe Foods LLC