concerned about where their tea comes from, Vang says: "Very few people ask whether our tea is Fair Trade or organic."
SOUTHEAST
The Muse Coffee Co. Lynchburg, Va.
He actually guides customers away
from those products when they ask for them—and they do ask. His coff eehouse is in Lynchburg, Va., a college town, home to Liberty University, Randolph College and Lynchburg College. One of the fi rst things you notice
Th ough customers at Th e Muse Coff ee Co. like certifi ed Fair Trade and organic coff ees, owner Brian Wynn steers clear of them. "I'm very leery of certifi cations,"
Wynn says.
when you walk in the door—besides the big Ambex YM-2 roaster, the eclectic paintings on the walls and the mismatched tables and chairs—is that most of the clients are college students. Th is crowd is more socially aware than your average customer, Wynn says. So, when they ask whether Th e Muse serves Fair Trade or organic, Wynn tells them why he doesn't. Th ese labels have too many
drawbacks, he says. Th e Fair Trade certifi cation hardly benefi ts the farmers, and organic certifi cation is too expensive for the growers who need it most. "Th e [farmers] deliver the coff ee,
and they get paid per bucket. Th ey're not seeing a price increase, it's the processing plant that sees the price increase," Wynn says. Many farmers are growing an
organic product already; they just can't aff ord the certifi cation, he says. "A lot of farmers have never been able to aff ord pesticides, but could never aff ord organic certifi cation, either." Also, many companies—especially
big ones—get organic certifi cation just because they want to cash in on the demand, he says. "A lot of people are getting certifi ed
just so they can say they're certifi ed, not because they care about the crops," Wynn says. Instead of buying certifi ed products,
he teamed up with a colleague who has his feet on the ground in Central America. Together, they track down ethically produced coff ee.
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32 | March 2012 • www.specialty-coffee.com
