Specialty Coffee Retailer is a publication for owners, managers and employees of retail outlets that sell specialty coffee. Its scope includes best sales practices, supplies, business trends and anything else to assist the small coffee retailer.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/96901
INSIGHT EDITORIAL OFFICE 1030 W. Higgins Road, Suite 230 Doing well by doing good W Visit us online: www.specialty-coffee.com E-mail: specialtycoffee@m2media360.com EDITORIAL STAFF Editor pan demetrakakes, editor hat's a socially conscious coffeehouse owner to do? In retail coffee, issues of social justice have practical ramifications to a degree unique in foodservice. Coffee has long been a source of concern, even guilt, among many politically progressive consumers, due to the sordid history of exploitation suffered by coffee workers around the world. For a café owner, acknowledging this situation through sourcing the "right" coffee is not just good morality; at least in certain locations, it can be good business. But as with many matters of morality, the situation with coffee is not black and white. There are many nonprofit groups that certify coffee in terms of different aspects of social justice: a fair wage for workers, sustainable production, respect for the environment and so on. This situation would be manageable if it were a simple question of picking whatever issue is most important to you and your customers. But the most prominent one—fair wages for coffee workers—has been debated for years. That debate intensified with the decision last year by Fair Trade USA (FTUSA) to split with its parent organization, Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO). It's not a simple debate, but in essence, the central issue is what kinds of coffee farms, with what kind of owners, should be eligible for the added payment margin under the "fair trade" concept. The traditional model, followed by FLO, is to confine this to small farms organized into co-operatives. FTUSA, feeling this is too restrictive, is opening fair trade up to farms that are not organized into co-ops, including the large ones that are referred to as "estates" or "plantations," depending on which side you take. (For a look into the issue, see "How fair is fair trade?" on page 10.) For coffeehouse owners who want to go above and beyond in terms of fairness to farmers, there's another option: Farm Direct. Under this concept, which has been gathering momentum, coffeehouses establish relationships with the specific farmers, or farm villages, that supply a given variety of coffee. This can happen either through the roaster or, for more ambitious coffeehouse owners, through direct personal efforts that include trips to origin. Farm Direct does require commitment. There is no such thing as a Farm Direct certifying organization; it's an amorphous concept that requires imagination and initiative to execute. (We look at the Farm Direct phenomenon in "Direct benefit" on page 13.) But for those who believe in changing the world a little at a time, and have the time to do so, it's an exciting alternative. The bottom line is that, for anyone who asks "How can I be sure that my coffee is socially responsible?", there is no single "right" answer. It depends on which aspect of social justice is most important to you and your customers, and which approach to it you think is the right one. If you educate yourself on the alternatives, and then educate your customers on why you chose the ones you did, you stand a great chance of, as they say, doing well by doing good. 4 Pan Demetrakakes pan@m2media360.com PRODUCTION STAFF Art Director Production Manager Kathleen Sage Mary Jo Tomei CIRCULATION STAFF Vice President of Circulation & Collateral Services Joanne Juda-Prainito SALES STAFF Sales Manager List Rental & Reprint Services EXECUTIVE STAFF Group Publisher Brian Grau Cheryl Naughton Charlie Forman cforman@m2media360.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Ed Avis, Jack Groot, Maura Keller, Caroline Rath, Brenda Russell EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Jason Burton, lab Desiree Farden, Cappuccine Jack Groot, JP's Coffee And Espresso Bar Wes Herman, The Woods Coffee Meghan Hubbs, Equal Exchange Rob Jeffries, North Atlantic Specialty Bag Craig Min, LAMIL Coffee Lon LaFlamme, Dillanos Coffee Roasters Kate LaPoint, Sound Provisions, Inc. Joe Monaghan, La Marzocco Tom Palm, Design & Layout Services Steve Schnitzler, Port City Java® Andi C. Trindle, Atlantic Specialty Coffee Bill Waddington, TeaSource Corporate Office: 1030 W. Higgins Road, Suite 230 Park Ridge, IL 60068 PRESIDENT/CEO Marion Minor VP FINANCE & OPERATIONS Gerald Winkel VP OF CIRCULATION & COLLATERAL SERVICES Joanne Juda-Prainito PRODUCTION & Mary Jo Tomei OPERATIONS DIRECTOR SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION AND REQUESTS Subscriptions: $39 for one year, $61 for two years, U.S.; $48 for one year, $72 for two years, Canada; $110 for one year, all other countries (includes airmail postage). Single copies $10 each; Press releases on supplies, services and new products are welcomed and encouraged. Direct them to Specialty Coffee Retailer. Color print photography is preferred, slides and transparencies are accepted. Specialty Coffee Retailer reserves the right to edit all submissions. PRESS RELEASES: Specialty Coffee Retailer (ISSN 1077-3460) is published monthly by Bev-Al Communications, 1030 W. Higgins Road, Suite 230, Park Ridge, IL 60068. Copyright© 2012 by Bev-Al Communications Inc. Postmaster please send address corrections to: Specialty Coffee Retailer, P.O. Box 4290, Port Jervis, NY 12771. Periodicals postage paid at Port Jervis, NY and additional mailing offices.