Coffee-quality program forges ahead

Starbucks, others make strides with industry's fair trade standard

By CHRISTINE FREY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Jaime Hernandez spent most of his morning at Starbucks spitting coffee into a paper cup.

The tasting session -- which included 40 different coffees -- was part of a pilot program Starbucks started last summer to improve the quality of coffee beans grown on Mexican farms. The program already has paid for technology improvements at cupping and milling facilities in Oaxaca.

Hernandez and representatives from the Oaxacan State Coffee Producers Network, or CEPCO, visited Starbucks headquarters yesterday to sample coffees grown in Mexico.

More...