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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.

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Allegro Insists on Higher Prices for Its Coffee Growers

THORNTON, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 9, 2003--
Ernst & Young LLP has performed its third audit on Allegro Coffee Company's green coffee prices.

A practice recently referred to by Fresh Cup magazine as "groundbreaking" (April 2003), Allegro has its prices audited biannually to ensure that it pays the same or better than the internationally recognized fair trade price for specialty coffee.
Ernst & Young reported that between July 1, 2002, and December 31, 2002, Allegro paid, on average, between $.05 and $.21 per pound higher than the internationally recognized fair trade price for specialty and organic coffee. The base fair trade price reported by TransFair USA, headquartered in Oakland, Calif., is $1.26 per pound for specialty coffee and $1.41 for certified organic coffee.
"As more people in the United States become aware of the economic realities of coffee-producing countries, they can effect change with their purchases," said Christy Thorns, Allegro's roastmaster and coffee buyer. "We applaud all the coffee companies and agencies striving to make a difference in the lives of coffee growers, whether it's by financial and service donations or by paying higher green coffee prices."

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Dirt cheap coffee starves Ethiopians

Bob Geldof is back in Ethiopia almost 20 years after the Live Aid concert that helped raise $60-million for famine victims. Now, as then, the singer turned activist wants to sound the alarm over a renewed threat of famine.

This time, a sophisticated relief effort has averted mass starvation, but some 3,5-million people still risk starvation according to the United Nation's Children's Fund (Unicef).

Some of the reasons for Ethiopia's plight are well known. They include a legacy of misrule under its former dictator, Mengistu Haile Mariam, a swelling population, and flooding. Less well-known has been the devastating impact of slumping coffee prices for a country that relies heavily on coffee exports.

Coffee accounts for 54% of Ethiopia's export revenues, with some 700 000 households depending on coffee for their livelihoods, and millions more for part of their income.

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Coffee achievers: Small roasters brew up business by targeting niche markets

Carol Tice
Staff Writer

All the growth in the coffee business isn't at Starbucks Corp.

Operating way below the java giant's radar, small roasters around Washington state report they are growing at a healthy clip by targeting niche markets. They appeal to the crowd that craves an alternative to the major coffee brands, a strategy they say is working better than ever since the April announcement that the owner of Seattle's Best Coffee will be purchased by Starbucks.

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Specialty coffee market quiet, supplies tight

By Bruce Kamich
NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters) - Specialty coffee dealers said on Friday that business was unusually quiet with most retailers' sales numbers down from a year ago, but prices for choice beans remained firm with supplies short until the next crops become available.

"Everybody I see or talk to are reporting down sales versus a year ago, except for Starbucks," said one specialty dealer.

Dealers said that between the tourism slump and the public's fear of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), consumption of coffee out of the home appears to be in a rut.

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Aroma of coffee beans too much for some Ventura County residents

ASSOCIATED PRESS
2:10 a.m., June 6, 2003

OJAI – A dispute is brewing over the aroma of roasting coffee beans at one cafe that some residents say are making them sick.

The fumes often craved by coffee lovers are so acrid that Ventura County officials should force Stir Crazy cafe to stop all roasting operations, according to a half dozen Ojai Valley residents.

But the coffee shop's owners believe that move would put them out of business. Roasting coffee beans help keep costs down and is well received by their customers, co-owner Jody James said.

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