by Scott Patterson, Peace Coffee Director

Here at Peace Coffee we’ve wrapped up a busy and wonderful holiday season! January now affords us the opportunity to reflect on 2005 and ramp up for all that we hope to accomplish in the coming year. The past year has been filled with unimaginable tragedy and challenges. From the Asian Tsunami to hurricanes Katrina and Stan many of the planet’s most vulnerable people suffered so much. At the same time, 2005 saw tremendous growth in the Fair Trade movement and the capacity for people to respond to tragedy with great generosity. Ronald MacDonald hoisted a mug of Fair Trade java (in 650 outlets in the East for now) and you can make the claim that Fair Trade products truly reached the mainstream market in 2005. While the mainstreaming of Fair Trade coffee also means that independent roasters like Peace Coffee have to compete with the glossy marketing campaigns from larger, more well-known companies, it is an unequivocal success. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Peace Coffee’s amazing customers and conscientious coffee lovers everywhere. 

Thanks to your purchases Peace Coffee once again grew at a brisk clip in 2005, more than 20% from the prior year. This meant that we were able to purchase approximately 330,000 lbs of beans from the farmer cooperatives with whom we work. A very conservative analysis* yields that your purchases through us meant well over $100,000 in additional earnings to coffee farmers over what they would have gotten with the New York “C” market price. While at first it might seem like a big leap from your cup to six digit numbers, the connection is clear. You are part of something larger than your weekly trip to the store, your click on our website or your morning café drive-by. Your collective energy brought over 800 people who are passionate about justice for farmers to the Fair Trade Federation’s national conference in October. We were hoping to get 300 people there. We set a goal of $30,000 in contributions for the PPKGO Cooperative in Sumatra after the Tsunami and while we were optimistic, I don’t think many of us thought we would get there. Your amazing generosity in purchasing our Tsunami relief roast surpassed that goal in November – wow! These are indications of what we hope will be a continued sea change of putting people ahead of profits, the only way to be truly successful in the long run. 

Of the many great things about working here I particularly enjoy hearing from customers who are fanatical about Peace Coffee and Fair Trade. I mean fanatical in the nicest way and I am one of you! Your stories keep us energized and grounded. Let me share two of the many stories from the past year that come to mind. My cousin in Appleton, Wisconsin had told a friend about Peace Coffee and this individual had been meaning to go on-line and order but hadn’t gotten around to it. Without any prompting or knowledge of the connection, his daughter who lives in Stevens Point, WI put Peace Coffee under the tree for him that she bought at her local coop. He emailed us to share this nice coincidence. We frequently get phone calls from people excited about our work and one of the best of 2005 was from Las Vegas. As many of you know we sponsor a mountain bike team and one of the riders was in Vegas for the annual Interbike trade show. This rider was sporting the team jersey and a woman not only went out of her way to grab him and share her passion for Peace Coffee but she then left a wonderful phone message at our place in Minneapolis about the incident and how much she loved us. We love you too! Most importantly these stories, multiplied hundreds of times over, highlight the grassroots movement underfoot. 

In 2006 we plan to continue to deserve your purchases by being innovative with regards to the way we work with coffee farmers. This will include follow through on the Xela Accords that Tripp Pomeroy wrote about in our October newsletter. Also, as a member of Cooperative Coffees we will be supporting Ecologic Finance in an exciting new initiative with farmer cooperatives on their business planning. We are of course always working to ensure you receive the very highest quality, freshest beans available anywhere. And, while it may not be sexy, we are enthusiastic about improving some of our internal systems and evaluating our environmental footprint to better serve you and our mission. Let us know what you like and how we can do better. Thank you again for drinking Peace Coffee and best wishes for the year ahead! 

*Fair Trade premium calculated by taking the average C market price for 2005 (data only available through November) and comparing it to the Fair Trade minimum of $1.41 per lb. 

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