by Kyle Feldman, Peace Coffee Customer Accounts Representative

Hello Fair Grounds readers! My name is Kyle Feldman, and I am one of the “newbies” on the rapidly growing Peace Coffee team. While my job itself focuses on providing outstanding service to loyal, new, and prospective customers, and also making sure our bank has enough money to keep the money rolling to the farmers who grow our coffee, the aspect of working for Peace Coffee that is most satisfying is my connection to a larger movement that is changing the world.

Fair Trade bridges lives historically separated by geography, language, and socio-economic factors. On one end, farmers, artisans, and their communities can benefit from being treated with due respect and being paid a fair price for their labor and, on the other side of the chain, consumers now have the power to make a conscious choice that unites their wallets with their values.

But even working within that chain can be an abstract experience when I’m sitting at my desk on my computer. To counter that perspective, Peace Coffee does a great job of sending its employees all around the world to connect personally with coffee farmers, and I’m looking forward to my chance to do that. But travel can go both ways, a point that hit home for me when our office was paid a visit by Cecilia Donker, a representative of Kuapa Kokoo, a cocoa-growing, chocolate producing cooperative in Ghana.

Cecilia was here promoting Divine Chocolate, the brand-name of the Fair Trade chocolate company produced by the 45,000 members of Kuapa Kooko (which in the local language, Twi, means "Good Cocoa Farmers Company). Peace Coffee is always looking for new partners to promote a world with more Fair Trade, so we were very interested in listening to what she had to say. Plus, I’m sure I was not alone in looking to score some free samples of delicious chocolate.

Cecilia appeared shy at first, as she let Divine Chocolate’s U.S. rep Niki Lagos handle most of the business discussion. But when the conversation turned to her, her co-op, and her chocolate, she became a whirlwind of passion and promotion. Cecilia explained, alternately through spirited spoken word and also, surprisingly, impromptu song and dance, how Kuapa Coffee’s motto is “Pa Pa Paa!” which means “best of the best,” and how they pride themselves not only on the “fineness” of their product, but also the holistic approach in which the co-op benefits the lives of its members, including a credit-union, women’s group, and more schools and clinics within walking distance.

Speaking confidently in English, Cecilia also explained how Fair Trade has allowed both her community and her nation to benefit through the building of schools where there were none, hand dug wells for clean water, and trustworthy bridges to allow for transportation of the cocoa over formerly impassable rivers.

And she made sure we got to try the chocolate, both dark and milky varietals, and urged us to not only to taste the flavor, but also to pay attention to how it made us feel in our souls.

By the end of the presentation, we all had songs in our head, chocolate-covered smiles on our faces, and a connection to Ghana that we didn’t have before. While our business future with Divine is uncertain (stay tuned), for me it was a chance to see, up front and personal, the effect that I can have in the world by participating buy promoting and buying Fair Trade. And hopefully Cecilia will go back to her country with faith that American consumers do care about not only the products they consume, but also the lives of the people who produce them.

Thank You, Cecilia, for making an otherwise normal local day a wonderful global experience!

P.S. In Minnesota you can purchase Divine Chocolate at all of the Twin Cities Natural Food Coops, Whole Foods and Kowalski’s Markets. To locate Divine in your area go to www.divinechocolateusa.com/buy.

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