Archive for the ‘News’ Category

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Transfair gives FLO the shaft

Monday, September 19th, 2011

Fair Trade USA (Transfair) v. the global Fair Trade system. Photo by Mat_the_W


For those of you who follow this blog, you’ll know by now that Fair Trade as an economic model has experienced massive growing pains and internal divisions over the past few years, particularly in North America. Well, things are about to get a whole lot more interesting. Transfair USA (recently, and controversially, rebranded as Fair Trade USA) has officially left Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) to chart their own course. This is big news, and has the potential to be equally transformative and disastrous for the future of Fair Trade in the United States.
(more…)

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The Innocents Abroad

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

Joe is back in Nicaragua this week, following up with his friends at PROCOCER and consulting with the roasters at CECOCAFEN. I swear, one of these days he’s going to head down there and never come back. We’ll have a full trip report  for you upon his return, but in the meantime, it looks like he’s been having fun:

They told him it is an honor to wear the 'manguitos de amor'

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Fresh Press: Global Goings-On

Monday, June 6th, 2011

Coffee Tangents

Chiquita is in some hot water because of poor choices involving security in Colombia. Bloomberg has a good in-depth review.

Given the ways coffee-growing and drug-growing bump into each other across Latin America, this item from the LA Times is particularly interesting.

Sad to say, Latin American coffee growers will almost certainly be feeling this before too long.

Reuters reports on discontent spreading in Ethiopia, and the unnerving possibility of another Horn of Africa war.

Coffee ’round the World:

The Washington Post writes up the World Barista Championship in Bogota. And Dear Coffee, I Love You reports on the winner.

Speaking of Colombia, get used to seeing a lot of Colombia in China.

Coffee powers more than just people in Japan.

Am I seeing things?

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Sidama to Sidamo to Sidama

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

Tiny changes are sometimes the most significant.

The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange recently renamed one of that country’s most iconic products: Sidamo Coffee, long one of the best-recognized coffee brands in the world, will now be officially traded as Sidama Coffee. The switcharoo has passed with little fanfare, and many American roasters continue to offer their customers Sidamo—though this trend does seem to be changing.

What’s the story here? (more…)

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Fresh Press: Pondering the Future

Friday, April 22nd, 2011

"Dolores" by Adolf de Meyer, 1919.

The Guardian has yet more on the economics of coffee.

AgriMoney reflects on this moment in history: $3/lb for coffee.

Reuters has two important articles with glimpses of the future: Starbucks in China, and a (not very new) heavyweight: Brazil!

The LA Times has an interesting article on Mexican Microbrewers. Perhaps not directly related to the coffee world, but  stories like this are telling of the broader economic and cultural changes impacting the global coffee market.

Special Report: The Drug Wars

The NY Times has a piece on the Drug Wars and their ever-heavier impact in Central America. The Economist dedicated their cover to the same problem this week. Neither of these sources focus on coffee communities specifically, but you can bet they’re caught right in the middle, located as they are in the rural, mountainous areas where drug conflicts have already taken a heavy toll in Mexico, Peru, and Colombia. On the subject of Colombia, consider this troubling item from Colombia Reports, set as it is in Fondo Paez’s home turf.

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Fresh Press: The Billion-Pound Baby

Friday, March 25th, 2011

Photo by Luis Argerich.

While it may never be as powerful as a billion-pound baby, knowledge is still powerful. With that in mind, there’s a great deal afoot in the coffee world these days. Happy Reading! (more…)

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