If you’ve kept up with the goings-on of Higher Grounds, you’ve likely learned that we are members of a one-of-a-kind fair trade, green bean importing cooperative called Cooperative Coffees . Cooperative Coffees is comprised of 21 roasters (soon to be 23) who are setting the bar for the global coffee trade. Built into our organization is the respect and honor we have for the people and environment that provide us the gift of coffee we so dearly covet. Together the roasters of CC import several millions dollars worth of green coffee from farmers who are leaders in their respective coffee communities and amongst circles of industry experts who are hedging bets on the policies that dictate world trade.

Each year Cooperative Coffees hosts an Annual General Membership (AGM) meeting for members to join together to share ideas and take care of the formalities that come with importing over 300 containers of coffee from all over the world. This includes: the election of the board, financial updates and planning, and sharing proposals for new projects. Critical to these meetings is the sharing of information. The enthusiastic banter resounding from every corner of the hotel represents a group of folks with lots of work to do and lots of energy to do it.

In order to strengthen our relationship with producers and give farmers a chance to share their experiences amongst one another, the AGM is held in a coffee producing country every other year and our farmer partners are invited to discuss topics such as farming techniques, building domestic markets, cupping training and challenges/successes in the marketplace.

So, I find myself here in Nicaragua amidst an impressive roster of over 35 coffee farmers from all over Latin America plus representatives from 23 small roasteries based in the United States and Canada. Joining us is a like-minded group of allies including the director of fair trade at Catholic Relief Services, Central American staff from the Fair Labeling Organization, the newly elected director of the International Federation of Alternative Traders, Paul Myers, and representatives from two socially-minded funders, Oiko credit and RootCapital.

The AGM kicked off in typical Nicaraguan style - a lively reception with traditional music and dance presented by the community of Esparanza. The agenda for the first two days was oriented toward producer exchange with a visit to the fields, discussions about farming techniques and a tour of SolCafe, a local coffee processing facility. Yesterday evening, roasters and farmers learned the intricacies of identifying defects in coffee and spent several hours cupping coffees to learn how these defects impact the “cup profile�.

The feedback from farmers so far has been overwhelmingly positive. Here are a few anecdotes . . Javier from Cepicafe in Peru is working on opening a new processing facility and the trip to Solcafe helped solidify many decisions he needed to make. Antonio from Maya Vinic facilitated other farmers in identifying defects using his cupping skills he has gained from Higher Grounds and other roasters who’ve hosted cupping trainings at Maya Vinic. . Juana from La Fem in Nicaragua, a new co-op comprised solely of women, said she is learning invaluable skills to improve the quality of their coffee and, thus, improve their potential to enter new markets.

I’m signing off now to attend a demonstration on roasting techniques and an exchange about building domestic markets for the farming co-ops. Stay tuned for more from Nicaragua . . .

dreds of years ago the birthplace of coffee and the cradle of humanity exported the first coffee beans in the history of humankind. The longberry coffee tree was first harvested in Harar, Ethiopia and exported to Yemen. Today, the farmers of Harar still harvest the longberry which provides one of the unique and sought after cups of coffee in the world yet they have very limited access to water and the only inputs into their society come from the income from coffee, those who visit do to their connections in the coffee industry, or through the sale of chat - a drug in its’ own classification and banned in the United States.Contrasting their poverty is the reality of a coffee industry that is a megabillion dollar industy enriching many in consuming countries at the detriment of the farmers who grow the finest coffees in the world. For that reason, we’ve gone on an all out educational, trade relations, and policy advocacy campaigns for the farmers of Ethiopia. The next 30 days is shaping up to be the month for Ethiopia (although Jody will be in Nicaragua and I’ll be heading to Mexico and Guatemala!).

First and foremost, if you are in the Chicago area this friday you must stop by the Funky Buddha and dance the night away for the Ethiopia School Project. The event will benefit the Chicago Fair Trade Committee and the construction of the 5-8th grade classrooms at Negelle Gorbitu (pictured below) co-op in Yirgacheffe. Now, our Ethiopian Oromia Medium Roast is coming direct from Negelle Gorbitu. The benefit features a screening of the film “Black Gold� at 7 p.m., followed by a silent auction and a raffle, DJs and live music by five-piece band Ensemble Descarga. Includes organic beer, wine and cocktails. This event is a preclude to the Chicago Marathon as myself and friends from Chicago Fair Trade Committee are running the Chicago Marathon and raising funds and awareness for Fair Trade.

We’ve also just announced our participation in Ethiopia’s Fine Coffee Trademarking and Licensing Initiative in order to help Ethiopia gain access to the intellectual property rights to the origin of their coffee similarly to the way it has worked in the wine industry. The EIPO just released this press release to announce our partnership.

The Coffee Bar is open for business! Open Mon - Sat 9 to 6

The Grand Opening party proved to be a huge success. Baristas extraordinaire, Karen and Alita (left to right behind the coffee bar) kept the espresso pouring all day. Mother nature cleared the skies for the day and a team of incredible volunteers made it all come together. Hundreds of people joined us for a blessing of the new space, a lovely grilled quesadilla meal, live music and loads of samples from local food vendors.

A savory chicken dish won the recipe contest after much deliberation. There were many delectable entries including a steak rub, Sumatran dark roast brownies, coffee banana scones, coffee ice cream, a vegan coffee desert pizza, and coffee mousse.

The fun-filled day concluded with booty-shaking to local band, Fundubmentals, and a keg of Short’s Beer.

Thanks to all of you who joined us for the celebration! And many, many thanks to our team of volunteers, our Higher Grounds family (Emily, Jen, Alita, Karen, Mary Lee & Mary Lou) plus all of our friends who sent flowers and gifts, our families (see Grandma Treter below) and to the Powers That Be for making it all possible.

Grandma Treter, the supreme java judge, delights over the recipes at the opening celebration.

Images courtesy of photographer Gary L Howe

Finally a year of cajoling, conspiring, cultivating, and creating has led us to this moment ….. the Coffee Bar is open for business and ready to serve up some mean espresso drinks while showing off our fair trade and organic coffee offerings. We are also highlighting some other fair trade products we’ve come across in our many travels. Many local fair trade and organic goodies will grace our Coffee Bar, including Food for Thought fair trade and organic preserves, fair trade artisinal chocolates from Grocer Daughters Chocolates, and local honey and maple syrup direct from the cultivators.

If you are in town come join us at our Opening Celebration this Thursday, September 13th and submit a recipe that contains coffee to win a $100 gift certificate. Grandma Treter and Ray Minervini along with Evan Smith from Food for Thought will be judging the contest and sure to give your concoction a fair shake.

If you’re not in town, please check out our on-line store. Soon we’ll be building it out to mimic The Coffee Bar so you too can have a taste of our many travels and adventures through our coffees and fair trade products offered at the Roastery and Coffee Bar.