Tuesday, November 18, 2003


tempest in a cappucino cup

long-time readers know i am sympathetic with dean's heartfelt position: fair-trade coffee is an important part of the response to the world-price depression known as the "coffee crisis." but it is not the sole solution.

speaking from my own personal experience, i must say he is mistaken in his assessment of green mountain.

i have the great privilege to know rick peyser and cate baril of green mountain personally. rick peyser is so concerned about the coffee crisis, he is on the board of coffeekids. and cate baril works hard to forward the organic and fair-trade program.

cate is so serious about these issues that when she and i were drinking in the hilton bar at the scaa atlanta committee meetings last september, she spoke passionately and at great length on the need for social responsibility in all one's business dealings.

i mean, to the level that she was discussing a complete overhaul of one's 401(k) to ensure one supported only responsible corporations. and she has traveled to latin america to build houses for the poor coffee workers in guatemala!

i can say with complete conviction that the people at green mountain are part of the solution and not part of the problem!

i hope dean and green mountain kiss and make up. we specialty coffee people need to stick together.

our problems are with the so-called "big four " coffee roasters, the multi-nationals who can the supermarket brands -- sara lee, kraft, p&g, nestle -- not each other! we need to spend our energy persuading these guys to join our bandwagon.

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