Thursday, June 22, 2006


congrats to our pals at intelligentsia!

"geoff watts turned up recently at the ceremony capping nicaragua's 2006 cup of excellence coffee competition in the steamy 500-year-old convent of san francisco here. mr. watts, 32, is the green coffee buyer for intelligentsia coffee, a fast-growing privately owned retail and wholesale company in chicago.

coffee, mr. watts says, is his life, and he tries to attend most of the competitions in latin america each year to find the best beans and build lasting relationships with growers.

'relationship coffee' is one term mr. watts uses to describe how he does business - another is 'direct trade.'

'i find a coffee i love, build a direct relationship with the grower and then pay at least 25 percent above the fair trade price,' he said in an interview. he also lavishes time and resources on his growers, inviting groups of them to chicago to learn about the consumer side of the coffee business."

fantastic! long-time readers know i'm a big fan of intelligentsia coffee in general.

not only because doug zell rocks, not only because geoff watts and matt riddle are nice guys, but also because they are completely committed to doing beyond the right thing for coffee farmers. and, their coffee is some of the best in the united states.

the article also gives a nice mention to another long-time bccy pal, peter giuliano of counterculture. devoted readers already know what i think of his fabulous coffees, since i can't stop talking about them. . .as recently as yesterday. . .or just pop my test cloud to see for yourself. . .

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posted by fortune | 6:35 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments