Small coffee company gets a buzz off of sustainability

By Lori Huskey

My office at Portland State University is situated between two main streets so when I need a cup of coffee I have two choices: take a right and go to Starbucks or take a left and go to Starbucks.

Although the Starbucks logo has a green-tinged mermaid, the Seattle-based company may not be as green as smaller, independent coffee shops.

With that in mind, I picked up Barista Magazine and began reading about specialty coffee businesses. While I expected to become an expert on heavenly frothed milk and why baristas are always covered in tattoos, I actually had to check the magazine cover a few times to make sure I wasn’t reading the Sierra Club Magazine.

Just about every article referred to sustainability and the environment.I read about small coffee businesses that worked directly with their farmers and often knew their coffee farmers on a first-name basis. I learned about young, working-class caffeine connoisseurs that took lessons on the art of the latte and donated their prize money from competitions to a bike organization in Rwanda. How cool is that?

Central America is a coffee plantation Mecca and it’s seeing a rebirth in organic farming. Because this is happening on a small scale through intimate business partnerships, coffee investors nurture both soil and relationships.

Some farms are being augmented with health clinics so the workers are treated well which results in better working conditions. Barista Kenneth R. Olson notes on his trip to Nicaragua that “a five-cent difference in the price of a pound of coffee could make real, tangible differences in the lives of the people who produced it.”

Another expert on the green details of the coffee industry is Kim Elena Bullock who enthusiastically agreed to an interview via email. Bullock works at Counter Culture Coffee in Durham, North Carolina. I was struck by Bullock’s job title because I didn’t even know it existed. She is the Sustainability and Producer Relations Manager and revels in her opportunity to speak the phrase “environmental, social and fiscal sustainability.”

LH: Why was your job created and what do you do?

KB: The current popularity of sustainability and green-ness has led companies to name sustainability and corporate social responsibility officers (and the coffee industry follow these trends like any other!) but most coffee companies still have yet to create a position like mine. We decided to develop this position at CCC two years ago in recognition of the fact that our business's long-term sustainability depends on the success of our grower partners and their coffee farms, and that consistent communication and open dialog are the foundation of strong partnerships. Because we also believe that minimizing our environmental impact here in the States and engaging with our local communities are as important as our work at origin to pursuing real sustainability, I simultaneously work on initiatives at home and abroad.

LH: Because of problems with fair trade in coffee, some coffee chains have developed poor images. However, Starbucks seems to be gaining a green edge by providing coffee grounds for gardeners, has developed a partnership with Conservation International and uses recycled content cups. Does there appear to be a large rift between local/cooperative owned and corporate coffee businesses? How might your company be different from others? Or more "green friendly" if at all?

KB: I do see a rift, but the rift I see has less to do with the differences between local and corporate coffee companies and more to do with the differences between those coffee businesses driven by values like quality, craft, education and transparency and those who aren't.

I have no doubt that the best, most progressive, green-edgiest coffee businesses in the country are independent and local-focused, not big corporate chains. That said, being a little, local coffee business doesn't automatically make you righteous, or make your coffee better than Starbucks' coffee or Maxwell House.

Buying great coffee, roasting and preparing it with care, serving customers well and telling the stories of the growers to coffee drinkers is what puts you on the righteous side of the rift.

Counter Culture Coffee is unique in our approach because we have made it our mission to get as involved as much as possible in the coffee chain and deliver more information from grower to consumer (and back) than anyone.

Combine this love of information with a sustainability vision and the coffee drinker ends up learning not only that his coffee is certified organic but that it was grown by a farmer named Jorge on one of the first certified organic farms in Guatemala that is home to fifty different bird species! That intimacy and connection to the source is what takes coffee from "green" to more real, holistic sustainability.

Most importantly, Bullock encourages green action on all levels even by carpooling to work. She suggests that as coffee consumers we should do our research about organic certification, fair trade and sustainability.

“Read a little bit about the standards and find companies whose values match yours,” she said. “Don't forget that you should enjoy drinking the coffee, too!”