CoffeeCSA Delivers the Coffee Harvest Straight from the Farm to Your Doorstep

Freshly Roasted Farmer-Owned Coffee a Unique Gift for Coffee Lovers
Nov 30, 2011 10:25 AM ET

A Question of Ownership

(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) Davis, CA - November 30, 2011 - The first ever global C.S.A., CoffeeCSA.org http://www.coffeecsa.org/, offers consumers the convenience of freshly roasted artisanal coffee, delivered straight to their doorsteps, from family-owned coffee farms in Ethiopia, Peru, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Mexico.

Like other Community Supported Agriculture (C.S.A.) programs, CoffeeCSA creates a direct relationship between consumers and family farmers. Unlike traditional C.S.A.s, the relationship is online--representing the first opportunity coffee consumers have ever had to invest directly in their coffee harvest. In contrast to coffee purchases from the supermarket or local coffee bar, CoffeeCSA’s web-based platform http://coffeecsa.csaware.com/store/ lets consumers buy coffee directly from an individual farmer of their choice, such as the Aguilar family in Peru, featured in this video http://www.coffeecsa.org/video-aguilar/ that shows the family on the farm during harvest time.
 
The benefits of this direct relationship model are significant. Customers receive freshly roasted coffee directly from the source, while farmers receive 100% of the retail price, five-times more than the industry average.
 
“With the holiday season approaching, CoffeeCSA’s farmers provide individuals and companies with a unique gift http://coffeecsa.csaware.com/store/gifts.jsp they can feel good about giving to friends, family, clients, and employees.” says Thaleon Tremain, CoffeeCSA’s CEO. “All coffee offerings are single-origin Arabica beans, produced on small family farms, carefully roasted in the U.S.A., and delivered fresh to subscribers. CoffeeCSA is the most direct way to buy fresh-roasted coffee.”
 
Good for the Farmers. Good for the Land.
The thousands of family farmers who own CoffeeCSA tend small farms of one to ten acres. The coffee is hand-harvested by family members, not machinery. All CoffeeCSA coffee is grown organically, which naturally results in practices that nourish the land. Instead of using chemical pesticides, farmers plant shade trees to provide habitat for birds and beneficial insects. Because chemical fertilizers are not allowed, farmers utilize the coffee cherry pulp left from processing to nourish the soil, resulting in cleaner water and healthier communities.
 
CoffeeCSA offers coffee lovers something that has never existed before: Direct communication with coffee farmers from coffee growing regions all over the world, the convenience of door-to-door delivery, and customizable orders of hand-picked, expertly roasted coffee.
 
How it works:

  • Simply enter a name and email address to sign-up

  • Choose an individual farmer in any one of five countries, or a custom bundle from several growers

  • Select 12-ounce, two pound, or five pound boxes—starting at $17.98/month

  • Customize timing and delivery locations

  • Receive monthly shipments packaged in eco-friendly, biodegradable packaging

  • Sign-up for regular email updates from your farmers

  • Cancel at any time with no obligation

  • 100% of profits are paid to the farmers that own CoffeeCSA

 
CoffeeCSA also partners with schools and non-profit organizations to raise funds for general operations or special programs by donating back a percentage of fundraiser subscriptions to the partnering organization. (www.coffeecsa.org/fundraiser)
 
About CoffeeCSA.org 

CoffeeCSA.org (http://CoffeeCSA.org) is a community supported agriculture model that allows consumers to subscribe to regular deliveries of fresh-roasted coffee from specific family farmers. CoffeeCSA is a project of Pachamama, (http://www.pacha.coop), the first global cooperative of coffee farmers, consisting of more than 140,000 small-scale farmer-owners in Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico and Ethiopia. Founded in 2001, Pachamama is a certified B Corporation http://www.bcorporation.net/pachamama, a new type of corporation that uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. Pachamama is the largest farmer-owned co-op based in the US and is the only coffee company to use sophisticated information technology that lets coffee farmers tell their own stories to consumers. This authentic connection with consumers is unprecedented in the coffee industry, empowering farmers to differentiate outside of the commodity crop model and deal directly with consumers in a vertically integrated model. All coffees are produced by small-scale farmers, hand-roasted in small batches and available on the CoffeeCSA website and at over 100 independent cafés and cooperative grocery retailers. Twitter: @CoffeeCSA  Facebook: CoffeeCSA

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BY THALEON TREMAIN

About ten years ago I met an amazing coffee farmer in Costa Rica, up in a cloud forest near Monteverde. Sabino Montero was one of the first farmers in Costa Rica to embrace organic production, and his family’s lush farm, thick with greenery, was beautiful. At the time, I was considering working with his cooperative to launch a farmer-owned brand of coffee in the United States. Montero figured that I was just another American looking to document and market his family’s story to my clients. I’ll never forget his words, spoken carefully and sincerely, but not unkindly.
 
"Amigo, who are you to brand our coffee as 'Fair Trade' when we don’t even have a voice in the definition of fairness? What’s fair about that? You know, what my family truly needs is access to your rich customers!"
 
Indeed, who are we to make claims of fairness? What is fair and who defines it? Shouldn’t the people on both sides of the transaction have an equal say?
I applaud the efforts of the fair trade movement and the true pioneers who helped to build it. Their intentions are pure. And their contributions are significant. But their solution is top-down, which ultimately leads to conflicts of ownership and dependency. “Fair Trade” standards are defined by certifiers, marketers and retailers. Few conscientious consumers realize that the farmers themselves are left out of the conversation and out of the board room.
 

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