Coffee - Tea - Etc, LLC

Our venture was inspired by a passion for the highest quality coffees and teas of the world. Our passion led us to study the industry from seed to cup. What we learned painted a bleak picture of the lives of coffee farmers. The changing economies have forced the farmers to abandon their age-old practice of growing coffee under a canopy of rainforest trees without the use of chemicals. To increase production farmers have cut down these trees and now grow coffee fully exposed to the sun while using various chemicals at different stages of the growing cycle. This increase in production comes not only at the expense of the quality of the coffee but also of the health of the farmers and the environment. As successful business owners for more than 18 years, my wife and I decided to pursue a more personally satisfying career. We sold the business in 2000, and I joined the Peace Corps. Working in Guatemala as a Peace Corps volunteer with five cooperatives of coffee farmers I learned first hand about the production and processing of coffee beans. I also witnessed the desperate plight of the farmers. After returning from the Peace Corps, I visited India to research the production of coffee and tea. After a careful analysis, we decided that a business of roasting coffee and selling coffees and teas would be an ideal endeavor for us. It gives us the satisfaction of being active in educating consumers and helping farmers while offering great products. We purchase our products from carefully selected farmers and their cooperatives. We pay them a fair price for their product, a price that will allow them to live with dignity and provide for their families and communities. Most of our coffees and teas are: Fair Trade Certified - products that assure producers fair prices. Certified Organic - to protect the farmers and the environment from harmful chemicals. Shade grown - to protect the natural wintering habitat of birds and to produce more flavorful products.