Date: 23 Jun 2006 09:00:48
From: yEnc Man
Subject: Interesting article in the NY Times: A Coffee Connoisseur on a Mission: Buy High and Sell High
|
http://snipurl.com/s5v2 (Free, non-expiring. no registration required link)
A Coffee Connoisseur on a Mission: Buy High and Sell High
GRANADA, Nicaragua - 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. Fair Trade certification, which is monitored by an international
nonprofit organization, is intended to guarantee fair wages and labor
conditions for farmers in developing countries.
Mr. Watts and the founder and chief executive of Intelligentsia, Doug Zell,
do not ascribe to the "buy low, sell high" business model. They buy high and
sell high. In the coming years, both say they expect to pay 50 percent, 100
percent, even 200 percent above Fair Trade rates for beans so good that
customers will pay $20 and more a pound retail. "On the grower side and the
consumer side, we're trying to create a culture of quality," Mr. Watts said.
(Much more...)
|
