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9
Nov
2009
Tierras de Vida 2009 – Agros Benefit
Saturday evening Dan, Minette (his wife), Jodi (my wife), and I all had the pleasure of attending Agros International’s annual donor banquet, Tierras de Vida. It was a wonderful event complete with a great meal, good company, and many Agros supporters (I heard the number was very close to 400). The atmosphere was electric to say the least. Everyone was talking, meeting new people and swapping Agros stories. Agros was so kind to allow us to put a pound of Camano Island Coffee on the table for each and every person attending. Also, with dinner they served our coffee to the audience.
The night kicked off with Agros’ founder, Skip Li sharing his vision that started the organization. The mic passed on to a couple more people through the night including the Executive Director from Chiapas, Mexico. He gave his first speech in English that night after working on the language for close to 5 years. He did a great job and was actually very easy to understand. He explained the desperate situations in Mexico and what was needed to start correcting the direction of the families in poverty there. The mic then passed on to Hanz Theyer, the new, Chilean born (and quite proud of it) President/CEO of Agros International.
As a side note, I had the pleasure of meeting Hanz a few months back when he was still extremely new to Agros. He is a great man with a very passionate vision for the future and direction of Agros. Saturday evening, he explained (in great detail) the way Agros works. It was a great refresher to hear each step of the 7 year village selection process through the successes Agros has had with the villages that have made it through that process.
Hanz then intro-ed a guest from Guatemala. Her name was Teresa Sánchez López. She had a wonderful story in store for us that I wanted to pass on to our blog followers. She opened up talking about her village. In the beginning (pre-Agros), her village had a lot of issues. The boys were forced to learn how to fight at a young age. The families had to endure many hardships. Then, when they became overwhelmed, they were forced to flee their area. Money was always difficult to come by but at this point, it was almost impossible to get. At the end of their rope, they went to Agros and asked for their assistance to get back on the right track. Agros walked them through the process of becoming a supported village. Agros then helped turn the village around.
Teresa then moved into how Agros had turned her life around. Through her village’s involvement with Agros, she was able to attend University. She obtained a scholarship from “Women’s Enterprise” and was able to graduate. She then told us (through a translator) that she was one of the only women from Ixil to graduate from university. This was met with a standing ovation by the entire group of attendees. She then ended by saying that she planned on taking what she had learned back to her village to further help improve their lives. This was, once again, met with a standing ovation.
The rest of the night was enjoyable and we drove home to Camano. I couldn’t help but notice how important it was for me to have that reminder of Agros’ mission. I highly encourage you all to check out Agros’ Gift Catalog on their website or support them through purchasing our coffee and gifts for the holidays.
I appreciate all of you as you help further CICR’s vision of helping these people see the success that Teresa and her village have seen.
Thanks for spending the time to read this and I hope your November is great!
Jeff – CICR
7
Oct
2009
Is it time to ReThink Your Organization’s Coffee Program?
ReThink Coffee – Sustainable Coffee Program for Organizations and Churches
We wanted to take this opportunity to announce our newest venture with Agros. ReThink coffee is a new way to look at your organization or church missions program. Instead of purchasing coffee that keeps people in a cycle of poverty and then giving money out to various missions, ReThink coffee offers a better way to do real missions work.
Many people do not understand that coffee is the second largest commodity in the world… next to oil. While we can’t make much of a difference with our oil purchases – we can all make a huge difference in our coffee purchases. If every coffee drinker were to be more responsible in their coffee purchases – poverty in many of the world’s rural areas would be overcome.
We use the term “The coffee that helps you sleep at night” because every time you purchase coffee… you know that you are helping third-world farmers on their path to sustainability. This work allows us to truly “Teach a man to fish” instead of “giving a man a fish”. When we help a family through loans and education to first own their own land this gives them the opportunity to have hope for their future and as a direct result of our support for the products they grow they now have life. When we give them a handout or a short-term fix, fear is created because they don’t know who to go to tomorrow.
As Americans, we must change our thinking from “is this the best price for coffee?” to “will this small amount of money be multiplied to create the most good in the lives of the people who earn it?”
For more information please go to www.agros.org and remember whenever you purchase your next package of coffee, make sure it is certified organic…shade grown…and fairly traded.
Thanks for coming along with us on this journey of responsible consumerism – and remember next time you are re-thinking your coffee selection…there is really a coffee that helps you sleep at night.
If you’re interested in getting coffee for your organization or you are looking for a new church coffee program, please visit ReThink Coffee’s website.
Jeff – CICR
13
Aug
2009
Serving Stanwood and Camano Island at the Community Fair
Well, the time as come and gone. Every year we look forward to serving coffee to our community (and yes, hoping to pick up a few new prosumers). It’s amazing the connections we make each year. Some of our longest lasting customers are those we’ve had the pleasure of meeting first hand at the different local fairs around Washington.
For us, the Stanwood/Camano Island Fair is a “getting back to our roots” event. Dan and I have been sampling our coffee since the beginning of CICR at fairs. It’s the perfect occasion to spend time with the loyal customers that gave us our start. Many of our customers around the nation stem from a group of very loyal, local customers.
We uploaded a few videos to our YouTube account and will be adding them to our blog shortly. The coffee booth was hopping with activity. We “tweeted” live when possible and even involved some customers in a project we are working on for our sister company, Frozen X-plosion (Blend On!). Also at the fair, many great local companies were involved such as The Everett Herald, Del Fox Custom Meats, Sahara Pizza, Windermere Reality, and our Local Fire and Police Departments. I’m sure I’ve left many out (feel free to add them in the comments) as there were many, many vendors and businesses present.
The big hit around the fair with most of the workers was the CICR Acrylic Commuter mug. Many saw a sea of commuter mugs topped off with CICR’s Papua New Guinea Medium Roast Coffee throughout the whole fair.
All in all, we made over 200 airpots of our fresh roasted, Papua New Guinea Coffee. We gave away over 1,000 samples and had people purchase over 100 commuter mugs (filled with coffee of course). Our coffee wouldn’t stay on the shelves and we ended up selling over 300 pounds to the local community and visitors.
“Thanks!” to all who came and/or followed our event through our social sites.
Jeff – CICR
6
Jun
2009
Thank You for Your Generosity!
At Camano Island Coffee Roasters we are blessed to have a 97% retention rate of our Coffee Lover’s Club members. We have many loyal customers that understand that their coffee purchases can really help change the world.
Recently, we had a member who had to cancel their membership after more than five years of receiving our coffee. When we heard the news of their job loss, we were all saddened that a “family” member was in financial pain. Then, to our surprise, another customer stepped forward and purchased coffee to send them as a gift. Once more we were reminded that we really do have the most charitable customers on earth and that coffee is not a product but a force that can create change both here in the US and around the world.
All of us here at Camano Island Coffee Roasters want all of our customers to know how much we appreciate them. Each one of you could buy coffee from many places, but you have chosen to purchase coffee from a company that is striving to be a good steward of your dollars.
Thank you for your loyalty – even in these tough economic times. We all wait for the things to change, but our work needs to be done regardless of the state of the US economy. Without each of you, we would not be able to continue in our goal of creating sustainable change for our “third-world” families.
Sincerely,
Jeff – CICR
26
Apr
2009
Giving More in Turbulant Times
Recently we announced a price change for our Coffee Lover’s Club.
I didn’t say price increase, a notion people are becoming more and more familiar with lately. We did not raise coffee prices but, instead, reconfigured the way each of our customers would receive their coffee. This decision was reached after more than six months of internal debate. The only “sacred” issues to us were our customers, our villages, and the quality of our coffee.
After five years of NOT changing our coffee lover’s club program in spite of postal increases, higher operating costs and increased green coffee prices, we were forced to act or risk losing years of progress in improving the lives of our farmers in third world countries. As it turned out, the solution was much simpler than we thought. By adding a half pound of coffee to each shipment, our per ounce price could remain the same and we would be able to absorb the increased costs involved in our program over these past five years.
One of the suggestions that has been made over the years has been to allow churches, businesses and “heavy” coffee drinkers (like me!) to also participate in the “Coffee Lover’s Club”. Because of the demand we’ve also decided to introduce the “Coffee Lover’s Club – Wholesale” program. We now are able to offer larger volume buyers of our coffee a better price by buying in 5 pound increments.
As it turns out, the dilemma of raising prices never had to happen and as usual, the solution was not only more positive for our Coffee Lover’s Club members but it provided more orders for our farmers. This time, we were able to create a “win-win” for everyone involved and add a feature for the large volume buyers of coffee to boot!
Thanks to everyone who supports our mission and special thanks to those that share their coffee with a friend and tell the Camano Island Coffee story. Remember when someone joins the Coffee Lover’s Club and mentions your name, you get your next shipment free of charge! This has been the most effective way for us to grow over these last 8 years and has been a popular “Thank You” gift for our members.
We appreciate your support. We realize that without you, we could not continue to provide the services that we do for our coffee growing families.
Jeff – CICR
6
Apr
2009
Will Work for Change
“How can we be a part of CICR’s mission?”
This is a daily question we hear from churches and non-profit organizations. The answer is simple… Quit asking for donations and start providing something of value while telling the CICR story of “creating change while doing good“.
We have many groups that are creating latte drinks as a fundraiser and even more that are making Frozen X-plosion at fairs, festivals, and events while telling customers that they are willing to work to create change in the world around them.
Gone are the days where you can hold your hand out and be showered with money from heaven. The same principal of working for our rewards is now becoming prevalent in the charitable industry. When we work for our money, we become better stewards of where that money goes. It seems like a new idea but it’s been around forever.
We get hundreds of calls a month asking for a donation for worthy causes around the world. Wouldn’t it be great if we could get inspired to make our own money for charity!? At CICR we say “We make the fuel that runs the engine of change”. We don’t know how to go to third-world countries and teach people to get in control of their destinies but we do know how to roast great coffee and sell it. When we sell coffee, we create a few more drops of fuel that can keep the Agros engine running longer.
In closing, I’d like to make this challenge to you…
- Let’s ALL get inspired to take on the challenge of sustainability.
- Lets NOT create problems by being irresponsible in our purchasing in order to save a little money here and there and alleviate our consciences by throwing that extra money we saved at a charity.
- Let’s CREATE CHANGE through responsible purchasing and sharing that same message with others.
Together, with hard work, we really can save the world!
Jeff – CICR
