Articles written by Mickey McLeod - Co-founder, President and CEO

Award Winning Moments at Pangoa Peru - July 2008

Mickey McLeod •  30 January 2009

Cupping in Pangoa - PeruSince 2004 we have been actively involved with the organic farmers from the La Co-operativa Agraria Cafetalera (CAC) in Pangoa, Peru.

During last year’s trip, Robbyn and I decided to introduce a unique competition amongst the Pangoa co-op farmers involving a cupping challenge that awarded the farmers of the 5 best-of-entry coffees.  Here's the scoop on our exciting and highly eventful trip in July 2008.

CAC Pangoa co-op is a 600 member co-op that is located in San Martin de Pangoa, Peru, some 450 km east of Lima on the East side of the Andes mountain range. Of the total CAC Pangoa co-op membership, 147 are women, some of which are widows to farmers who died in many recent regional wars.

Though only about 200 out of 600 members grow organically, Pangoa’s fair trade coffee production is a 50/50 split between conventional and organic coffees. This anomaly is because those farmers who have joined the organic certification system now have access to organic training, organic fertilizers and use organic farming techniques, resulting in better and more environmentally safe farming practices, healthier plants and, much to our delight, higher yields than the conventional farming practices.

In 2004 we purchased one of Pangoa's first two containers (250/70 kg bag lot) of organic fair trade coffee.  Since that time, we have continued to support and assist the farmers of CAC Pangoa co-op and purchase high quality green bean coffee for our micro-roasting facility on Salt Spring Island.

Traditionally, co-op farmers pool their beans into one coffee and that is what we purchase from the co-op.   In July of 2008, we took this a step further by engaging the organic fair trade farmers of CAC Pangoa co-op in a challenge to submit their coffees individually for a blind cupping competition, where the winners would receive a premium price for their coffee.  A total of 18 farmers joined in the event. From this group, the top 5 contestants were awarded an additional premium price over the regular organic fair trade pricing on 20 of their bags (we purchased 100 bags in all).  As a result, each winning farmer received additional money to put towards improvements in their organic farming management. The award-winning coffees will form the basis of a line of Micro Lot coffees being introduced by us in our area in the Spring of 2009.

Our purpose behind such a program was, and will continue to be, an opportunity for the Salt Spring Coffee Company to acknowledge and reward those farmers that excel in the production of high quality organic and fair trade coffees within their co-op movement.  We will, of course, continue to purchase large quantities (so far, 5 containers of coffee a year) of the CAC Pangoa co-op’s high quality organic fair trade beans AND now we have the addition of these unique micro-lot coffees, giving us an exciting opportunity to share with you a distinctive experience that's just a bit more special.  

Joining us on our trip was Bryn Shapperd, our very own Sales Representative for Vancouver Island, BC and his girl friend, Stephanie Joyce (who took these fabulous photos!).  Below, is Bryn's informative account of the experiences he shared with us and our co-op member-friends of Pangoa, Peru. Great to share this with you -

Category: Exceptional Coffee

On the ground in Nicaragua

Mickey McLeod •  10 March 2011

I really enjoy trips to origin. No matter how tired I am before I leave, I get a surge of energy as I'm landing.

I love being hands on and learning about the challenges, issues and achievements first hand. For this trip it was great to bring a team of staff with me to share in the experience and also bring back personal examples of the work we are doing in Nicaragua.

Origin trips are all about relationships. We created our Fair to Farmer Direct program so that we could have a more meaningful relationship with co-ops and farmers. This is why it’s critical that either Banks Thomas our Director of Coffee or I visit co-ops and farmers in Central and South America, as well as Indonesia each and every year.

Before we created our Fair to Farmer Direct program I knew that by deepening our relationships with farmers, Salt Spring Coffee would eventually have a positive impact on the health and prosperity of the co-ops and farmers.

This year we’re committed to doing a better job of showing you the relationships we’ve formed through web posts, photo galleries and a series of short videos.

So what does a deeper relationship with co-ops and farmers look like in practical terms? We thought you might appreciate an example.

Nicaragua

Salt Spring Coffee has visited the San Juan del Rio Coco region in Northwestern Nicaragua six times in the last the five years, and twice in the last six months. In this region we work specifically with two outstanding partner co-ops: Zacarias Padillo and Jose Alfredo Zeladon. Responsive, willing and open, they’ve been working with us to find creative solutions to some of their daily challenges – namely, improving their coffee quality and crop yields.

During a previous visit to Nicaragua, we identified that although these co-ops were growing their coffees organically, there was an opportunity to improve soil fertility through some basic equipment additions.

After some research and consultation with other farmers, most notably Byron Corrales of Byron’s Maracaturra, we identified that incorporating a small chipper into each co-ops’ chain of production could make a world of difference to the vitality of their soil.

Getting chippers to the co-ops took some work. We personally picked up three chippers in Jinotega, loaded and tied down all three to the back of our pickup truck, and hand delivered them to Zacaris Padillo (about five hours by truck from Jinotega) where I started it up and gave a demonstration on its use.

What’s a chipper?

It’s a piece of equipment that chops-up coffee plant trimmings and other organic vegetation. You name it, leaves, branches, residue from wet processing and other readily available organic materials are fair game. Mix all that with some cow and horse manure and there you have it - a good basic compost. Now it's up to them to create the mixture that will feed and enrich next season's harvest.

The delivery of the chippers to our co-op partners at Zacarias Padillo gives me tremendous satisfaction. I was moved by the excitement and passion of the co-op leaders. They could not wait to start using the chippers - right away they were brainstorming and talking through how they would put them to good use.

I’m already looking forward to going back to Zacarias Padillo later this year to see the progress they’ve made.

What origin trips like this always do is drive home why we the make extra efforts we do, and reinforce the value of Fair to Farmer Direct at Salt Spring Coffee.

Category: Travel Stories

To all our Friends and Customers

Mickey McLeod •  08 December 2010

Why we made the difficult decision to move most of our core business operations off of Salt Spring Island.

It’s been a while since I’ve written to you about the many changes taking place at Salt Spring Coffee. Well, after months of searching we’ve happily settled into our new home and consolidated our operations into one central site. As of December 13, 2010 all roasting, production, shipping and head office services will be housed under one roof - 3551 Viking Way in Richmond, British Columbia.

You’ve probably heard bits and pieces of information in the local news about our move off of Salt Spring and are maybe wondering why decided to leave the Island, a place we’ve called home for two decades.

Here’s a brief version as to why we made the move.

Robbyn and I first moved to Mansell Farm on Salt Spring Island in the early 1980s, but it wasn’t until 1996 that we opened the doors to our first roasting café on Salt Spring Island. Turns out there was a sizable demand for freshly roasted, organic coffee on the Island and after three days of crushing line-ups, we had to close for five days simply to regroup and catch our breath. Between the roasting and the mopping of floors, we rarely got more than a few hours of sleep in those days.

What Salt Spring Coffee brought to the Island in those early days was great coffee, roasted responsibly and it offered jobs where no jobs existed. For 15 great years, we were able to operate a small business on Salt Spring Island with the hard work and dedication of our staff.

But word started to spread about Salt Spring Coffee. So, with demand for our product on the rise we started to think about and plan for expansion. Our intent was always to grow the business based upon our founding model: to serve great coffee that doesn’t compromise the earth.

Our first choice was to stay put on Salt Spring Island and we had the support of the Island Trust to do so. After much looking we found a suitable property, applied for rezoning and spent more than $200,000 in land cost, consulting and application fees, permits and environmental studies for the acreage.

The Island Trustees didn't discourage us from proceeding, but they did make it clear that signing a deal was far from a sure thing. Finally, after close to two years of work our rezoning application was unanimously turned down. Two years and $200,000 were gone - an eternity and small fortune to a business the size of Salt Spring Coffee.

Robbyn, my brother Ross, my trusted executive team and I talked, argued back and forth and spent many long sleepless nights considering our options. In the end, we decided to move most of our core business operations to the mainland. Our Ganges Café, Tasting Lab and history remain on Salt Spring Island.

As difficult as this might seem to some, the move to Richmond, BC is about becoming a better employer all while continuing our mission to become North America’s most respected and most socially and environmentally responsible coffee roaster. I encourage you to learn about our mission and our work – all of the details are posted on our website.

Lost in all of this is the ‘coffee’ in Salt Spring Coffee: certified organic and certified direct fair trade. Again, I encourage you to learn more about our direct trade program - Fair to Farmer Direct - and the tremendous benefits it brings to our partner farmers in origin.

It’s my hope to see you in one of our three Salt Spring Coffee Cafés soon but if you can’t make it in take advantage of our new coffee subscription service. Freshly roasted coffee, delivered directly to your front door.

Thank you again for your time and for your loyal support. A bright future lies ahead.

From all of us at Salt Spring Coffee, we wish you the best of the season.

Mickey McLeod

Co-founder, President and CEO of Salt Spring Coffee

Category: In Community

To all our Friends and Customers

Mickey McLeod •  09 March 2011

No doubt you’ve been following the news about, and probably feeling the impact of, rising commodity prices.

Fuel and food and, yes, coffee, are up, way up.

Coffee commodity prices are now heading towards the all-time highs of 1977. The average price of a kilogram of green coffee beans has almost doubled in the last year.

The reasons: rising consumption in emerging economies, the effects of climate change, and commodity speculation, prompting food prices to soar around the world.

This year, weather-related hiccups have also significantly reduced coffee crop yields globally. Sumatra’s and Colombia’s harvests are already poised to suffer under the effects of too much rain, too soon. These events have particularly affected co-ops, growers and roasters, like Salt Spring, a leader in the organic and fair trade coffee movement.

So, today, we are announcing a price increase to offset the rapid rise in coffee commodity prices. The exact impact and timing will depend on when and how our retail partners adjust their in-store prices of our products but we thought it was important to let you know now an increase is coming. The increase means you’ll paying about five cents more for a for a cup of coffee brewed at home.

We are doing everything we can to offset anticipated increases, but remember: coffee is incredibly labour-intensive to cultivate, process, roast, and prepare. And we remain committed to our Fair to Farmer Direct program: we pay farmers above the fair trade base price. We also enter into long-term purchasing contracts with partner farmers (only certified organic farms) in an effort to provide income security as well as greater access to credit. Our contracts range between three to five years, meaning better protection against volatile markets.

This is Salt Spring Coffee’s first increase since Sept 2009. And, all signs are suggesting that the prices of the coffee will not be coming down anytime soon.

We promise to keep you posted along the way of further developments, including news from our expanded roasting facilities in Richmond, BC and from our three Salt Spring Coffee Cafés.

Mickey McLeod, President and CEO

Category: Exceptional Coffee