Gender equity in coffee

On March 22, Salt Spring co-founder Mickey McLeod and Kimberly Easson of the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) met in Seattle to co-host an event on gender equity at coffee origin called “Gender Equit...

Coffee Origin: Sumatra in Spring 2016

From February 26 to March 8, Salt Spring Coffee co-founder Mickey McLeod was on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, checking in with our coffee partners, sampling the latest beans and getting a first...

Facts About Coffee Roya In Central America

For the past year, coffee roya has swept through Central and South America, causing incredible devastation. Roya (the Spanish term for coffee rust), refers to a fungus, Hemileia vastatrix, which at...

Tunas Indah Co-Op: A Trip to Indonesia, Part 2

In last week's post, we shared the first part of Mickey's journey to Indonesia, where he attended the Temu Kupi Sumatra event and visited the Koperasi Baitul Qiradh Baburrayyan (KBQB) co-op. The p...

The Importance of Transparency: A Trip to Indonesia, Part 1

Visiting parters at origin is very important. It increases transparency and allows us to understand and help our farming partners overcome the challenges that they face. The post The Importance of...

The “Next Frontier” of Coffee: A Visit to Uganda

Earlier this year, our co-founders Mickey and Robbyn had the opportunity to travel to Africa to attend the African Fine Coffee Conference (AFCA) in Kampala, Uganda and to visit the Gumutindo co-op ...

Reconnecting in Peru, via Let’s talk Coffee in Colombia

Last October, just over a year since our last trip to “origin” where some of Salt Spring Coffee beans are grown, I made a quick stop in Colombia before visiting one farm and three groups in Peru to...

What we pay for coffee

We’re walking toward a group of farms and even from a distance you can see that one stands out. Its coffee plants are full of fruit and are fuller and more robust than the crops growing on neighbou...

Nicaragua 2012 Trip Report

We’ve done a lot of direct trade work in Nicaragua in recent years, which is why it’s no surprise that this large Central American country is one our favourites to visit. Visiting Nicaragua for the...

Honduras 2012 Trip Report

Generally speaking, in recent years Honduran farms have had a reputation within the coffee industry for producing average beans. Though, lately things have shifted and the coffee industry is taking...