Sustainable Coffee Project Wins Kudos
ForesTrade, Inc., a leader in organic and fair trade coffee and their partners PPKGO, (the Gayo Organic Coffee Farmers Association), and CV Trimaju recently received the 2004 Sustainability Award from the Specialty Coffee Association of America.
ForesTrade, Inc., a leader in organic and fair trade coffee and their partners PPKGO, (the Gayo Organic Coffee Farmers Association), and CV Trimaju recently received the 2004 Sustainability Award from the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA). Presenting this award for the first time, SCAA wanted to recognize those individuals, organizations, and companies for "their efforts to strengthen and sustain the communities where coffee farmers live, work and raise their families."
SCAA's Sustainability Committee chose ForesTrade and PPKGO for this award for their commitment to integrate sustainable development throughout their coffee project. Examples noted by the Committee were:
Also awarded by SCAA for their positive contributions to promoting sustainability in were Dean’s Beans, Thanksgiving Coffee Company, and IPAMENA Agricola SA.
In 1997, Vermont-based ForesTrade, Inc. initiated a unique partnership with local coffee farmers in the Takengon Gayo Highlands of Aceh, Sumatra and a local coffee processor CV Trimaju, also located in Aceh. To begin, ForesTrade found local coffee farmers in the Takengon area, who were interested in growing organic coffee. Realizing that fair trade certification would ensure these farmers receive a fair price for their product, ForesTrade educated farmers about the direct benefits from fair trade certification, helped them organize into the PPKGO farmer cooperative and assisted the co-op in securing $100,000 in financing from the Rabobank Bank Foundation in Holland. ForesTrade also assisted CV Trimaju, helping it grow from a small local trader to a major processor in Aceh.
To date, this coffee project has grown to become the largest "single origin" fair trade project in the world and PPKGO's membership currently numbers 1,832 small-scale farmers among 24 communities. In a predominantly devout Muslim area, PPKGO is comprised of 20% women and maintains an ethnically diverse composition. Despite years of political unrest and civil strife in the region, the partnership has continued to produce, process, and export high quality, 100% shade grown, organic and fair trade Sumatran coffee.
SCAA's Sustainability Committee chose ForesTrade and PPKGO for this award for their commitment to integrate sustainable development throughout their coffee project. Examples noted by the Committee were:
- For successfully operating a sizable cooperative that contains five different ethnic groups in an area where there is a history of ethnic and political conflicts
- For providing farmer members with training and technical support in innovative organic agriculture methods and improved shade management.
- For PPKGO's financial investment using additional funds from its’ organic and fair trade premiums for various community building projects, such as:
- A potable water system benefiting more than 1,500 people in three communities.
- Assisting farmers in building and repairing 34 homes
- Providing supplemental financing for the construction of three local schools
- Building new roads and repairing/upgrading existing ones
- Refurbishing Mosques
- Constructing one football (soccer) field
- A potable water system benefiting more than 1,500 people in three communities.
Also awarded by SCAA for their positive contributions to promoting sustainability in were Dean’s Beans, Thanksgiving Coffee Company, and IPAMENA Agricola SA.
In 1997, Vermont-based ForesTrade, Inc. initiated a unique partnership with local coffee farmers in the Takengon Gayo Highlands of Aceh, Sumatra and a local coffee processor CV Trimaju, also located in Aceh. To begin, ForesTrade found local coffee farmers in the Takengon area, who were interested in growing organic coffee. Realizing that fair trade certification would ensure these farmers receive a fair price for their product, ForesTrade educated farmers about the direct benefits from fair trade certification, helped them organize into the PPKGO farmer cooperative and assisted the co-op in securing $100,000 in financing from the Rabobank Bank Foundation in Holland. ForesTrade also assisted CV Trimaju, helping it grow from a small local trader to a major processor in Aceh.
To date, this coffee project has grown to become the largest "single origin" fair trade project in the world and PPKGO's membership currently numbers 1,832 small-scale farmers among 24 communities. In a predominantly devout Muslim area, PPKGO is comprised of 20% women and maintains an ethnically diverse composition. Despite years of political unrest and civil strife in the region, the partnership has continued to produce, process, and export high quality, 100% shade grown, organic and fair trade Sumatran coffee.
