tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23916511774041351662024-03-18T12:34:58.017-07:00Artisan Coffee in N. AmericaThemes related to roasters and the direct-trade coffee offered by Artisan Coffee ImportsRuth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.comBlogger163125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-16521596505249166062024-03-13T18:42:00.000-07:002024-03-18T12:34:26.072-07:00Getting Ready for Expo in Chicago!<p>The countdown is on! We're looking forward to having SCA Expo in the Midwest this year in the beautiful windy city of Chicago, Illinois! </p><p>We'd like to share a few highlights and a couple maps to help you plan your time at the McCormick Place convention center on the magnificent Lake Michigan.</p><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fri., Apr. 12, 2- 3pm, <b>Artisan
Cupping, Cupping Exchange</b>, <b>S404D</b></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sat, Apr. 13, 8:00 - 9:30am, <b>IWCA
breakfast</b>, keynote speaker is the <u><span style="color: #1155cc;"><a href="https://worldcoffeeresearch.org/news/2019/world-coffee-research-names-jennifer-vern-long-new-ceo" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Exec. Director of World Coffee
Research,</span></a></span></u> tickets $150 available during Expo
registration and at the door.</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sun, Apr. 14, 9:00 - 10:00am, <b><span style="background: white;">S401D</span></b><b> </b><u><span style="color: #1155cc;"><a href="https://www.coffeeexpo.org/2024-calendar/gender-equity-in-2024-women-in-the-global-coffee-value-chain" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Panel/lecture: "Celebrate
Women in Coffee"</span></a></span></u>,
Ruth Ann is moderating this panel with expert panelists: </span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Teopista Nakkungu</b>, Regional Chapter Relations Africa for IWCA;</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b> Grayson Caldwell</b>, Director of
Sustainability at Bellwether; </span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Kyle
Engelman</b>, CEO at Grounds for Health; </span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Sylvia
Calfat</b>, Senior Project Manager, COSA.</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Exhibit Hall will be in the Lakeside Center. The lectures and Cupping Exchange are on the <u>fourth floor</u> of the <u>South Building</u>. Plan time for the 10 -15 minute walk over the bridge and up some escalators!</span></div><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3IQXiKnJmbGBVJlWkgetylSls3lFbO_cFePZyvdOobe6eYpyMoCxWr-sQ95LhqGDPYJ-DATcCbq3h_eaNlPQO2s84UxgiC9j5NlYSIXnu2Z-BrheCBKtd83k6Z1GeecJBtUW-yTcw0FnM31GSxu5QnI9UK2S2SnXnx5tAdXzGfVsc7LA49N-ihzKpAEA/s700/McCormick%202D%20Map.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="700" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3IQXiKnJmbGBVJlWkgetylSls3lFbO_cFePZyvdOobe6eYpyMoCxWr-sQ95LhqGDPYJ-DATcCbq3h_eaNlPQO2s84UxgiC9j5NlYSIXnu2Z-BrheCBKtd83k6Z1GeecJBtUW-yTcw0FnM31GSxu5QnI9UK2S2SnXnx5tAdXzGfVsc7LA49N-ihzKpAEA/s320/McCormick%202D%20Map.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.mccormickplace.com/facility-overview/floor-plans/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="745" data-original-width="1038" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp-UiRbdld8opO6_i2UnOCxj0I16hKbpAgrLY4XehQx0yFJEm9Ij6uPgz6tfZFiLaWq2HNtvxUVDscW0KHrOcrY6VnwQxpHeoH_wN6nLrft7Aaekw4kBLnEzynZ_ji8kmfC4x8ckNx6QMVcZG_Af0JPPu5iDsRC9a6n83n3wWt76u9BsjdjG5iOl44xrE/s320/Map-McCormick%20Place.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Go to <a href="https://www.mccormickplace.com/facility-overview/floor-plans/">https://www.mccormickplace.com/facility-overview/floor-plans/</a> or <a href="https://www.coffeeexpo.org/">https://www.coffeeexpo.org/</a> for more info.</p><p><br /></p>Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-45120482062236275002024-02-22T19:15:00.000-08:002024-02-22T19:15:55.960-08:00Tour of Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters New Facility in Ferndale, MI<p> Feb. 5, 2024</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhx1rErX2hZRoFZ1svQiXNcmeoBTn-1oYhqvvWixY7fnNwLY-sgxup_TNOakyQD0vxPLhmVOAhfJ5yWL5XtpS6FxhmCXWqjV5uABYp7I8faIh1ubCM8WH8Gt5VYXb778ZA2FIZrBhTCnyB2VQ1deTZ-bHP3KoK2gxdd-uZcaABmalcO76GQo-c0pbwVyU/s3088/IMG_8324.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhx1rErX2hZRoFZ1svQiXNcmeoBTn-1oYhqvvWixY7fnNwLY-sgxup_TNOakyQD0vxPLhmVOAhfJ5yWL5XtpS6FxhmCXWqjV5uABYp7I8faIh1ubCM8WH8Gt5VYXb778ZA2FIZrBhTCnyB2VQ1deTZ-bHP3KoK2gxdd-uZcaABmalcO76GQo-c0pbwVyU/s320/IMG_8324.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p>We were thrilled last week to have the opportunity to share the Ejo Heza story at Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters' (DOCR) Ferndale retail store and HQ. It's the fourth location for them and just opened in April 2023. It's an amazing 9000 sq ft coffee roasters' dream! First, there's the large education and cupping room where we got to give the presentation. The space is separate from the bar and seating area, allowing any event to be private. This is a departure from the more open stage arrangement in other DOCR locations.</p><p>The event space doubles as a cupping lab because of the cool long, hardwood tables on wheels and the fully equipped espresso bar with a sink. Along one side of the event space is a huge conference room with a gorgeous long natural wood table with inlaid coffee beans! I've never seen anything like it!</p><p>Another unique feature of the DOCR space - the commercial kitchen for baking their famous, one-of-a-kind cheesecakes. Have you ever had baklava or raspberry, white chocolate cheesecake?! </p><p>In the roastery, it was a treat to see the old, 10 kilo Mill City roaster that I knew from its prior location in Rochester, MI. It now sits next to its new 'big brother' Probat which is a 24 kilo roaster. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNQ8P4qNxZgK63DXgZqrCs_Z2AOiXh9Z_Yf4GFwb7lxhpijRAuqnjSOMaUfPOpcnjZ2M0eHh_qMcePv9tOwqMiBQ2WBZzKU6deOZj2sYM3V_PcXz2hz1x2IGGBB6icL98waCHuqsMR0Cd4j20DCIVc3K1_qAFsFH4msVfASjNpR3BPeD1R3juSmtjE7U/s4032/IMG_8266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNQ8P4qNxZgK63DXgZqrCs_Z2AOiXh9Z_Yf4GFwb7lxhpijRAuqnjSOMaUfPOpcnjZ2M0eHh_qMcePv9tOwqMiBQ2WBZzKU6deOZj2sYM3V_PcXz2hz1x2IGGBB6icL98waCHuqsMR0Cd4j20DCIVc3K1_qAFsFH4msVfASjNpR3BPeD1R3juSmtjE7U/s320/IMG_8266.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Nate Hamood (right), owner/roaster/co-founder of Dessert Oasis talks with participants.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZ3y3mtGQxUP36eCOLz6dtVRNlmgLQvP87IUc_Zvkp_1kWfATmYXkHd93Q0dwlJmQZw5NoJvmokbisj2ytCFT11MgHSeZBNPg8zyY3af7mKzyT7iAsi8TtdctKxYvEw8AM1RRb-B_51SEQPCUmwf8q9IKkP84odZSaAbqP5Kl5b5ygqywRYaqOZl3ff4/s4032/IMG_8248.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZ3y3mtGQxUP36eCOLz6dtVRNlmgLQvP87IUc_Zvkp_1kWfATmYXkHd93Q0dwlJmQZw5NoJvmokbisj2ytCFT11MgHSeZBNPg8zyY3af7mKzyT7iAsi8TtdctKxYvEw8AM1RRb-B_51SEQPCUmwf8q9IKkP84odZSaAbqP5Kl5b5ygqywRYaqOZl3ff4/s320/IMG_8248.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1UfDdr-OJd5_HV6PZYSHiNMN1-1I4nG2p2TPbpla1KfnKdEIfb40pv_JEsHcK4IUl2zdL1DYKhTi8zfaxLemnYJsccbivmRwqPcMQLXRvh8ojA6mSlbWYZJVEq0RbrMaAvlEPAnchMF88sz5cMzT38xn9R8GLdRSP9rUwVjgcBlUGUdvNj-pnU3p7ZhE/s4032/IMG_8275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1UfDdr-OJd5_HV6PZYSHiNMN1-1I4nG2p2TPbpla1KfnKdEIfb40pv_JEsHcK4IUl2zdL1DYKhTi8zfaxLemnYJsccbivmRwqPcMQLXRvh8ojA6mSlbWYZJVEq0RbrMaAvlEPAnchMF88sz5cMzT38xn9R8GLdRSP9rUwVjgcBlUGUdvNj-pnU3p7ZhE/s320/IMG_8275.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><p>Amelie Haakenson, manager at Dessert Oasis, sets up the cupping table.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjahUNpoaFJSxQIgnQdXT0LzRK1yJ4wf8RQ_oXSpA7bn1FpDnpqViI5dNXuR1C6Zi7PxXN3duJ5VqO1iTDxWQbL44nP8XOzHtGDeUWQo3pcqFjTWwYErK8abiL8CQpOhpYzgdwrue9S6NN1ECHvkvYcMVvrTO79HzLWm99riHbJN0m9m4pgJmrD91Gjkos/s4032/IMG_8314.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjahUNpoaFJSxQIgnQdXT0LzRK1yJ4wf8RQ_oXSpA7bn1FpDnpqViI5dNXuR1C6Zi7PxXN3duJ5VqO1iTDxWQbL44nP8XOzHtGDeUWQo3pcqFjTWwYErK8abiL8CQpOhpYzgdwrue9S6NN1ECHvkvYcMVvrTO79HzLWm99riHbJN0m9m4pgJmrD91Gjkos/s320/IMG_8314.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div>Ruth Ann presenting the Ethiopian coffees on the table.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYlsJsSPN2dsMyroCwVrBJgWLCXmAzs19VCbUZZqHAgR4lWuUDzbkpCvvlQN9SDHm8h89vk8ZcrjZGydMSYDJtCzQvoR6TtkH3RP0S18bIb7KxCH9TjUayeO2aMr9qromuCrGKN7d7IaVoeRvVNqjg0tp1wXy9-QQtDbnoFv98ahIwH0Rm2d1G153Yv3Q/s4032/IMG_8260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYlsJsSPN2dsMyroCwVrBJgWLCXmAzs19VCbUZZqHAgR4lWuUDzbkpCvvlQN9SDHm8h89vk8ZcrjZGydMSYDJtCzQvoR6TtkH3RP0S18bIb7KxCH9TjUayeO2aMr9qromuCrGKN7d7IaVoeRvVNqjg0tp1wXy9-QQtDbnoFv98ahIwH0Rm2d1G153Yv3Q/s320/IMG_8260.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The new space has room for two roasters! (Old, small one in the foreground, new larger Probat in the background.)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Tk5fSOq_VhQJHY80yj2l14qTu5Xdfe6rIyBiByqY9_Zsu1aTYRr6-M1Y1y3sbS2QX-mXaMj8J7zKWMkyHn_da6fqe8lXDByxPYv8nDg4eTH39Dy8yQ1BaGyj6Mjdu88cCOZDW-EmsUr3S9dKRcMlehiumVLhfZ9mc39OwBja-PenaOvbjhrulDozoT4/s4032/IMG_8258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Tk5fSOq_VhQJHY80yj2l14qTu5Xdfe6rIyBiByqY9_Zsu1aTYRr6-M1Y1y3sbS2QX-mXaMj8J7zKWMkyHn_da6fqe8lXDByxPYv8nDg4eTH39Dy8yQ1BaGyj6Mjdu88cCOZDW-EmsUr3S9dKRcMlehiumVLhfZ9mc39OwBja-PenaOvbjhrulDozoT4/s320/IMG_8258.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4DzI_u6qmKfwUxGwrOYiZ2WF58B-CxktpL_84Iw_tLffhA5y1g4O6Mmk0fEdoMoH2cxwWEvqxzMUqI5vNeHl_sV2XnhBeIKPQfDIY7LR44a1-7bdTORg__ha1XqY5Zg2TRe7D7y3VybIuClzJdCT6LifLfbWJ8MvRDw0eqk0w9qdoVSEpjvujnUdaONY/s4032/group_photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4DzI_u6qmKfwUxGwrOYiZ2WF58B-CxktpL_84Iw_tLffhA5y1g4O6Mmk0fEdoMoH2cxwWEvqxzMUqI5vNeHl_sV2XnhBeIKPQfDIY7LR44a1-7bdTORg__ha1XqY5Zg2TRe7D7y3VybIuClzJdCT6LifLfbWJ8MvRDw0eqk0w9qdoVSEpjvujnUdaONY/s320/group_photo.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">DOCR and Artisan make a great partnership!</div><div><br /><div><br /></div></div>Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-76439068074976890412023-12-04T13:44:00.000-08:002024-02-05T18:00:52.530-08:00Forward Contracting - Easy and Profitable!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Forward booking can be a practice that lets every member of the supply chain,<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz9D0s5r0qxPQXmL7Y0Lc6scOyqKuzPWqMitBV5u4k1npGRsordmfinbaPK5rkKFWAmpblqtVD-gEzXhE-SjILqbw-r0DZhHQcjUex5FAJx0fJH1NAm-7mxbJix9R7pCg2blfMlcElXm22iG3to9w-Rp0dKkGLZFQRtCkCV-U9kTPWTrzt1kPFJV6TjTs/s4032/IMG_0215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz9D0s5r0qxPQXmL7Y0Lc6scOyqKuzPWqMitBV5u4k1npGRsordmfinbaPK5rkKFWAmpblqtVD-gEzXhE-SjILqbw-r0DZhHQcjUex5FAJx0fJH1NAm-7mxbJix9R7pCg2blfMlcElXm22iG3to9w-Rp0dKkGLZFQRtCkCV-U9kTPWTrzt1kPFJV6TjTs/w150-h200/IMG_0215.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>including the producer, be proactive rather than reactive, thus creating resiliency that is a core value at Artisan. </span><span style="text-align: left;">Most of Artisan's coffee is sold via fixed price, forward contracts with roasters.</span><span style="text-align: left;">This </span><span style="text-align: left;">means the rosater signs a contract with Artisan before the coffee has shipped. </span></div><p>Advantages to the roaster include: securing good coffee and being able to plan ahead for its physical arrival and the impact of the payment on the green coffee budget. But there are some disadvantages. Making a projection about needed volume can be difficult. We've created the following Pros and Cons table. What would you add to this?</p><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Table: PROS and CONS of Forward Contacts</b></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBCIv2WoTRYOnLGqBLl0QVBCD-emLcTxcGLhP5c7YqO72-O_AeEr6zoBZTB5rPRBhcO1mZ2cV4VI_3SSv6DrRPk1c4H-ZZ35PDVPWIlslmm_CXSrtcoocmJgtK4RpP5c7Fhv1gnHZwFPpNlUZacC8pcDS0n-lHDdTqkYbaUAzOY-g-R9OLEBmwkY86xU/s572/Pro-Con_Table_v2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="206" data-original-width="572" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBCIv2WoTRYOnLGqBLl0QVBCD-emLcTxcGLhP5c7YqO72-O_AeEr6zoBZTB5rPRBhcO1mZ2cV4VI_3SSv6DrRPk1c4H-ZZ35PDVPWIlslmm_CXSrtcoocmJgtK4RpP5c7Fhv1gnHZwFPpNlUZacC8pcDS0n-lHDdTqkYbaUAzOY-g-R9OLEBmwkY86xU/w400-h144/Pro-Con_Table_v2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">The contract has quality terms that must be achieved at the pre-ship sample stage and on arrival. Price and terms for payment are also defined. We typically start signing contracts for Ethiopoia in January and go through Mardh. For Rwandan coffee, we contract February - April for coffee that arrives October - November.</span></div><p></p>
<p>Our minimum is one bag or 132LBs.</p><p><br /></p>Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-35409421050554537342023-10-21T12:59:00.000-07:002023-12-11T13:31:13.986-08:00Dehab's Ultra Sustainable Farm in Kaffa, Ethiopia<p>I was impressed with the emphasis on sustaining community and <b>mother<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6OrKgyddAiZJQUFyEcR3pTlyyrkDxw91yw6GPWJVogLmRQP_g5nZ8_eh5fy6M09TqrBZ9a6RUyN1udEdSzl0cKIQK0gXAZl_5R5DHT4B8EudRVco4DRr7Q72HekUtkIReReyNug7zaBE2FjJql6DsJrEzjQsl5LFQUMA-l0-vBdB-4D56vmz7ys-Qjrg/s4032/IMG_3737.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6OrKgyddAiZJQUFyEcR3pTlyyrkDxw91yw6GPWJVogLmRQP_g5nZ8_eh5fy6M09TqrBZ9a6RUyN1udEdSzl0cKIQK0gXAZl_5R5DHT4B8EudRVco4DRr7Q72HekUtkIReReyNug7zaBE2FjJql6DsJrEzjQsl5LFQUMA-l0-vBdB-4D56vmz7ys-Qjrg/s320/IMG_3737.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dehab on her farm.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> earth</b> that Dehab has invested in her large coffee farm in the Kaffa zone of Ethiopia. In this blog, I'll share few things, as I suspect most readers share a love of our mother earth and things that are healthy and life-giving. </p><div>The coffee trees on Dehab's farm are growing under giant, old-growth rainforest trees in way that can only be described as magical to foreigners like us arriving from urban, agro-chemical territories. Her land is in the buffer zone of the UNESCO protected Kaffa Biosphere. Walking through the farm you feel like you're in the movie Avatar, only all the low-growth is coffee! </div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghOGSiQGkda0EjJqGQme593TU7Wmsf5TezjjJMdlqF4LMkbeXBDb5nMeRSYuskbZiQoVoBDy1QHGfVQ9eHWe8cSjZUyIoxgRGuRm1nLCxlf-vl43AX6ZvKxGqZiVkGzFsV8aAIDiYV6feNLqbwp4Gox-OsehJ7_BtZaOVs947Y5ovMhPfJcUsP88TjTYI/s4032/IMG_3725.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghOGSiQGkda0EjJqGQme593TU7Wmsf5TezjjJMdlqF4LMkbeXBDb5nMeRSYuskbZiQoVoBDy1QHGfVQ9eHWe8cSjZUyIoxgRGuRm1nLCxlf-vl43AX6ZvKxGqZiVkGzFsV8aAIDiYV6feNLqbwp4Gox-OsehJ7_BtZaOVs947Y5ovMhPfJcUsP88TjTYI/s320/IMG_3725.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coffee growing under old growth trees.</td></tr></tbody></table><div>Dehab has developed a modern honey/ bee-keeping farm which has multiple objectives: bees help the organic growth of the coffee trees. Honey is a good second income-earner for Dehab's business. She uses the honey-farm to teach bee-keeping to men and women, because she knows that the women will be allowed to do the bee-keeping business by themselves, because it is something they can do close to the home. Earning money from honey will mean that the woman has to spend <b>less time</b> cutting down trees to make charcoal to sell for money, which will help <b>save the forest.</b> Regenerative agriculture at its best, I think!</div><div><br /></div><div>While we were walking through the farm, one of Dehab's friends, Dr. Mitzi, who<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9GjBgc4kpbaPyygyzVVp1FqN2hrDiTJd494MbdO4iwtEiE1SqNQzCrXeZQZEeh-TBTARbcVPwMg6vueywFT-d2Z-PmJsAfDE4xXFv6Um8GEVkz3mGT5GEd58iDC2EgbqMeUGix2PinagrpodxGeRhEB1ddx9YvjG-hRO-rJZgxB-9IOJ57Tq_VFJrubA/s4032/IMG_3640.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9GjBgc4kpbaPyygyzVVp1FqN2hrDiTJd494MbdO4iwtEiE1SqNQzCrXeZQZEeh-TBTARbcVPwMg6vueywFT-d2Z-PmJsAfDE4xXFv6Um8GEVkz3mGT5GEd58iDC2EgbqMeUGix2PinagrpodxGeRhEB1ddx9YvjG-hRO-rJZgxB-9IOJ57Tq_VFJrubA/s320/IMG_3640.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /> is a remarkable, well-educated, well-traveled woman with long experience with the United Nations. Dr. Mitzi is also an herbologist, and she was showing us the herbs that are growing among the groundcover plants and telling us the medicinal properties. </div><div><br /></div><div>Then, when the entire group (about 30-35 people) was together in the center of the farm (approximately), Dr. Mitzi had us all be still for 2 minutes of silence<b> to listen to the earth and the sounds of the forest</b>. For those who wanted to join, she demonstrated some yoga poses. We were silent and hear the sounds of the forest.</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvFI2kv4eviQjzZ6Zb6Wbvi-2TVeCdEu4rRDUle34gAmv1UGDumzs36KP5S-ZO-XVv4k1D6kGSmhonFSCkWnCOu9ClLdNMAFuUITdf7cQJwWmtlTcFp1Qalju6zM2FK6ZRpriMxrNSfyQFd6J01oqwvMYZyWZql4FSjD7CwrSKa3v8U1SXwemCu1UF5ZQ/s4032/IMG_3667.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvFI2kv4eviQjzZ6Zb6Wbvi-2TVeCdEu4rRDUle34gAmv1UGDumzs36KP5S-ZO-XVv4k1D6kGSmhonFSCkWnCOu9ClLdNMAFuUITdf7cQJwWmtlTcFp1Qalju6zM2FK6ZRpriMxrNSfyQFd6J01oqwvMYZyWZql4FSjD7CwrSKa3v8U1SXwemCu1UF5ZQ/s320/IMG_3667.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pause to hear the forest.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />After that, we hiked to the top of a nearby hill and Dehab pointed out an area of about 30 ha. that she does not farm so that the animals and plants are all natural there. It's like a forest reserve within the reserve. You could hear the moisture dripping, see the moss hanging from ancient branches and we happened to be there on a beautiful sunny day. Magical!</div><div><br /></div><div>To top it off, at the end of the hiking, we enjoyed the <u>entire</u> Ethiopian coffee ceremony, (starting with roasting the green beans), live and close-up, while we ate lunch at the offices of the farm.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5E8aX0zjDMtEc3yZygm0Rmvhu9vSyA2uYBInq-znGIPWJ_CjLWqWFHbiwHIchmcozpWdQiZKD0PYt8WQ261UzywK-d6B7ktVKizIQt5VCujZ-n4OxZ3p9Xlrp2Yq0RVEg5woIdor8YnA3iUUTlsfzzRtKKnDnkS1h6b5pGCbwRz0jQqFqSJxV25ktPfw/s4032/IMG_3687.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5E8aX0zjDMtEc3yZygm0Rmvhu9vSyA2uYBInq-znGIPWJ_CjLWqWFHbiwHIchmcozpWdQiZKD0PYt8WQ261UzywK-d6B7ktVKizIQt5VCujZ-n4OxZ3p9Xlrp2Yq0RVEg5woIdor8YnA3iUUTlsfzzRtKKnDnkS1h6b5pGCbwRz0jQqFqSJxV25ktPfw/s320/IMG_3687.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the midst of a rainforest.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><div><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKiX4EgjLZZ-QL_2gfc_KGwA17pddYOdVhCmzY0d-KGR7iQ1Ib7CDMHPeHLi8Bd416He1FkF4ruBgUcAeQyNFGS744SnZ6K_N5PIDVRh6EJFrvYHoqO1SrkEGfWKceMySHgjukDJuWWUJSYwdgEpNy7h6FAhuWsEffI0QflNuEMKWGxs_9QWn6kWOjM2k/s4032/IMG_3813.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKiX4EgjLZZ-QL_2gfc_KGwA17pddYOdVhCmzY0d-KGR7iQ1Ib7CDMHPeHLi8Bd416He1FkF4ruBgUcAeQyNFGS744SnZ6K_N5PIDVRh6EJFrvYHoqO1SrkEGfWKceMySHgjukDJuWWUJSYwdgEpNy7h6FAhuWsEffI0QflNuEMKWGxs_9QWn6kWOjM2k/s320/IMG_3813.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #3c4043; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; text-align: start; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Molesh Demisse lead the coffee ceremony.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg90typXORT8Q4nux7ZIAQMuLOfuU-Ow_eoxKYAl7pj4P7zanhwIiGy60dkEg-uI9m4Cxy1fU8ub16rEmvm-yBET-udzNO_qh9J7dXUv3ZwD1hNl4GBo8SVZxYGZynxQ1urfPLOSh733mBPh5OCansuFujNIDbONCGyenIYQvuAN8B8qUO8jLSmM5LfGBQ/s3520/IMG_3817.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3520" data-original-width="1980" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg90typXORT8Q4nux7ZIAQMuLOfuU-Ow_eoxKYAl7pj4P7zanhwIiGy60dkEg-uI9m4Cxy1fU8ub16rEmvm-yBET-udzNO_qh9J7dXUv3ZwD1hNl4GBo8SVZxYGZynxQ1urfPLOSh733mBPh5OCansuFujNIDbONCGyenIYQvuAN8B8qUO8jLSmM5LfGBQ/s320/IMG_3817.JPG" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdUX9pWl9L3AWiFWBjUMLxG63B2aBpbAK7BR4S4psSnWZI2HwZRlW82ncW2clqvwgr3NSxRkkYAxqhnNi3EbzLTwEw-ptXFj1S76CxqGhMnQIM2P-ptq-0vnss00zLbhcS6crO8lQoPqmWExDPWSAorgCcPC2jMrNFKcEdqlGOwBRebFyZ4EqY_KFqEXQ/s4032/IMG_3829.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdUX9pWl9L3AWiFWBjUMLxG63B2aBpbAK7BR4S4psSnWZI2HwZRlW82ncW2clqvwgr3NSxRkkYAxqhnNi3EbzLTwEw-ptXFj1S76CxqGhMnQIM2P-ptq-0vnss00zLbhcS6crO8lQoPqmWExDPWSAorgCcPC2jMrNFKcEdqlGOwBRebFyZ4EqY_KFqEXQ/s320/IMG_3829.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0u3eGx2iPB8ePdKoWM6tEm8TCISGY2xelzd7hyphenhyphentZYA9wn6V1xpAyqtzVKxE6S-Hwiro5ReacRkz2AfXxsrHf0SJ6y8TvD4o4M1cLxhLlgAFxdZggsYBxhfV9gnYn_EKJJSqHZAC0Tp8V-puWYtupuAlhD3KrUQPu2CE7Mxji3H1yOqGl0FI1-AMLaOk/s3520/IMG_3840.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3520" data-original-width="1980" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0u3eGx2iPB8ePdKoWM6tEm8TCISGY2xelzd7hyphenhyphentZYA9wn6V1xpAyqtzVKxE6S-Hwiro5ReacRkz2AfXxsrHf0SJ6y8TvD4o4M1cLxhLlgAFxdZggsYBxhfV9gnYn_EKJJSqHZAC0Tp8V-puWYtupuAlhD3KrUQPu2CE7Mxji3H1yOqGl0FI1-AMLaOk/s320/IMG_3840.JPG" width="180" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-10722251440175838892023-10-03T20:42:00.004-07:002023-10-10T11:45:02.128-07:00Courier Delivers Coffee and Suprises in Portland Oregon<p>Courier Coffee in Portland, Oregon is one of those cafes that seems to be steeped in the culture of the city where it "lives". The cafe today is downtown at 923 SW Oak Street, just steps away from the famous Powell's Bookstore. The roastery is in a separate building in another famous Portland neighborhood: SE Hawthorne St. </p><p>The cafe is ecletic, unpretentious and "granola" and at the same time surprisingly wholesome and classy. The sign for the cafe is a hand-painted board leaning against the sidewalk window, but the french pastries are baked fresh, in the cafe, every morning from scratch by the owner. He even makes his own condensed milk!</p><p>The cafe space is shared with a Japanese ex-patriot who is an expert in a sumptuous ice treat called Kagigori, known in English as Japanese shaved ice. She has the authentic machine for transforming the condensed, sweetened milk into a beautiful dish of cream, cold sweetness drizzled with fresh fruit and hand-made fruit sauce.</p><p>Joel Domreis, Couriers founder, owner, roaster and baker, rides his bike about 4 miles every day to bring fresh milk to the store. You often see his sturdy, blue cargo bike parked right outside. </p><p>There is a record-player playing Ethiopian jazz music for the clients as they file in throughout the morning, many of them regulars. One gentleman with many piercings has a trusty bulldog in tow. A father with 6 year-old child enjoy the baked treats.</p><p>We can't forget to mention the great coffee! Courier is one of the loyal buyers of our Agasaro, women-grown coffee from Rusizi district, Rwanda. Joel roasts it to a perfect medium-light roast. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7AJiTtgzi7QiPaZZxXt3CtFKE0yJwqUs4QJ4HUSc7EZ4kW1KDU9bn1_Oarmxe_JnUr1gTQimz0QqudzC9mM5SUltL5Kkj4IzkyNE2N7QH4Dj95bC8Xgcl0B3qik8pZPWHDwkpn5NbAprnej16C8ahHMo5_8QNByhpfdGg7k0_emjfaF7QjDU3NRnOBjA/s4032/IMG_3164.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7AJiTtgzi7QiPaZZxXt3CtFKE0yJwqUs4QJ4HUSc7EZ4kW1KDU9bn1_Oarmxe_JnUr1gTQimz0QqudzC9mM5SUltL5Kkj4IzkyNE2N7QH4Dj95bC8Xgcl0B3qik8pZPWHDwkpn5NbAprnej16C8ahHMo5_8QNByhpfdGg7k0_emjfaF7QjDU3NRnOBjA/s320/IMG_3164.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAEOSKeCNfymErpmCwJlWCsN0fWZ8fFKdCK0mLCc8UaTf6fXpjH2wEcWpDwvjJ4X7Mmwt6OUcWlxwFQrMwAGKa7I3ZMv0nBNBYk2fGn9slVz6I-_0_J6ABAJkuLedzpPy7BXDIk0CwrhVPfMG2K2mxx2X2Kdm3je3VNSYVzGuKmxeJjsvFufj8ExWjaak/s4032/IMG_3182.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAEOSKeCNfymErpmCwJlWCsN0fWZ8fFKdCK0mLCc8UaTf6fXpjH2wEcWpDwvjJ4X7Mmwt6OUcWlxwFQrMwAGKa7I3ZMv0nBNBYk2fGn9slVz6I-_0_J6ABAJkuLedzpPy7BXDIk0CwrhVPfMG2K2mxx2X2Kdm3je3VNSYVzGuKmxeJjsvFufj8ExWjaak/s320/IMG_3182.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JyGdVFBojQIYf81K-QWTAqUSpBCo4KXgnFLNvi0wqAcLeJY76ewroEqYyR_p4GaYFZanbEOgZ032qaEpki5UhpxpuxL_cgbJq3ReGso2qKlp9XmXBFQ3AGyeDXXWEYEc0731GxGnyHYfb2xtzurP3s0kD4ittKIKgsVfzoZZqu0ThEWeHYKBHDf-fpg/s2095/Agasaro_1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2095" data-original-width="2081" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JyGdVFBojQIYf81K-QWTAqUSpBCo4KXgnFLNvi0wqAcLeJY76ewroEqYyR_p4GaYFZanbEOgZ032qaEpki5UhpxpuxL_cgbJq3ReGso2qKlp9XmXBFQ3AGyeDXXWEYEc0731GxGnyHYfb2xtzurP3s0kD4ittKIKgsVfzoZZqu0ThEWeHYKBHDf-fpg/s320/Agasaro_1.JPG" width="318" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHcfqAjMlGigMNXHfupZhfyQzXell_gVyFUJNFnlQYiYYvCR8Kpe53gkbO40R_xEzkIR_tzU8Z1lRWW2SMmy6kqoL03roKAzgipil3-XVCIfcnYomIrsRzrcHXqDf4rOZPuj8LpCE__Urym6JweY8jtz_PGcqdrFz1O7CRbacpNrZ1sIinodVACM_kH9Q/s4032/Bakedtreats3.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHcfqAjMlGigMNXHfupZhfyQzXell_gVyFUJNFnlQYiYYvCR8Kpe53gkbO40R_xEzkIR_tzU8Z1lRWW2SMmy6kqoL03roKAzgipil3-XVCIfcnYomIrsRzrcHXqDf4rOZPuj8LpCE__Urym6JweY8jtz_PGcqdrFz1O7CRbacpNrZ1sIinodVACM_kH9Q/s320/Bakedtreats3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0yc0KI3mjjI0e1pygcXRku6cBgs56j23yoNn1wSE46sqRpUESeEqN07sQU1gr5ZeCc6bGa4bVVyAL4yxpVuWyaAINu_pvY6OFjUKFgz33_gGqFuEq7YVu_EqVsgVQ7g82jjoCPdqxHyBhFEyn5j8U2iO_xxX62h-R8UBr_hUDIiEixJRz8MOigEd1Bes/s4032/Soen1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0yc0KI3mjjI0e1pygcXRku6cBgs56j23yoNn1wSE46sqRpUESeEqN07sQU1gr5ZeCc6bGa4bVVyAL4yxpVuWyaAINu_pvY6OFjUKFgz33_gGqFuEq7YVu_EqVsgVQ7g82jjoCPdqxHyBhFEyn5j8U2iO_xxX62h-R8UBr_hUDIiEixJRz8MOigEd1Bes/s320/Soen1.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGOg6cpvnJVLfqxcU-Mwlvh_C-Zzw1X8LCz_TKx4tLMWVSheOpsdXOC-3gvzA2HWmSKo815TVGqy0Ko6paGgFxLQbTFXO8vA-xWdn0FeryHjeWw0jRrIJyZdOxomTWAEIDBhUmLiewWed4-0BY8tEGArU76zzi-47O6r9nUFkQy9h6u4FJ3L3dEDN8zko/s4032/Cafe_front1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGOg6cpvnJVLfqxcU-Mwlvh_C-Zzw1X8LCz_TKx4tLMWVSheOpsdXOC-3gvzA2HWmSKo815TVGqy0Ko6paGgFxLQbTFXO8vA-xWdn0FeryHjeWw0jRrIJyZdOxomTWAEIDBhUmLiewWed4-0BY8tEGArU76zzi-47O6r9nUFkQy9h6u4FJ3L3dEDN8zko/s320/Cafe_front1.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJ8K-Q_Ri609AqhRbCoE4vO86EWqrQj9soZXkxv2bzf16ryEsVG5Qzc5cAdXvbCpRroRZ7rXN_Rvb4nrXCGf5WE7Vcq6lSey85UzH5dapb4-193cbqreXoEHpmEoKt0B6V8GEo-0IEZ2SfB9m-UUYC-5S57ZmtF4MoHwC-FJrgQ3KrhoTf-7zv3NCbaw/s4032/CafeVibe5.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJ8K-Q_Ri609AqhRbCoE4vO86EWqrQj9soZXkxv2bzf16ryEsVG5Qzc5cAdXvbCpRroRZ7rXN_Rvb4nrXCGf5WE7Vcq6lSey85UzH5dapb4-193cbqreXoEHpmEoKt0B6V8GEo-0IEZ2SfB9m-UUYC-5S57ZmtF4MoHwC-FJrgQ3KrhoTf-7zv3NCbaw/s320/CafeVibe5.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-36122827382746610262023-10-01T20:01:00.001-07:002023-10-03T20:07:54.095-07:00Paying Women's Premiums - A Little Goes A Long Way<p>We'd like to share how<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="text-align: center;">Artisan’s women's premium program works in Rwanda. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: center;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhsI_e0CHvOMJEM-m_Xz6pW6q3zKJRUbvXV6-8CncqxcXtfBbW2ibu2J6nSWjh27URkDBSgr8nhWNeGYX2LQe8lgSmRsoLTjWZ1VykTKH3HBCXi_ahsmSi7H98-YMOoX1MqOZF5H-vsk2uNWbmnCpW9MylXjCHI5u9-w-TT8JkRlBWlusWA80gIxwCq-o" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="752" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhsI_e0CHvOMJEM-m_Xz6pW6q3zKJRUbvXV6-8CncqxcXtfBbW2ibu2J6nSWjh27URkDBSgr8nhWNeGYX2LQe8lgSmRsoLTjWZ1VykTKH3HBCXi_ahsmSi7H98-YMOoX1MqOZF5H-vsk2uNWbmnCpW9MylXjCHI5u9-w-TT8JkRlBWlusWA80gIxwCq-o=w640-h384" width="640" /></a></span></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: center;"></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1Jt3aQLhatP0IbqMtJAnvIoOcKNma0_W8BNSSnxRVHo-msyxYiYW0SvQQYHd62KpEjXJ42KB-54wuqz2jcZlAJbFAiyYXkC49PxU5j0-OvVnz5I4zjbDfj8-wiAqE6Oezj0fmnkzVaxZvkhhggPX50WsyU_9SkoXNxCw7ibTGB6RZ410htRnKMh0kWJg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="752" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1Jt3aQLhatP0IbqMtJAnvIoOcKNma0_W8BNSSnxRVHo-msyxYiYW0SvQQYHd62KpEjXJ42KB-54wuqz2jcZlAJbFAiyYXkC49PxU5j0-OvVnz5I4zjbDfj8-wiAqE6Oezj0fmnkzVaxZvkhhggPX50WsyU_9SkoXNxCw7ibTGB6RZ410htRnKMh0kWJg=w640-h384" width="640" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Century, serif; text-align: left;">Basics
of how the program operates</span><p></p></span><p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Century",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Cooperative agrees to pay $0.136/lb of the green
coffee price to the women’s group. The president of the women’s group signs the
green contract. We believe we may be the only importer where every contract at
origin is signed by a woman representing the women’s group, (along with the
signature of the president of the cooperative, who is typically male, but not
always).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Century",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Artisan wires the women’s premium to the cooperative’s
USD account separate from other coffee payments. The cooperative’s leader is
required contractually to send Artisan a receipt showing the deposit to the local
currency account of the women’s group. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Century",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The leaders of the women’s group agree on the amount,
timing and process for distribution of the cash to its members. This is
approved at an assembly of all group members. If the amount is small (<
$1,000) they may decide to use the funds for a community project instead of
direct cash distribution to each member. Documentation of the distribution of
funds is sent to Artisan and always available to roasters. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Century",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b><span style="font-family: "Century",serif; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">2017
General Assembly Celebration</span></b><span style="font-family: Century, serif; line-height: 107%;">: <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://youtu.be/zYPCXjdo4l0">Click here</a></span> to view the YouTube
video</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Century",serif; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">2018
General Assembly Celebration</span></b><span style="font-family: "Century",serif; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">: <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://youtu.be/p3vzIjPJosQ">Click here</a></span> to view the YouTube
video <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "Century",serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://decafcoffeenamerica.blogspot.com/2018/12/ejo-heza-women-celebrate-and-say-thank.html">Click
here</a></span></span><span style="font-family: "Century",serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
to read our <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2018 blogpost</b> about the
day the premium is distributed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Century",serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiaohgV43EuhGbGZ4RIVyMy647qm2Jehvv_6jF3G77b_-b859DzjoFavInBWHCZDfGB_yv1gEhnNu5P2dvs7GY9hJqDSRROyrpBbwBIhe0-94eZ-3zHyBDz-5-htvmGxQNETaA7Z02Lzp64G-_IsIMb4eBQwXmP0SQuNIn1DAvHUmXdk--YdjQMfUM-iXk" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="737" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiaohgV43EuhGbGZ4RIVyMy647qm2Jehvv_6jF3G77b_-b859DzjoFavInBWHCZDfGB_yv1gEhnNu5P2dvs7GY9hJqDSRROyrpBbwBIhe0-94eZ-3zHyBDz-5-htvmGxQNETaA7Z02Lzp64G-_IsIMb4eBQwXmP0SQuNIn1DAvHUmXdk--YdjQMfUM-iXk=w400-h305" width="400" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoCaption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">Symbolic
check given to Ejo Heza - $7,920 premium for the 2018 season</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 21.3333px;"><span style="font-family: Century, serif;">.</span></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Century",serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p>Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-29685675520644007092023-09-01T07:35:00.012-07:002023-09-27T08:33:26.926-07:00Artisan Talent Partnership: Meet Angelique MUTUYIMANA<p>Sep. 2023</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqK3l3Pr77NDn5M2n5Gj58iBs1371C_ffP4P10AjojD_hwPLF7wTz_1LCzMI0EXAz1eJgCsBYBrHbtD8pzaN5-VyWhripakyo9_ISgykvmNjWTQvVc_fD5l10oMkfU_1Pn2dKKCcx8uI_bUbMDR_oU4Th17Fzjuw7HsUunrmsRZI1NpRmOMDP97gPdtIM/s1080/Angelique_at_COCAGI.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqK3l3Pr77NDn5M2n5Gj58iBs1371C_ffP4P10AjojD_hwPLF7wTz_1LCzMI0EXAz1eJgCsBYBrHbtD8pzaN5-VyWhripakyo9_ISgykvmNjWTQvVc_fD5l10oMkfU_1Pn2dKKCcx8uI_bUbMDR_oU4Th17Fzjuw7HsUunrmsRZI1NpRmOMDP97gPdtIM/s320/Angelique_at_COCAGI.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;">Jobs in rural communities which grow coffee
are often for low paying field and mill labor with little opportunity for
advancement - especially for women.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;">To support the growth of professional opportunities for women in coffee and at the same time close the talent gap observed in cooperative management teams, Artisan Coffee Imports has developed a Talent Partnership with our
producing cooperatives. Now in its third cycle, Artisan is supporting Angelique
MUTUYIMANA, 25 years old, who is working with the Co-operative des Caféicultureurs de Gishoma
(COCAGI) in Rwanda’s</span><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;"> south. <o:p></o:p></span>Each month, she travels 4 hours by bus (one way) from her home in Nyamagabe two times! The coopertive's location borders with DR Congo and Burundi. Before starting her internship, Angelique had never been to this region of Rwanda.</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp0fJqZnGspRmn_chxctWWAIhZ8YfN-T55GqqGdAayzYGTOZZJgY14Jyt4gHhrdeauzgKL1dzcMW7FxctINm58UCzsSsJo2qI_l5zkNtWgx65_uT6aUGSwNetwL293k8b8IBIKwkXOUO5-oYHGX1JrK6lP_yVa9HO_tODVW5Ob-8oT3xj_UHNapHx3fO0/s1040/Agasaro_meeting.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="1040" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp0fJqZnGspRmn_chxctWWAIhZ8YfN-T55GqqGdAayzYGTOZZJgY14Jyt4gHhrdeauzgKL1dzcMW7FxctINm58UCzsSsJo2qI_l5zkNtWgx65_uT6aUGSwNetwL293k8b8IBIKwkXOUO5-oYHGX1JrK6lP_yVa9HO_tODVW5Ob-8oT3xj_UHNapHx3fO0/s320/Agasaro_meeting.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meeting of Agasaro leaders</td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt;">As part of her work to support the COCAGI’s women’s
group, which is called Agasaro, Ang<span style="font-family: inherit;">elique is involved in all parts of the
coffee growing and processing process. She is as</span> comfortable in the greenhouse,
tending young coffee plants, as she is practicing agobiado tree-bending in the
field.</p><p>
<span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You’ll also find her at COGAGI’s wet mills or the
cupping lab, where she participates in regular cuppings to ensure that the
Agasaro green is meeting our quality standards.</span></span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I’m learning a lot at COCAGI. It’s exciting for me to
be supporting a coffee cooperative and especially the women of Agasaro,”
Angelique said. “I enjoyed learning about advanced methods to improve
productivity like pruning and the agobiado technique. In the lab, I enjoy
roasting and cupping with the COCAGI staff and our customers.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWvgYFL027eN9BXLY42wXMjtbzs4skUwy7sZudgt9n7lfUK4iU3F2ljYdcVGtiKDwZZtU2HgVtgcZHH0e_f12gzutj4oi22nccBowr1Evy5gKZk3SwNQVK9XipY1xUlbdnHMLXXdX4e-LzmTi5cZhXtHVh-wMcNQDeDpEHPBvXz_L6pRKT6-ZbLzzQJhg/s1040/a8b399a4-9efb-47d0-a28c-ba9c9fc79d0f.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="780" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWvgYFL027eN9BXLY42wXMjtbzs4skUwy7sZudgt9n7lfUK4iU3F2ljYdcVGtiKDwZZtU2HgVtgcZHH0e_f12gzutj4oi22nccBowr1Evy5gKZk3SwNQVK9XipY1xUlbdnHMLXXdX4e-LzmTi5cZhXtHVh-wMcNQDeDpEHPBvXz_L6pRKT6-ZbLzzQJhg/s320/a8b399a4-9efb-47d0-a28c-ba9c9fc79d0f.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Angelique practicing agobiado</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;">When Angelique finalizes her year-long internship in
December 2023, she’ll have some exceptional real-world coffee experience to
complement the classroom training she received back in January/February at
Ikawa House. At this coffee training center in Kigali, Angelique and other
students were taught by veteran, world-class cuppers
Laetitia MUKANDIHIRO and Uzziel HABIMANA. They cover much more than cupping, though.
Students learn production techniques of coffee, and go through processing
techniques, roasting and brewing skills.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;">Angelique earned her bachelor's in Crop
Production from the University of Technology and Arts of Byumba in 2022.
(Byumba is a northern city in Rwanda). Her skills like speaking Kinyarwanda and
English, as well as her experience with government agriculture extension
offices and the "Green Gicumbi Project" are what helped her be
selected by Artisan from a field of other candidates back in December 2022.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1oCHSmwSOP8EooXnd53jaIcuiTw0VBhfrxFEYb-VbQCcVPu8dfxVMPFXkduyB0do_Rm9s-Ajdw6XFNaRUrqxPPuHc1oBfkynBgbtuVpXu_UkSR-2MdtVegMGBoMJ0oIBYfSZ9F8d3MEGJLhY_knLI7lzofHrwtLCC7rHqNX2BNLJBZ7eIGJ3tHuEgFo/s1080/IMG_9994.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1oCHSmwSOP8EooXnd53jaIcuiTw0VBhfrxFEYb-VbQCcVPu8dfxVMPFXkduyB0do_Rm9s-Ajdw6XFNaRUrqxPPuHc1oBfkynBgbtuVpXu_UkSR-2MdtVegMGBoMJ0oIBYfSZ9F8d3MEGJLhY_knLI7lzofHrwtLCC7rHqNX2BNLJBZ7eIGJ3tHuEgFo/s320/IMG_9994.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Ikawa House instructors</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;">Since March 2023, Angelique has helped with many aspects of agronomy for the cooperative. Patricie UWIZEYIMANA is the interim Executive Secretary (leading staff person) of the cooperative, but this is a new position for her. She had been the cooperative's head agromomist until December 2022. "Angelique's help is very welcome," explains UWIZEYIMANA. "With her help we are better able to support our farmer members and accomplish the many tasks of cooperative agronomists. As interim Executive Secretary I have very little time to go to the field, but I can send Angelique." </span><p></p><p>The arrangement financially is what Artisan considers "tri-funded", meaning three parties contribute to make the internship work. Artisan funds Angelique's expenses for transportation and living while she is at the cooperative. The cooperative agrees to supervise Angelique and involve her in valuable work and this is formalized with an MOU between the cooperative and Artisan Coffee Imports. Angelique volunteers, or rather "invests" her time. </p><p>Angelique's internship is the third one Artisan has created and sponsored. So far we've had excellent results. Intern Grace IZERWE, 2020 - 2021, worked with Kopakama Cooperative in Rutsiro district, which included some support to their women's group, Ejo Hez. Now Grace is the Kopakama chief of production and dry mill manager. </p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOfGDs7Yj52W-AeSNqRIVWhXaK_DiKy9oWDlMSgEc-mB7eslyjPNX_fpsYTGhy0XLWlBDk2SSFckIXnnuCN8e-OAiisgB1hhNjMhc6DlOgLlhZBMQz1xVXIgXON0FuADHBbho8JQV8UMwV-mcFQkkzvPvHgd_QdKL_dKHDZHMDqDNLngI8tppV5_1THQs/s1080/WhatsApp%20Image%202023-09-20%20at%2011.08.29%20AM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOfGDs7Yj52W-AeSNqRIVWhXaK_DiKy9oWDlMSgEc-mB7eslyjPNX_fpsYTGhy0XLWlBDk2SSFckIXnnuCN8e-OAiisgB1hhNjMhc6DlOgLlhZBMQz1xVXIgXON0FuADHBbho8JQV8UMwV-mcFQkkzvPvHgd_QdKL_dKHDZHMDqDNLngI8tppV5_1THQs/s320/WhatsApp%20Image%202023-09-20%20at%2011.08.29%20AM.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alice - now the Biz Intelligence <br />intern for Dukundekawa</td></tr></tbody></table><b>Intern Alice NSHUTI</b>, 2022 intern, worked with Dukundekawa and their women's group Rambagirakawa. She is now the Business Intelligence intern for the coopertive located in Rwanda's Gakenke district. This is an important position as it is supporting the cooperative's effort to join a tranparency data project of Root Capital.<p></p><p><b>Intern Grace IZERWE</b>, 2020-2021 intern, worked with Kopakama cooperative and their women's group Ejo Heza. She is now Chief of Production and Dry Mill Manager for Kopakama, in other words, employed by the coop with as permanent staff.</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1pPMcINnuDXM9t4KuVdnrjoKtydr7D9PqKGk-nUQle0KiAFqbopmovgLl63EkPgqu4ZFk0gQwHpLUJ-a9lT_dJOXT4G4vsVDSf3GAlKhgwznyVgVkJv0I1EjvJuBeiUMNSKsg0w35WtWXReybn8aergwfgFulu-HYyCwayGgmfcRaNZ2k5E7EISSTENk/s4032/IMG_0201.JPEG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1pPMcINnuDXM9t4KuVdnrjoKtydr7D9PqKGk-nUQle0KiAFqbopmovgLl63EkPgqu4ZFk0gQwHpLUJ-a9lT_dJOXT4G4vsVDSf3GAlKhgwznyVgVkJv0I1EjvJuBeiUMNSKsg0w35WtWXReybn8aergwfgFulu-HYyCwayGgmfcRaNZ2k5E7EISSTENk/s320/IMG_0201.JPEG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grace gives a tour at<br />Kopakama's dry mill.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>"At Artisan, we believe these internships are concrete ways to support advancement of gender equity in the coffee supply chain," says Ruth Ann Church, Artisan's president, "and at the same time, we're supporting cooperatives to upgrade their management capacity. We firmly believe all management teams are better when they are more diverse. We see talented young women working hard to get through secondary school and earn a degree, and they want secure, professional jobs. Some of them, like Grace, Alice and Angelique, express a great desire to help their fellow Rwandans in rural areas and they have that strange, strong attraction to the coffee industry that many of us experience!"</p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0lrhYTGNcX3ol0RjSAM1ohHOTa79U1ZHxDCYj1lQqY5n1HJVLqmaF3_7anO4fGNufcMtNepsxCCa1RPDQlxHr8P0mQ91-rkqf3Rm8IVz40Pd1_e3T1VRzmS61w0UjkHjP2encAeOOX2naMktGQElU-_pbfnVX3flscJ-d-3UZ3jyzHIIvhGUmwflhXSQ/s4032/IMG_0158.JPEG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0lrhYTGNcX3ol0RjSAM1ohHOTa79U1ZHxDCYj1lQqY5n1HJVLqmaF3_7anO4fGNufcMtNepsxCCa1RPDQlxHr8P0mQ91-rkqf3Rm8IVz40Pd1_e3T1VRzmS61w0UjkHjP2encAeOOX2naMktGQElU-_pbfnVX3flscJ-d-3UZ3jyzHIIvhGUmwflhXSQ/s320/IMG_0158.JPEG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruth with Grace at Kopakama</td></tr></tbody></table><br />"When I travel to the processing centers and cooperatives in the rural areas I also see how desparately the education, communication skills and passion of these young professionals are needed. Every cooperative I've visited has a deficit of skilled, university educated workers. The Artisan internship is an attempt to match the demand for talent at cooperatives with the eager, younger generation of women who face many barriers to entry to the coffee sector."</p><p>Note: many women do work at the "lowest" levels of labor with the lowest wages and the least job security. Their work needs to be recognized and uplifted. We also have learned that these jobs are valued opportunities for these women. Many women in rural areas need day labor employment opportunities to help make ends meet. Day jobs in coffee, like sorting green coffee at the dry mill or turning coffee on the raised tables at the washing station, can support livelihoods and families in important ways. </p><p>We hope that the contributions of women at these important day jobs will be valued, not invisible. And we believe that the advancement of women into decision-making positions in the coffee industry will help the global coffee industry address the challenges of creating more equitable supply chains.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghDnSjAIIksNd6tgRbYK-yUIF_TQ87kRMYXla0kreGVzqdlmuaO7t4_xnzABYNvLAcAhHHEKbIpTdORt0i1KPjzLXum2UlxUFsGjnnQE4scOxYtIAAHRc34tzI48vTt-yvWDHqN_u21nTU5KswBVe6Sx8S4p3DWBVk2J3ok5FaZJhIzicpg_79dQ9rn20/s430/Grace_Alice_Theoneste_Oct2021.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="323" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghDnSjAIIksNd6tgRbYK-yUIF_TQ87kRMYXla0kreGVzqdlmuaO7t4_xnzABYNvLAcAhHHEKbIpTdORt0i1KPjzLXum2UlxUFsGjnnQE4scOxYtIAAHRc34tzI48vTt-yvWDHqN_u21nTU5KswBVe6Sx8S4p3DWBVk2J3ok5FaZJhIzicpg_79dQ9rn20/s320/Grace_Alice_Theoneste_Oct2021.png" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grace (L) met Alice (center) and Artisan colleague, Theoneste (R), in Oct. 2021</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtl7_Xk2OYey8AzRO08xdaR8SlcySCyw-NFAtiOiZAFYNEIbRlFszmUEZZyLDEKjFRGH3Rrdzawz8N21cIOI5mqEZ8bzd8xQ7lvKSLRAPif9SmkiDxHoq2kFoiynyId6EABX9Ls58dFyXq5W30Fnuwa3NXSK4AS8W6UBnL0YYDE_4SphhP7UDu5isd37Q/s1280/WhatsApp%20Image%202023-02-14%20at%202.29.05%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtl7_Xk2OYey8AzRO08xdaR8SlcySCyw-NFAtiOiZAFYNEIbRlFszmUEZZyLDEKjFRGH3Rrdzawz8N21cIOI5mqEZ8bzd8xQ7lvKSLRAPif9SmkiDxHoq2kFoiynyId6EABX9Ls58dFyXq5W30Fnuwa3NXSK4AS8W6UBnL0YYDE_4SphhP7UDu5isd37Q/s320/WhatsApp%20Image%202023-02-14%20at%202.29.05%20PM.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Incoming intern Angelique (L) met intern "alumna" Alice (R), Jan. 2023. </td></tr></tbody></table><br />Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0Rusizi, Rwanda-2.5302697 29.1855785-30.840503536178844 -5.9706715000000017 25.779964136178847 64.341828499999991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-53450127770819194182023-05-19T11:06:00.004-07:002023-06-28T11:43:09.059-07:00IKAWA lands at Artisan lab!<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>IKAWA Lands at Artisan Lab!</b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWSbPVEqedv75vNc9BOuAlkyvNVOOILdLky9YMIJ29O6aEgllwI3XbcZtIhw4PwkJJCsLBXASV3i-VbB4ktKIAqfuC2U8ZxSkP-wHEDnT-f9dMWdpSWV3toIYzNz2e30wnUpvcPz93t0kShg_YsBW3pfQElH9hsRHdxqwVrjQHQePC_cSW83ajQAMXzs/s4032/IMG_4869.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWSbPVEqedv75vNc9BOuAlkyvNVOOILdLky9YMIJ29O6aEgllwI3XbcZtIhw4PwkJJCsLBXASV3i-VbB4ktKIAqfuC2U8ZxSkP-wHEDnT-f9dMWdpSWV3toIYzNz2e30wnUpvcPz93t0kShg_YsBW3pfQElH9hsRHdxqwVrjQHQePC_cSW83ajQAMXzs/s320/IMG_4869.JPG" width="240" /></a></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Back in May we bought our first Ikawa Sample roaster and we couldn’t be happier! We’re so grateful to roaster/customer </span><a href="https://www.gooseneckcoffee.co/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Gooseneck Coffee</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> in Plymouth, Michigan, for staying in touch with us as they were transitioning out of this Ikawa and into a new Kafelogic sample roaster. Ikawa roasters are high grade, professional quality roasters, so being able to purchase one used seemed to have the best of both worlds to us: 1. Steep upgrade in sample roasting capacity and quality, and 2. Moderate price due to not paying for a brand-new machine. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-3122cde7-7fff-178a-6d5e-95f2e8cee4ac"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Added bonus - I got to know our roaster/customers Noah Salter and Bill Streicher better during the purchase and testing process! It was a great learning experience! Noah showed me how to use the profiles that can be downloaded onto the Ikawa app. We tested a few roasts while the machine was still at Gooseneck, and I saw how he moved through the sequence of adding beans, letting the machine warm up (~ 1 min), dropping the beans into the chamber and watching while the machine runs the selected profile. It’s fun to watch the intake temp and outtake temp curves rising and falling as the roast progresses. It’s impressive how you can drop a mark when first crack happens and how the machine follows the profile precisely. I also love how we can easily adjust the profile’s temp and time with small finger movements on the screen.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHSlUwffGU1A4SL1HDCXUOcfd6JM7cvKwf1xgsXntae0etqZZVXrSKYHiRhmhAE6pVa05Pyx4o8napY5yyYAwiPUaGJNLhWfTTrmcz6O9ViM7WO7v5M8CoqU66VfmD3YykaZ6zRjWmISehkf4JWHeyxzIquN6VFFOybEs57AknHnYeDpE5OFSX9_q6MY/s2016/IMG_3494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHSlUwffGU1A4SL1HDCXUOcfd6JM7cvKwf1xgsXntae0etqZZVXrSKYHiRhmhAE6pVa05Pyx4o8napY5yyYAwiPUaGJNLhWfTTrmcz6O9ViM7WO7v5M8CoqU66VfmD3YykaZ6zRjWmISehkf4JWHeyxzIquN6VFFOybEs57AknHnYeDpE5OFSX9_q6MY/s320/IMG_3494.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">With Ikawa power in our lab, we are moving through our recent mountain of fresh crop arrivals at turbo speed! The capacity to roast 6+ samples per hour has vastly increased productivity in our sample lab over the 2/hour roasts we could do on our Behmore 1600. We have Marie Hucal, Logistics Manager, on our team who is also an experienced production and sample roaster. She has dialed in profiles that work great for our:</span><p></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Rwanda Carbonic maceration</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Rwanda Natural</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Rwanda Fully Washed</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Ethiopia Natural</span></p></li></ul><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Let us know if you have an Ikawa and you’d like us to share any of these profiles! Another advantage of the Ikawa is that we can easily send a profile to you as an email attachment.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What will happen to our Behmore? Not retirement! It’s a bit used, but we hope to bring it to Kopakaki Cooperative in Rwanda, which is building a new lab and so far, they don’t have a sample roaster. We hope our trusty Behmore can help them along until they are also able to buy an Ikawa!</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7z2JD5Wh2pt5wTYQ6PRb0RPalbAKMv7sWRy-rEqL0Noo5d265EAAowRg_eyMmhFrc2HUpDmrmHTRDYtQ1lIYn_IL0Juy8GKLFfSQRQiYgFjxBcnHjxY6bGuiFh16G-i1uAq0RhGC6kRk6AsugCpOr0WaQdXwk78VYRtVu4qBX-hcw2IX9gMZK9UWOA28/s640/IMG_7018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7z2JD5Wh2pt5wTYQ6PRb0RPalbAKMv7sWRy-rEqL0Noo5d265EAAowRg_eyMmhFrc2HUpDmrmHTRDYtQ1lIYn_IL0Juy8GKLFfSQRQiYgFjxBcnHjxY6bGuiFh16G-i1uAq0RhGC6kRk6AsugCpOr0WaQdXwk78VYRtVu4qBX-hcw2IX9gMZK9UWOA28/s320/IMG_7018.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Our Behmore will be donated to a new lab in Rwanda.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpoBaV4wNAEI8fMW0yH71c97uKD82GWBBeeJkNPlL2amyqRgmWHqqzLRQvKkcWHtZOeDx-jL1vtLvewSNdzGRTSO_oEr7zJWZ7sbkuGOHx6CwChbmmCZkZRGfYIeZNwizYms8FU1Nodl8n1ch7kI7EPR51SeaUJ1AEi0xOWEG_h2C1RR8mJH4qRWckZ54/s4032/IMG_3476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpoBaV4wNAEI8fMW0yH71c97uKD82GWBBeeJkNPlL2amyqRgmWHqqzLRQvKkcWHtZOeDx-jL1vtLvewSNdzGRTSO_oEr7zJWZ7sbkuGOHx6CwChbmmCZkZRGfYIeZNwizYms8FU1Nodl8n1ch7kI7EPR51SeaUJ1AEi0xOWEG_h2C1RR8mJH4qRWckZ54/w400-h300/IMG_3476.JPG" width="400" /></span></i></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Noah Salter - roaster at Gooseneck Coffee, Plymouth, MI<br /><br /><br /></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu4COG8_3EahYXrVO4yGyxVL1C_GKJiHMiZjtA4LQ-lb7l7YUJ4BfcyYl3sKMYS5491amYcBYxcVWGG7cU3_PV0tU-cAL6BryjbH_Icl7Awz1BjmkUP5KSa6MtXtZglKH51ZsUzeNchO_9fwB08OzMNlvFUZhpGwZsINOmBckBpH9ufeleA754Mh9p8oA/s4032/IMG_3481%20-%20Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu4COG8_3EahYXrVO4yGyxVL1C_GKJiHMiZjtA4LQ-lb7l7YUJ4BfcyYl3sKMYS5491amYcBYxcVWGG7cU3_PV0tU-cAL6BryjbH_Icl7Awz1BjmkUP5KSa6MtXtZglKH51ZsUzeNchO_9fwB08OzMNlvFUZhpGwZsINOmBckBpH9ufeleA754Mh9p8oA/s320/IMG_3481%20-%20Copy.JPG" width="240" /></i></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Top view of the Ikawa roaster</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7KiF-Yb0y-jhGc-0sbEAWTz10StUEHM1MknjuIShVSNfzjEf6qcat9TPpbrbtMSG_MgEwMDpOTd7Ss8gZXsD9OIzt8YBkuBhWVcL9TMShjpCgCpWckDBAljLLy8nveCMzQ0bjmYpk-37IsvX7xokVyIYWUx1eLJh-UYk63fnRxmchP63gT1FGTA61KFE/s4032/IMG_3477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7KiF-Yb0y-jhGc-0sbEAWTz10StUEHM1MknjuIShVSNfzjEf6qcat9TPpbrbtMSG_MgEwMDpOTd7Ss8gZXsD9OIzt8YBkuBhWVcL9TMShjpCgCpWckDBAljLLy8nveCMzQ0bjmYpk-37IsvX7xokVyIYWUx1eLJh-UYk63fnRxmchP63gT1FGTA61KFE/s320/IMG_3477.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Handy, hardshell Ikawa carrying case.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCjiLoH5wS10IG2Iq83LdFV-qAWoDo85MaG2wgpa4jrU7fKiXcKVjmNFYMHTvh93rGFuJLX3SQvyxGlfI2bwOTXbou8JTFg-DNYwLjcR15QbjVoNo28rkGc_D6lkjN_kaC3BFGfVMKiRyp2NRuRx2nWaOb_BLWeUA1f9mmO77Ww49wUyhMWZdus5M9fs/s4032/IMG_4876.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCjiLoH5wS10IG2Iq83LdFV-qAWoDo85MaG2wgpa4jrU7fKiXcKVjmNFYMHTvh93rGFuJLX3SQvyxGlfI2bwOTXbou8JTFg-DNYwLjcR15QbjVoNo28rkGc_D6lkjN_kaC3BFGfVMKiRyp2NRuRx2nWaOb_BLWeUA1f9mmO77Ww49wUyhMWZdus5M9fs/s320/IMG_4876.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Master sample roaster Marie!</span></i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNeat1awq6DnxSpajaaTr62mQT72AYWdS9aoPNoXcOz6yeiq-fzJJa2heSax4p7zT7ViLlr45l8pKjDwTYU1CDDt9bfZskFoTK0cYQIiW1KOoIcYAZBzzqxJyK01qSy85JDj7Nm73ZxwxrWpJocDjDRJoffP50_O00Hm7QWGfLMjxtDPDK4sCtzIPaNR0/s4032/IMG_4857.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNeat1awq6DnxSpajaaTr62mQT72AYWdS9aoPNoXcOz6yeiq-fzJJa2heSax4p7zT7ViLlr45l8pKjDwTYU1CDDt9bfZskFoTK0cYQIiW1KOoIcYAZBzzqxJyK01qSy85JDj7Nm73ZxwxrWpJocDjDRJoffP50_O00Hm7QWGfLMjxtDPDK4sCtzIPaNR0/s320/IMG_4857.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Finished roast.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ33wvTZd7ykFzMg9yTSYWoHpIg_o2U0R_hC7YE_BojOz0Yi12sdT8WRaq2G3nbwC_WE6R3b3HGPYEv9UiY5T6G9gZzANval30xZAKHJxIQJ3fHRn_4AaJpXQlcHeWrovJDazQuU0T7f7xmjuilj9NWgyFI7DTlFjxJXFq71lIAFEo4e03Y6ElMSD5VuQ/s4032/IMG_4881.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ33wvTZd7ykFzMg9yTSYWoHpIg_o2U0R_hC7YE_BojOz0Yi12sdT8WRaq2G3nbwC_WE6R3b3HGPYEv9UiY5T6G9gZzANval30xZAKHJxIQJ3fHRn_4AaJpXQlcHeWrovJDazQuU0T7f7xmjuilj9NWgyFI7DTlFjxJXFq71lIAFEo4e03Y6ElMSD5VuQ/s320/IMG_4881.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Ikawa, ready to go.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQX93DHhLPgcRV0ryWBEQXu5NpgGZyzmTW_azscLivqX4Ua0YLHad4J60L_8IokZev1r-5WW3nr257YUYnq0RcOLFygjW_ZfpgQW884mX1cl3zA3Pa4AbsUr5aTwcBJaLehJt2Sr2LilzWER9zEhNVM4gz0uOPQLNvnJR5w5ORenXfTp-ScmFuETh8oY/s4032/IMG_3508.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQX93DHhLPgcRV0ryWBEQXu5NpgGZyzmTW_azscLivqX4Ua0YLHad4J60L_8IokZev1r-5WW3nr257YUYnq0RcOLFygjW_ZfpgQW884mX1cl3zA3Pa4AbsUr5aTwcBJaLehJt2Sr2LilzWER9zEhNVM4gz0uOPQLNvnJR5w5ORenXfTp-ScmFuETh8oY/s320/IMG_3508.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNtc9QBkThjaxfOzq89YziLLIbumnuDUaxS9tY9MNIa-gM-XQDO_d1oyNabbYi_tMSZ43XRgUq5z9tA11lTYYOFnIEwetIxYgmR2BkLtmSVj0UfWPGAXY5NzuANyPhPEpHW8Lmiaml8eykIW5LHI-UBF3bNHlHca5btHxa-VImX4yKR2Fiuj-Hr0QWLs4/s4032/IMG_4874.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNtc9QBkThjaxfOzq89YziLLIbumnuDUaxS9tY9MNIa-gM-XQDO_d1oyNabbYi_tMSZ43XRgUq5z9tA11lTYYOFnIEwetIxYgmR2BkLtmSVj0UfWPGAXY5NzuANyPhPEpHW8Lmiaml8eykIW5LHI-UBF3bNHlHca5btHxa-VImX4yKR2Fiuj-Hr0QWLs4/s320/IMG_4874.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-26315613554251563382023-02-28T09:30:00.003-08:002023-02-28T14:00:27.782-08:00Defining Defects: Article in Roast Magazine<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVcfv91Q2aHjtgKHqpcG3Qr3VBFQ-P0x3k1WyMJxnzn8ZJXOlQd0oB5ETTNFdnOTl9OU6mCtUpw-soYksdfJ4ObkbYVk24vyISBfudJC3jC1K5c9lX7ZJfpb6ayadGY-lG8-G6OTrE7kF4Q4YqaCv0yK0zzyVpATxPds3KYPxoUnKWmfuphsTpnXaD/s4032/IMG_7786.JPEG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVcfv91Q2aHjtgKHqpcG3Qr3VBFQ-P0x3k1WyMJxnzn8ZJXOlQd0oB5ETTNFdnOTl9OU6mCtUpw-soYksdfJ4ObkbYVk24vyISBfudJC3jC1K5c9lX7ZJfpb6ayadGY-lG8-G6OTrE7kF4Q4YqaCv0yK0zzyVpATxPds3KYPxoUnKWmfuphsTpnXaD/s320/IMG_7786.JPEG" width="240" /></a></div>The <a href="https://www.roastmagazine.com/issues/116" target="_blank">Mar/Apr. 2023 issue of Roast Magazine</a> is now on virtual newstands everywhere! We're excited to share a summary of a feature article in this beloved industry magazine authored by Ruth Ann Church, Artisan's founder. <p></p><p>Titled "Defining Defects" Ruth Ann reports on a variety of perspectives around the troubling fact that the word "defect" can mean so many different things. Q instructor Drew Billups of Drew Billups Consulting in Seattle, WA is quoted: </p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p><blockquote><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Our definitions of
defects in coffee can be messy. A physical green defect
doesn’t necessarily mean a taste defect, and a taste defect doesn’t necessarily
mean there is a visible green defect. Ideally, we would develop an improved
vocabulary, so that we can be clearer in our communication about the different
types.”</span></blockquote><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">Perspectives from origin are included. For example, Laetitia Mukandihiro, a cupping instructor in Kigali, Rwanda, shares that she teaches her students that the terms of a green coffee contract are the true standards they need to know.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFV4SeE01r17ijOiow9vzthUswPz1zZpW4WIXFCHzWU2BU6sl_SWb6CzViee3xWLkKrOpMcYMIu0nrZwqSHnJ6lEifi63UyqdItLDgGKNqnyWuynRaBl9_7GR0iMjVemOIE18PSELLVG6Jcyk5OIAy648SL-F2_dc0dr0Kz0G4pAfFHN-c3BQpZ3E7/s1024/L.Mukandahiro_4.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFV4SeE01r17ijOiow9vzthUswPz1zZpW4WIXFCHzWU2BU6sl_SWb6CzViee3xWLkKrOpMcYMIu0nrZwqSHnJ6lEifi63UyqdItLDgGKNqnyWuynRaBl9_7GR0iMjVemOIE18PSELLVG6Jcyk5OIAy648SL-F2_dc0dr0Kz0G4pAfFHN-c3BQpZ3E7/s320/L.Mukandahiro_4.jpeg" width="240" /></a><span style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;">Standards like the SCA's green coffee grading standard are sometimes the basis on which contract terms may be written, but "it's the contract that counts."</div></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">Comments from an experienced Ethiopian exporter, Heleanna Georgalis, reveal that at origin, it's often a national coffee board standard that is a reference point, not the SCA green grading standard. In Ethiopia, the national Coffee Liquering Unit has a "defect points counting system" by which coffees are graded into the famous grades 1, 2, 3 and so on.</p><p style="text-align: left;">The article highlights that there is quite a learning curve about quality and defects for coffee professionals everywhere, especially those with green coffee buying power. Paul Ahn, head roaster at Madcap Coffee in Grand Rapids, Michigan, shares that he has become more concious over the years of the impact he has when he evaluates each cup. <span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><blockquote>“During each cupping where we evaluate a coffee for purchase, we have to be
careful. Calling a defect is not the same as calling a fruit flavor. ‘Strawberry’
or ‘peach’ are not likely to negatively impact a farmer, but once you mark a
defect, there’s a domino effect and an impact at origin. You might have no idea
what that mark on the cupping form meant to them.”</blockquote><p></p><p class="MsoCommentText"><o:p></o:p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs600aZ1pZ7KNdGN306GdXxyGDu1qnCKRbAKy4cRNFznsMmcEl4hYsF5mbO5sURwIrJyPFjrFsEp8tX3EANsOqKkRvlC78YOsQ-cEJ_mLav9k4vBjcE-53kZ6XgL_B3B3xMj7INod3WJXjqN7BMID93zHBO7STazPxTtK0JQ-xwWwGpp--8pgPd2DK/s4032/IMG_7398.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs600aZ1pZ7KNdGN306GdXxyGDu1qnCKRbAKy4cRNFznsMmcEl4hYsF5mbO5sURwIrJyPFjrFsEp8tX3EANsOqKkRvlC78YOsQ-cEJ_mLav9k4vBjcE-53kZ6XgL_B3B3xMj7INod3WJXjqN7BMID93zHBO7STazPxTtK0JQ-xwWwGpp--8pgPd2DK/s320/IMG_7398.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Cupper at BJCU in Uganda. <br />Credit: D. Billups</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The article shares Billups' story of coming up the learning curve during his effort to bring cupping traning to a cooperative in Uganda, Bukonzo Joint Coffee Union. Billups was the instructor helping the cooperative to better evaluate the value of their coffee. Billups found that deep experiences at origin forever shaped the way he thinks about quality and quality standards. Being close with producers at BJCU for one to two weeks at a time over a span of <u>seven years,</u> he gained new understanding of the level of difficulty involved in cultivating high quality coffee.<p></p><p>We will each travel our own path of discerning and learning about what "quality" means and what "defects" are in coffee. That path may be long -- perhaps, seven years, ten years or neverending. Hopefully, this article gives encouragement and inspiration to everyone to keep going on that journey!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUyUgRdUDyDIPx9Xvs0w-jXDA9dlaNkqtDSPnSDJf97lvHp6nIPLm61GHHKFXBK6IzXRM_aX2QWStDeon9Sb4YrteBWbzuiWmDWXZtP6kQalsKMHtRh6vK3lWWyxmYxEgQxf-cW_OsMfdRJqC70Ss2XZiwXBFDfJvHLuhXhIWq6sxLj_hUWbRK2r7W/s5337/Paul_Ahn_Madcap.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5337" data-original-width="3560" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUyUgRdUDyDIPx9Xvs0w-jXDA9dlaNkqtDSPnSDJf97lvHp6nIPLm61GHHKFXBK6IzXRM_aX2QWStDeon9Sb4YrteBWbzuiWmDWXZtP6kQalsKMHtRh6vK3lWWyxmYxEgQxf-cW_OsMfdRJqC70Ss2XZiwXBFDfJvHLuhXhIWq6sxLj_hUWbRK2r7W/w266-h400/Paul_Ahn_Madcap.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Paul Ahn cupping. Photo credit: Erik
Lauchie, Carbon stories.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-87076927178531742652022-12-19T14:06:00.007-08:002023-01-18T14:19:37.623-08:00Agaseke women hold their 2022 general assembly<p>On Dec. 3 the Agaseke women of Kopakaki Dutegure cooperative held their general</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6gXz-JTqnYTD8InNcrOTA-97oG4jc-hjk70JqH-3JswPfzKwk1CeGlNmISBDpVxnhCLl30qewpl3evn2h1awHlT_00SWxfd5bRnfel2uRnTeWzlK4DClrPFcrQhbPq2nIzI-pv9UcELa5ZSlXLQFQP7bj_HCCQuA22vpEHE6YErxwcgtxdwAmUBFN/s1020/WhatsApp%20Image%202022-12-05%20at%203.18.31%20AM%20(1).jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="765" data-original-width="1020" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6gXz-JTqnYTD8InNcrOTA-97oG4jc-hjk70JqH-3JswPfzKwk1CeGlNmISBDpVxnhCLl30qewpl3evn2h1awHlT_00SWxfd5bRnfel2uRnTeWzlK4DClrPFcrQhbPq2nIzI-pv9UcELa5ZSlXLQFQP7bj_HCCQuA22vpEHE6YErxwcgtxdwAmUBFN/s320/WhatsApp%20Image%202022-12-05%20at%203.18.31%20AM%20(1).jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> assembly in Karongi district of Western Province, Rwanda. Among other decisions taken by the group of about 10 leaders, they decided they would use the women's premium from Artisan Coffee Imports to buy land this year. Artisan's customers, who pay $.136/lb green for the women's premium, paid a total of $1,080 to Agaseke this year, the highest amount ever.<p></p><p>On Dec. 1 a few leaders of the Agaseke women had an exciting field trip together. They visited their neighbors, the Ejo Heza women's coffee group. They learned a lot from this educational trip, for example Agaseke would like to plan to distribute the women's premium to each woman's own bank account in the future. The also appreciated seeing how the Ejo Heza women meet together once a week to cultivate their community plots of coffee. Agaseke is going to consider a similar program. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmDBicK33PYqVtEOc0nnq7Tnl_mVd5u8ZbFWW2Pw1oacweAZJIsYZJ7Zt_IqBwHSJyMW0DdUJRT28UaiX0UCFRpXNneqAT9ih8NZNuR_d2Q-1DL2RG2ERo0ph0sNVDfsWR4nyj6JlNddqkOOO5IeXzL1M98AyjL1Gs4Wx-C9O_HnlrDj9sAGUntGnc/s1020/WhatsApp%20Image%202022-12-05%20at%203.18.29%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="765" data-original-width="1020" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmDBicK33PYqVtEOc0nnq7Tnl_mVd5u8ZbFWW2Pw1oacweAZJIsYZJ7Zt_IqBwHSJyMW0DdUJRT28UaiX0UCFRpXNneqAT9ih8NZNuR_d2Q-1DL2RG2ERo0ph0sNVDfsWR4nyj6JlNddqkOOO5IeXzL1M98AyjL1Gs4Wx-C9O_HnlrDj9sAGUntGnc/s320/WhatsApp%20Image%202022-12-05%20at%203.18.29%20AM.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-22657187278071200142022-12-12T13:50:00.003-08:002023-01-18T14:05:27.895-08:00Ejo Heza Women hold ther 2022 General Assembly<p>On December 15, 2022, about 375 of the 400 members of Ejo Heza met at the</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6uv19KnQyMtUzik4hWpiA_jA6lu_UCWp81geO5NWGn9ZqRnQk2tEvOhMTOitgKNwFBeQ1uFbTdqb7STU0xE8VOqgAwqMlZllVgGYNFAnAJhQZp_GBGyYaNEa3v1dWZ5m7P5Vv2cn9iOZA6Vqd3qj3VR2JkYe6RCyY02_66Iq_W6t2t8WytL2saP_w/s1080/EH_GenlAsmbly_15Dec_3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6uv19KnQyMtUzik4hWpiA_jA6lu_UCWp81geO5NWGn9ZqRnQk2tEvOhMTOitgKNwFBeQ1uFbTdqb7STU0xE8VOqgAwqMlZllVgGYNFAnAJhQZp_GBGyYaNEa3v1dWZ5m7P5Vv2cn9iOZA6Vqd3qj3VR2JkYe6RCyY02_66Iq_W6t2t8WytL2saP_w/s320/EH_GenlAsmbly_15Dec_3.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> cooperative's big hall in Mushubati cell, Rutsiro district of Rwanda. Here they held their general assembly, an annual meeting held by cooperative groups like theirs to review the past year, discuss the new year and take questions from members. <p></p><p>This is the one time during the year when all the farmers are informed about Artisan's program to pay premiums on the microlots purchased from the Ejo Heza women. In 2022 our premium amounted to 50 Rwf/kg cherry. The women decided to keep the funds from the 2022 premium (total $1,620) in their account and be added to the amount available for members to borrow. In this way, the premium will grow as interest is added.</p><p>The Ejo Heza officers also reported on the production from the women's community plots in Sure and Mushubati, and the cash amount paid for cherry was also reported as "farmer income." The work hours that the women had invested in the community plots was also reported, and the status of the women's microlending program. The lending program had earned 352,500 Rwf in interest during the year (approximately $355).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc1n7N6_kPfOd-MMzNVPTOkt8fn02Mv4_xf9V9eNVau-PTfT94d3BVtRY7SrUQ7Ugy-YCi-VHK6LyJe4t_wJrpt_5uBCp2i8F0SIXTz_qpo_YtWhI2Y8c05jZnOsg-uGXgh4YPl8NaTdBxu_dR4lIrC9hi-4HfCMYJpgWzvs8VAhQlITyxv35kxdAS/s1080/EH_GenlAsmbly_15Dec_5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc1n7N6_kPfOd-MMzNVPTOkt8fn02Mv4_xf9V9eNVau-PTfT94d3BVtRY7SrUQ7Ugy-YCi-VHK6LyJe4t_wJrpt_5uBCp2i8F0SIXTz_qpo_YtWhI2Y8c05jZnOsg-uGXgh4YPl8NaTdBxu_dR4lIrC9hi-4HfCMYJpgWzvs8VAhQlITyxv35kxdAS/s320/EH_GenlAsmbly_15Dec_5.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-62764101326345990062022-12-12T11:12:00.004-08:002022-12-12T13:43:23.196-08:00Queen’s Kape Catorce honors coffee with mindful sourcing and roasting<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Kape Catorce (or KC14 for short) is a women-owned and operated coffee company based in Queens, NY. The name celebrates the Filipino-Colombian heritage of owner-partners Jewel and Jesica Martin-Ballard.</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Founded in 2021, KC14 is focused on transparency, traceability, sustainability, women’s empowerment and mindfulness.</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">“Our sourcing process begins with research,” Jes shares. “We research all our business partners and trace every aspect of the coffee’s journey — from the hands that planted the seeds, cultivated and harvested them to those who export and import the beans. We reach out directly to importers and producers, verifying their ethical practices and ensuring they meet our standards of accountability.”</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUrMvLmFJrU-pV-dkqif2xda57_hH2YWL63-S55QGqxZ_MzxflyA7HHd8bQcpquO7t3TDe0AuwWy-HJ8nBLzWbSGrnev6LizErqawzpftBFRvFQQ0QqNed4waWlNdPyPA2FFBQWPNMaXgatKZkxScGmW21TkYTw5pw1oCRLOI_n_mTLMzqt055K8qmIQ/s1000/jes%20jewel%20main%20square.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUrMvLmFJrU-pV-dkqif2xda57_hH2YWL63-S55QGqxZ_MzxflyA7HHd8bQcpquO7t3TDe0AuwWy-HJ8nBLzWbSGrnev6LizErqawzpftBFRvFQQ0QqNed4waWlNdPyPA2FFBQWPNMaXgatKZkxScGmW21TkYTw5pw1oCRLOI_n_mTLMzqt055K8qmIQ/s320/jes%20jewel%20main%20square.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Jes and Jewel believe that coffee quality is about so much more than beans. “The best coffee is made with fair labor and transparent business practices,” explains Jewel.</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">It is this belief, and a commitment to diversity and inclusion, that make Jes and Jewel perfect partners for Artisan Coffee Imports. </p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The partners learned about Ruth Ann Church and Artisan Coffee through a fellow Artisan roaster, Amaris Gutierrez-Ray of Joe Coffee, who also founded Women in Coffee Project.</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">After delving into Artisan's mission and sampling our green, Jes and Jewel purchased a Rwanda microlot from the all-female Rambagira group of the larger DUKUNDE KAWA cooperative. They also purchased green from Dehab Bitewlign, whose farm is located in the buffer and core zones of the UNESCO Kafa Biosphere Reserve, Ethiopia.</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvDrlOCCKB8vMAFCeXsPqRwYE2V3tSNi51sh_wKeVmdYiXaozfeZuCPWpPuHA29zDJSTdLWz6iV-F4ZgcAuDHpi7Tal_LnZ7OGCgJdPWosAUsAZ_zxZ2Gxqq9lxEUFnzNjSO1bgV8deuePwhNp_bmsRze_CdYW9984kN1I41zfAPZwi-ILh8zlxAulQ/s1000/rwanda%20kc14-small.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1000" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvDrlOCCKB8vMAFCeXsPqRwYE2V3tSNi51sh_wKeVmdYiXaozfeZuCPWpPuHA29zDJSTdLWz6iV-F4ZgcAuDHpi7Tal_LnZ7OGCgJdPWosAUsAZ_zxZ2Gxqq9lxEUFnzNjSO1bgV8deuePwhNp_bmsRze_CdYW9984kN1I41zfAPZwi-ILh8zlxAulQ/s320/rwanda%20kc14-small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Roasted with Intention</b></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">From the first sample roast, Jes and Jewel were inspired, and their goal was to honor the women who produced the beautiful beans. ”Our roasting process is as mindful as our sourcing practices," shared Jes, who roasts for the brand.</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Our roasting process aligns with the values of our company," Jewel added. "We believe the best coffee is ethically sourced and mindfully consumed. We're committed to honoring the work, talent and creativity of the people involved in every step of coffee production: from soil to cup.”</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg89YjrbHhFmlF8Cc8MIZelVqoilNsmZUmnB7p5f9B-B2MEZ7oQMX3KpLiqohorPvDZfybCHtwhRg-lu3-lACIEH118JMM9PXI2lMc2Yz3P9UuTYETCnBBdOd2JVBsVO7uEtFx3T6nhH5Lr7FnQeUupVD7QiJe1pVoCF4tsdEoMs79-EPpf0gCYqsc5Lw/s1170/kfc14%20roasting%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="637" data-original-width="1170" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg89YjrbHhFmlF8Cc8MIZelVqoilNsmZUmnB7p5f9B-B2MEZ7oQMX3KpLiqohorPvDZfybCHtwhRg-lu3-lACIEH118JMM9PXI2lMc2Yz3P9UuTYETCnBBdOd2JVBsVO7uEtFx3T6nhH5Lr7FnQeUupVD7QiJe1pVoCF4tsdEoMs79-EPpf0gCYqsc5Lw/s320/kfc14%20roasting%202.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The roasting process for each coffee reflect that mindfulness:</p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #761207; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><span style="color: #761207;">Rambagirakawa</span>: "We did four different sample roasts and fell in love with the subtle peach black tea notes we were experiencing in a few cups. We knew we wanted to accentuate those notes. For our final roast, we took our gas up to 85, did two big jumps and then started to to taper down by fives. We finished at 8:37, which brought out the lovely notes of peach and black tea that we enjoy."</li></ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #761207; font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><span style="color: #761207;">Dehab's Diamond</span>: "We approached this green very differently. It was a long, slow roast. Dehab's Diamond produced such a lovely clean cup, which is unusual for a natural. We fell in love with the strawberry and blueberry notes. Ethiopian coffees are so honest with their fruits, and we wanted to highlight those fruit flavors with a slow, gentle roast that honored the sweet berry flavors.”</li>
</ul>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Once roasted, the beans are packaged in bags featuring a short producer story and information on bean variety, origin, elevation, processing and tasting notes. “We help convey the coffee producers vision for their product,” Jewel shares. “We want consumers to understand that they are participating in an ethical sustainable supply chain.”</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>lanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07522239952360551845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-34462979592525451382022-11-27T10:45:00.036-08:002022-11-27T21:30:15.656-08:00Mighty Good Ethiopian Natural from Dehab's Diamond<p>Nov. 28, 2022<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHJBmWXG6Zz32hqXFGFsGwwAB0bSXi5gBns15WfZ1U2-wrQ9InCq8IZVcmAqsj4q001Ww_HEIbOnTGiuY8rUGFI-iKnYRddo1RtHGFbQsxhc3RBLrxsotNqTrqyu3wUVhLh1fN93I1K51MF90ljXdGvlns6lkF4fnkg6DsfrOeqlZ9f7f_VIxpz1CN/s4032/IMG_3483.JPEG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHJBmWXG6Zz32hqXFGFsGwwAB0bSXi5gBns15WfZ1U2-wrQ9InCq8IZVcmAqsj4q001Ww_HEIbOnTGiuY8rUGFI-iKnYRddo1RtHGFbQsxhc3RBLrxsotNqTrqyu3wUVhLh1fN93I1K51MF90ljXdGvlns6lkF4fnkg6DsfrOeqlZ9f7f_VIxpz1CN/s320/IMG_3483.JPEG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David Myers (right) at CRG retreat.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.mightygoodcoffee.com/">Mighty Good Coffee</a> has been roasting up some of Ann Arbor's finest coffee since 2006 when David Myers and his friend, Jim Levinsohn, started the business. They offer beans from select farms, mills and co-ops, which they visit when they can. They roast in small batches on their Loring, and package quickly to preserve freshness. They're coffee is mighty good, we're sure you'll agree, but you'll also love their business philosophy. David and his partners try to combine family traditions, artisanal craft processes, local community and fantastic coffee. </p><p>The business philosophy led Mighty Good to become one of the first customers of our Dehab's Diamond, Ethiopian natural coffee in 2021. It was Artisan's first year to import from Ethiopia and it was Dehab's first year to export to the USA! Her company had only exported to Europe in the past. David knew his customers love Ethiopian coffee, so it was a reasonable bet to think this one, from another Ann Arbor small business, would gain a fan base.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBSgzJzeEOOrhkkVAfhU0HVhb7oXhS8Leaq2FxlKM6y9A20FBMTMdSJ7V29ms9wwy1swjblPKeX5P4Y5TTjj9Cg2YLFpsPoOSmoWW9DG7dOtDM8Vkbk701QiWS8qsp6G6SiSfmAzW7kBAHek1sFrkrCl4NFtsk2NCQhMP6AZP7tT6qAzxzns9ojSnJ/s4032/IMG_6895.JPEG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBSgzJzeEOOrhkkVAfhU0HVhb7oXhS8Leaq2FxlKM6y9A20FBMTMdSJ7V29ms9wwy1swjblPKeX5P4Y5TTjj9Cg2YLFpsPoOSmoWW9DG7dOtDM8Vkbk701QiWS8qsp6G6SiSfmAzW7kBAHek1sFrkrCl4NFtsk2NCQhMP6AZP7tT6qAzxzns9ojSnJ/s320/IMG_6895.JPEG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>We're happy to see that so far, it seems to be working out that way. With the recent arrival of the 2022 season coffee, Mighty Good is one of handful of roasters who have purchased Dehab's Diamond Ethiopian Natural two years in a row now. We're mighty glad to see this coffee becoming an Ann Arbor favorite thanks to David and his team!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz_rdfHaOQlAPqPTbZaKG0Zei8jFNuwmaFapbgMRX2cZ8PP0_70V_kXPkLmsGNq4moqusvEXRt0f4LsBdeaKQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><p>****</p><p>Dehab first started learning about coffee in 2021 and found she loved it! She truly enjoys developing the farm and the quality of her coffee. Today she continues as a an example of how more and more Ethiopian women are leading coffee businesses, whether it's producing, exporting or roasting in-country for Ethiopia's large domestic demand for coffee. Dehab is not a roaster, but her company, Diamond PLC, is a producer and exporter.</p><p>Her story in coffee starts when the farm was purchased in 1999 and Dehab’s husband and his friend started the business. She stayed out of it at first. But after 12 years years, when Dehab’s children were older, she took over the friend’s role and bought his shares. Now the farm is 27% and 73% owned between Dehab and her husband.</p><p>Dehab fell in love with the farm, farming and coffee. In every home in Ethiopia, the first meal is coffee. She remembers boiling the coffee for her mother. To get up to speed on agronomy, she employed a business consultant and an agronomist and spent two years “learning coffee.” In 2014 she started managing the company. In 2015, she started exporting to Germany. Since 2021, Artisan Coffee Imports is proud to be counted among her partners. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyi9AGusqONLSjhhU2Zl16drg1Kr9AzQrgu9s-WLFCqr3QcyCVcTcbG2YaZF_moAJaH4RURrC-CCVszTQ7yJFMqUZDj0GbfI_qPwjsM3UYMioGWcvRK0N5e1F4v7EIYhO-IFGfVH59378_5_S6ZpRRX8qU-oLh0NEo3LyJ84GKFHMP6m3H2qd0Czl/s4032/IMG_7474.JPEG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyi9AGusqONLSjhhU2Zl16drg1Kr9AzQrgu9s-WLFCqr3QcyCVcTcbG2YaZF_moAJaH4RURrC-CCVszTQ7yJFMqUZDj0GbfI_qPwjsM3UYMioGWcvRK0N5e1F4v7EIYhO-IFGfVH59378_5_S6ZpRRX8qU-oLh0NEo3LyJ84GKFHMP6m3H2qd0Czl/s320/IMG_7474.JPEG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tommy - ready to roast on the Loring</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpx9SRTLiMm2fn_STdYhnPnFniHcOD7xL-Yq-qkqlLFkFMU8L_EZ1Ue_i_JMX2IUuRMqb8fzWQYLWw0IhvY4BrTBRy3XQSgRNhnjvYSCh_7XLyuQsYb7kM1GyHz7I7_fidMlKy7TsTROAsNkSTRmWyrEcekq0KY2sw2wLBjs18RIBzZ9_mgC4RVX76/s4032/IMG_6898.JPEG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpx9SRTLiMm2fn_STdYhnPnFniHcOD7xL-Yq-qkqlLFkFMU8L_EZ1Ue_i_JMX2IUuRMqb8fzWQYLWw0IhvY4BrTBRy3XQSgRNhnjvYSCh_7XLyuQsYb7kM1GyHz7I7_fidMlKy7TsTROAsNkSTRmWyrEcekq0KY2sw2wLBjs18RIBzZ9_mgC4RVX76/s320/IMG_6898.JPEG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fresh roasted Dehab's Diamond</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikrwR_Z5tUuh4toC94gfqItf56SNzKJV0itfbrAhHtJcORuaODYCHZMyv4aBmFyBj02VHuCG3LK4ru8ejc0lkhgZklWi4m0GUBaDJ_A9Q_ibz__cYiYAZ95eD94E_6IW6pEq47KD0AVgC2t3wdsVBk2qLbbiJr1eFJPuVrAAdAfXcP-vTI4PIiUgdf/s4032/IMG_7483.JPEG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikrwR_Z5tUuh4toC94gfqItf56SNzKJV0itfbrAhHtJcORuaODYCHZMyv4aBmFyBj02VHuCG3LK4ru8ejc0lkhgZklWi4m0GUBaDJ_A9Q_ibz__cYiYAZ95eD94E_6IW6pEq47KD0AVgC2t3wdsVBk2qLbbiJr1eFJPuVrAAdAfXcP-vTI4PIiUgdf/s320/IMG_7483.JPEG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Packaged beans, brewed cup, ready to go!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0Ann Arbor, MI, USA42.2808256 -83.743037813.970591763821155 -118.8992878 70.591059436178853 -48.586787799999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-55601994411031104612022-08-31T20:09:00.013-07:002022-09-20T10:56:19.681-07:00Coffee Roasters Guild Retreat Returns!<p>Aug. 25 - 28, 2022: </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhib4QxpuzhlX-3Wv_dxmuaYO9XS2-ZBHbn9TOeuR430QD8U0BlYUNFRS6LQqeJT6I19ns17HmKPkadie0Lu2VQI_-PdQjCeuyJs_ER4SL4lh68Ys2kxATQku8_Sd__54wx7BUwWT3-L5R4vQ-Rif7VoHYty_KGIZgZzEeXJOED1S6WtCC5_X34LUEv/s4032/IMG_3650.JPEG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhib4QxpuzhlX-3Wv_dxmuaYO9XS2-ZBHbn9TOeuR430QD8U0BlYUNFRS6LQqeJT6I19ns17HmKPkadie0Lu2VQI_-PdQjCeuyJs_ER4SL4lh68Ys2kxATQku8_Sd__54wx7BUwWT3-L5R4vQ-Rif7VoHYty_KGIZgZzEeXJOED1S6WtCC5_X34LUEv/s320/IMG_3650.JPEG" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>For the first time since COVID, the Coffee Roasters Guild returned to the peaceful shores of Lake Delavan in Wisconsin for a weekend of fun designed specifically for coffee roasters. </p><p></p><p>The core event running throughout the three-day event is the team challenge. This year it was named "Shapeshifter", since the challenge was to pick a single origin green coffee and roast it to perfection for an espresso <i>and</i> for a pour-over. To provide the roasters maximum options, another key feature of the retreat is the roasting tent, equipped with a roaster from probably twenty different manufacturers. It is truly a sight to behold! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqPcxFZ2QmFymveGBcsVYTJD4OOl0kqlgvlftFTSLuyYO43EPNiAEqy5qEPlu_BGzLXd5RlZjuTit9l9GyYVCVhDxk7l8wU9A4WEqjhwjeXWrYNsaACBF5v3-F1KxIhyf_9uhfnWtn_iENZKwISGqRcE1ntX8FJa74NQzOBuE2I6Ley6uuZOfQfsom/s4032/IMG_3538.JPEG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqPcxFZ2QmFymveGBcsVYTJD4OOl0kqlgvlftFTSLuyYO43EPNiAEqy5qEPlu_BGzLXd5RlZjuTit9l9GyYVCVhDxk7l8wU9A4WEqjhwjeXWrYNsaACBF5v3-F1KxIhyf_9uhfnWtn_iENZKwISGqRcE1ntX8FJa74NQzOBuE2I6Ley6uuZOfQfsom/w320-h240/IMG_3538.JPEG" title="Inside the roasting tent" width="320" /></a></div><br /> There are side-events throughout the weekend. Some serious, like the workshops. Each attendee is allowed to go to three or four. I chose two that included cupping. These two workshops in addition to the cupping I did with my team for the roasting challenge made it a great experience for cupping.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG90br8HzX7fcC8qH1xg-MXCA0vQPit852JAh-Rz9kZXeugNpsCJbVQ0Uea81vEBpumpyEqD3zA6gXUzqY1ClhfLxMUFNuKZgkuiSUjc_zuZTHb5IMh9DME-ybdWAnJ-5nwMG6omCUlRN2gBIgHfeiZzrhNpfULGQYN8W2y1rM2n1IBTHiNhfKR2zY/s4032/IMG_3602.JPEG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG90br8HzX7fcC8qH1xg-MXCA0vQPit852JAh-Rz9kZXeugNpsCJbVQ0Uea81vEBpumpyEqD3zA6gXUzqY1ClhfLxMUFNuKZgkuiSUjc_zuZTHb5IMh9DME-ybdWAnJ-5nwMG6omCUlRN2gBIgHfeiZzrhNpfULGQYN8W2y1rM2n1IBTHiNhfKR2zY/w240-h320/IMG_3602.JPEG" title="Todd Arnette and Camila Khalife" width="240" /></a></div>I felt fortunate to be invited to assist with teaching a cupping class, "Identifying Defects" led by Todd Arnette, director of education at CQI and owner/founder of Academy of Excellence in Williamsburg, VA. He and his co-instructor, Camila Khalife, put in tons of time to find the quantity of defects needed to produce enough cups for two sessions of 30 students each to have this amazing opportunity to taste and identify defects in the cup. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The experience culminates, appropriately, around the campfire on the final night when the winning team is announced. The suspense has been building all weekend, as many yearn to have their names engraved on the trophy. A few roasters' names are even on the trophy three times already! This year it was "6th sense" which won -- by only a fraction of a point, putting my team, "the Reactionaries" in second place. I'll have to return next year!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLtmZOoBQPOcR7LfDtFca17IGI8ep8syNERASDq1uy7AFC292jR8UtPcRH1etnZyyDOCVwikFmXqp74Gq9LhAR_sYzX2dHBJYeX9BrmRHHcyL4gmYgP2SKH1Mookv6RgSikh466ZRisb-2nTVZw0eY6UdzYIATXstpR1IelBmPB9h22bbyN94gIMxs/s4032/Winner_Smiles.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLtmZOoBQPOcR7LfDtFca17IGI8ep8syNERASDq1uy7AFC292jR8UtPcRH1etnZyyDOCVwikFmXqp74Gq9LhAR_sYzX2dHBJYeX9BrmRHHcyL4gmYgP2SKH1Mookv6RgSikh466ZRisb-2nTVZw0eY6UdzYIATXstpR1IelBmPB9h22bbyN94gIMxs/s320/Winner_Smiles.JPEG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZF053m4deL5W2Xm7KB8Zx7oNjvCGN31YOsO4-1yEzMU0HKtRlQtMqgQYWQF8-ILNJoTdV9ELeHYhFhpa4dTMpxr4MBoeHc9RRlpESw97arVar5C4JHjRQDWbLYQRDvnGLro0d1y3DRCeUO87ks8FON_aSqPwKs5ALD49QRHtCIKApR2uI6HqYD9N/s3032/TeamPhoto3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1874" data-original-width="3032" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZF053m4deL5W2Xm7KB8Zx7oNjvCGN31YOsO4-1yEzMU0HKtRlQtMqgQYWQF8-ILNJoTdV9ELeHYhFhpa4dTMpxr4MBoeHc9RRlpESw97arVar5C4JHjRQDWbLYQRDvnGLro0d1y3DRCeUO87ks8FON_aSqPwKs5ALD49QRHtCIKApR2uI6HqYD9N/w640-h397/TeamPhoto3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div>Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-78191315046218889022022-06-14T19:59:00.009-07:002022-06-14T20:03:33.144-07:00Q Grader Calibration Passed!<p> June 14, 2022</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi9qyyKU3gga5V0gvT3fOy9tJZQ4O5zpiMs6hQttVt9UB6eJNlV3YMC9z-whP_MeolB3hlS1s-xgCEZqoI_aoAPMazyIhpc7c9JH49jiTkR4gFgdUvSsugdpBDrFjgDyuMLu954iWRofQFV6PyGYnDmEPrhfVNEYKNOUB47dR_hkCUk7w3MR9hM1Du6" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="126" data-original-width="377" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi9qyyKU3gga5V0gvT3fOy9tJZQ4O5zpiMs6hQttVt9UB6eJNlV3YMC9z-whP_MeolB3hlS1s-xgCEZqoI_aoAPMazyIhpc7c9JH49jiTkR4gFgdUvSsugdpBDrFjgDyuMLu954iWRofQFV6PyGYnDmEPrhfVNEYKNOUB47dR_hkCUk7w3MR9hM1Du6" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>It's nerve-wracking, no way around it, but a dozen of us coffee professionals found our way to Atlas Coffee Importers in Seattle, Washington last Friday, June 10, 2022, for an Arabica Q Grader calibration. We submitted ourselves to scrutiny by our instructor and comparison to our peers to see if we are qualified to be dubbed again as "licensed Q Graders" -- coffee tasters who can be trusted to identify defects and describe coffees using internationally accepted language and scoring. Ultimately, to be qualified to evaluate fair prices for coffee.</p><p><b>The good news: I passed!! </b>But there's a lot more behind this story.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gwOrU1S5ld8BJsEkJJq36XW6wxiBfC30boS5iolIMUy5yb_lajfeB0Y0kh-W5zdg_IrcuIraeBb9trxge9PwWioA3XL2B63e2jdkXQUlgjkrg9fR0MwFMtF1dUP8rCP-WorAFfeWrAPgT24mJnkQAykZU6Td-7KCABhp4YdWk8EkegqZSR6LRMkl/s640/IMG_8859.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gwOrU1S5ld8BJsEkJJq36XW6wxiBfC30boS5iolIMUy5yb_lajfeB0Y0kh-W5zdg_IrcuIraeBb9trxge9PwWioA3XL2B63e2jdkXQUlgjkrg9fR0MwFMtF1dUP8rCP-WorAFfeWrAPgT24mJnkQAykZU6Td-7KCABhp4YdWk8EkegqZSR6LRMkl/s320/IMG_8859.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>I first attempted to become a Q Grader in 2011 with Kelly Peltier-Amoroso at SCA's (former) office in Long Beach, CA. I remember it well. She was a great instructor, but as is common on "the first attempt", I failed about 5 of the required 21 sensory tests. I paid for and traveled to re-take exams and eventually successfully passed all tests in 2013. Since you have to re-calibrate every three years to stay certified, in 2022, I am on my third calibration. I failed my first attempt in October 2021, when I tried to calibrate immediately following SCA New Orleans. I needed to practice identifying "CQI defects". The only tastes that qualify as defects at CQI are phenol, ferment, mold and potato. <p></p><p>After I scheduled my re-calibration for June 10, I started practicing in April. I bought 'low grade' specialty coffees and a few commercial grade coffees. I started brewing and tasting cups next to each other. At first I used sets of two and three (for ease and speed), and towards the end, I set-up sets of five to be ready for the exam. In May I started spiking a cup with my hacked "recipes" for defects. Phenol = Maxwell House Light Roast; Ferment = brine from sauerkraut, etc. Thanks to family members for helping me with "cup mixing" to create blind tests!</p><p>I got in touch with long-time coffee friend and customer, Teresa Pilarz, founder of Espresso Elevado, who kindly leant me her Le Nez du Cafe set. I practiced intensely with eight of the vials of "bad smells". </p><p>What helped the most was advice and tips on defect "detection, identification, description" from Todd Arnette, CQI's director of education. I wrote to him after my unhappy result in October 2021, explaining what I was pretty sure had been my downfall (defect identification), and appreciated his support.</p><p>My instructors for Q training have also been supportive. Drew Billups, director of education at Atlas, was awesome. Other previous instructors include Jodi Dowell, Rob Stephenson and, as mentioned above, Kelly Peltier-Amoroso. </p>Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-10715361616081606412021-05-24T07:00:00.063-07:002021-05-24T11:43:08.926-07:00Re-building Downtown Coffee Demand<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiJ_MnyoOwWyF_S5ZiqPrGdEgu8BLCaBDzo47urudJE2XJ-iUdy0aEtS7ATVqN_cfF_2EO6tSzSQOmtxNoN7XMDzcfKOA6naPHvqnhrv_x0-Fl_G9sBGDNVvTxBhhQJaSxfkCxWzWGc1U/s2048/IMG_8252.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiJ_MnyoOwWyF_S5ZiqPrGdEgu8BLCaBDzo47urudJE2XJ-iUdy0aEtS7ATVqN_cfF_2EO6tSzSQOmtxNoN7XMDzcfKOA6naPHvqnhrv_x0-Fl_G9sBGDNVvTxBhhQJaSxfkCxWzWGc1U/w400-h300/IMG_8252.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Madcap Coffee at 1413 Farmer St., Detroit, MI</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Last week I had the opportunity to visit two high-end cafes in downtown Detroit. I saw for the first time with my own eyes what Artisan's big-city customers have been reporting for the past 17 months - demand and foot-traffic in downtown is <u>down</u>, while demand in the 'burbs is good. In the urban centers, cafes are surrounded by office buildings now emptied of thousands of workers. Office-workers who used to flock to a nearby cafe on a break now work from home. Often, as is the case in Detroit, home is in the suburbs, not downtown. <p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYEt4Dwrq18x22kTYp326qC08eQvhPE1IywlrheO-N626Ykx9sEmcA4lZc0gqlBASy-BdeseS1jVuzzgTGP0B5pUQjqUxV2MKggNzRNsv9jp2wBvRGWQJCJZ4K0p7hKgikROvHJj9EocA/s2048/IMG_8273.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYEt4Dwrq18x22kTYp326qC08eQvhPE1IywlrheO-N626Ykx9sEmcA4lZc0gqlBASy-BdeseS1jVuzzgTGP0B5pUQjqUxV2MKggNzRNsv9jp2wBvRGWQJCJZ4K0p7hKgikROvHJj9EocA/w400-h300/IMG_8273.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters at 1220 Gratiot, Detroit, MI</td></tr></tbody></table><p>My visits last week bring hope! Madcap at 1413 Farmer Street and Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters at 1220 Griswold St. are doing a great job opening up and attracting the residents who have been there all along and workers who are starting to return to downtown Detroit! (See more photos at the end of this post.)</p><p>Artisan's customers on the West coast, especially San Francisco, have reported similar hard times for their cafes in central, downtown locations. New York was hard hit also, but differs depending on the neighborhood. Mid-town cafes are near residential areas, and therefore attracting some decent foot-traffic. However downtown (financial district) cafes are further away from those home-offices. Many downtown Manhattan office-workers come from Connecticut or New Jersey, not to mention Brooklyn and other boroughs. So we see the empty seats and tables next to the skyscrapers. Meanwhile on main street in places like Hartford and Greenwich, CT, high-end cafes are having a record year. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitc3OJA3qPq2G1j-7V9-9t1seqUpukUMLe9eCGBgtVREVtyPpRqA7_q6BQg-tJdyWO0WkOjL73bCzmwupuHB_JSxjtDmLBGqscqW6swS2RWsmVrsnOetePiT1a5Oynn-1O9sL25fOHcJI/s2048/IMG_8251.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitc3OJA3qPq2G1j-7V9-9t1seqUpukUMLe9eCGBgtVREVtyPpRqA7_q6BQg-tJdyWO0WkOjL73bCzmwupuHB_JSxjtDmLBGqscqW6swS2RWsmVrsnOetePiT1a5Oynn-1O9sL25fOHcJI/s320/IMG_8251.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaeJPR7Ga-FGBwC9nWvbhj-MB5HphxgvogT-Rp-lomFHZxBefFLcgyzhY2ycg00ytHmJXMO_-EO2bZzW2bNuHVUz-jyLTc-aU2GxZyJjOqZaP9ZYe5yhOIC-rXbjZdWhygYb21eGn-qZI/s2048/IMG_8258.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaeJPR7Ga-FGBwC9nWvbhj-MB5HphxgvogT-Rp-lomFHZxBefFLcgyzhY2ycg00ytHmJXMO_-EO2bZzW2bNuHVUz-jyLTc-aU2GxZyJjOqZaP9ZYe5yhOIC-rXbjZdWhygYb21eGn-qZI/s320/IMG_8258.JPG" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwsNq3Mym4ecGDzX4KtvCEsqS0mCHX0DKWGnbZe_NE-SjVMcYEXa4VDBT2G0FYjynjrC32i4lBigAIoyfKWGxbE2jakgkmYjzFc6sjcmDKBJ1pIe21-dAgrw7LJIHC_wU5sUw2_EvgMrU/s2048/IMG_8253.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwsNq3Mym4ecGDzX4KtvCEsqS0mCHX0DKWGnbZe_NE-SjVMcYEXa4VDBT2G0FYjynjrC32i4lBigAIoyfKWGxbE2jakgkmYjzFc6sjcmDKBJ1pIe21-dAgrw7LJIHC_wU5sUw2_EvgMrU/s320/IMG_8253.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Madcap Detroit - interior - opening up next month!</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD13xk6fHQexMvzTYgItVvGsSQ8ZLfAymL5Mcgxehyphenhyphenrt1PxTFSRIP_SGJDdMxTuBHJHX0P58L2GR-KrpJbqHEqbnpzGQAVRnDcgOL8bhf6QxSGey61Bggd65ZzaaQCCCAEk71nonByT2g/s2048/IMG_8277.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG_iMrUJjR-dUcGYVYRt_bEs3kOMRUXitAQEhLTVXdgH5YGN20KkE4Vt5lA2RA7WC4iRL064flQ8dRRJZ5wz6OjpZpFHrPqdsaAMaAm3AhaR0bXQA4JFfOYSl5NpaC_lOnu2rE4etHJvI/s2048/IMG_8259.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG_iMrUJjR-dUcGYVYRt_bEs3kOMRUXitAQEhLTVXdgH5YGN20KkE4Vt5lA2RA7WC4iRL064flQ8dRRJZ5wz6OjpZpFHrPqdsaAMaAm3AhaR0bXQA4JFfOYSl5NpaC_lOnu2rE4etHJvI/s320/IMG_8259.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Find Madcap at the corner of Grand River and Farmer.<br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJmZo8eFVd_FB8X7aLT4a5oYV0Ej6yeaJ_eM_447gd4vXVau9NDYjd69D4QqyPDAccQZ0-b_JOg6XGYLEHzTLtVW3WtQ9jc2-Fe459_opwoxGGXA-olrmUasQy76Yrqbw0pSnEswbwu7I/s2048/IMG_8275.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJmZo8eFVd_FB8X7aLT4a5oYV0Ej6yeaJ_eM_447gd4vXVau9NDYjd69D4QqyPDAccQZ0-b_JOg6XGYLEHzTLtVW3WtQ9jc2-Fe459_opwoxGGXA-olrmUasQy76Yrqbw0pSnEswbwu7I/s320/IMG_8275.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters has a funky, grundge vibe.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDYoGM14wiupcao1T43nj5iHy_g9p4z7FnZ2YqGo7ldfx_iFZ3ZSyrXfa4IevEl4gtY6DgA6N1mlkwTk181BoMxISoIbfDeW0vwyWlCODU53eNa1BAl42favgIvg291EEhZSQXhkj529A/s2048/IMG_8274.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDYoGM14wiupcao1T43nj5iHy_g9p4z7FnZ2YqGo7ldfx_iFZ3ZSyrXfa4IevEl4gtY6DgA6N1mlkwTk181BoMxISoIbfDeW0vwyWlCODU53eNa1BAl42favgIvg291EEhZSQXhkj529A/s320/IMG_8274.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Located at 1220 Griswold St in the center of Detroit.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY1jfWLxqUFtbZtQImY-O3r3O9zyYACikDDpJXFRvsb6p9gOmh_tv6-kywEx5fvmImiYgAZi_jgPBFjpQqSCOx8lbqcF4SBkpHjAz9ddhORSxtwQpf_NQ1jUw33v29pU0CzzkrZ1YWYL8/s2048/IMG_8288.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY1jfWLxqUFtbZtQImY-O3r3O9zyYACikDDpJXFRvsb6p9gOmh_tv6-kywEx5fvmImiYgAZi_jgPBFjpQqSCOx8lbqcF4SBkpHjAz9ddhORSxtwQpf_NQ1jUw33v29pU0CzzkrZ1YWYL8/s320/IMG_8288.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two group Slayer espresso machine at DOCR</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ueZy7e4eLe_FsB65uN5nJN99euXlEKBiPwv3ZTPntg3uBFFtuLSyfwtTmQckoHdr4savrq87PQrALyj1lZlnocNyXV5wXanRmZ7YGKcs5oUc1y5V7HxpJnAbu1PK1oUiddyVFe5YEYU/s2048/IMG_8280.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ueZy7e4eLe_FsB65uN5nJN99euXlEKBiPwv3ZTPntg3uBFFtuLSyfwtTmQckoHdr4savrq87PQrALyj1lZlnocNyXV5wXanRmZ7YGKcs5oUc1y5V7HxpJnAbu1PK1oUiddyVFe5YEYU/s320/IMG_8280.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Offering high-end, single origin coffee from Rwanda.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLR5sCZ7F3UWfN-tiYv0nQ9O6jMiMJbsJxXug4TiS_OTsTCWRi8n1AGY_aFGFzdMCKv1Ednt44-4Ae2_UCpdbV2eB0EFrvpKkksFFkfZSWoTz8OyKulub9CidAumS-OZ8ZC0dJprS_I9E/s2048/IMG_8284.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLR5sCZ7F3UWfN-tiYv0nQ9O6jMiMJbsJxXug4TiS_OTsTCWRi8n1AGY_aFGFzdMCKv1Ednt44-4Ae2_UCpdbV2eB0EFrvpKkksFFkfZSWoTz8OyKulub9CidAumS-OZ8ZC0dJprS_I9E/s320/IMG_8284.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DOCR serving just what every downtown worker needs!</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD13xk6fHQexMvzTYgItVvGsSQ8ZLfAymL5Mcgxehyphenhyphenrt1PxTFSRIP_SGJDdMxTuBHJHX0P58L2GR-KrpJbqHEqbnpzGQAVRnDcgOL8bhf6QxSGey61Bggd65ZzaaQCCCAEk71nonByT2g/s2048/IMG_8277.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD13xk6fHQexMvzTYgItVvGsSQ8ZLfAymL5Mcgxehyphenhyphenrt1PxTFSRIP_SGJDdMxTuBHJHX0P58L2GR-KrpJbqHEqbnpzGQAVRnDcgOL8bhf6QxSGey61Bggd65ZzaaQCCCAEk71nonByT2g/s320/IMG_8277.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-86777472810601676132021-05-04T21:16:00.000-07:002021-05-14T08:40:59.384-07:00Joel Arusha Tapped to Help A Non-profit Enter the Coffee Market in Rwanda<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirK6qbETkZujiVxIERVketixEGn8JDXVyIsWYpzntKQuHgf2QBSBWUfj7qsO85qjA5AtN0Ay7NRN256XKJDPrHWIt-clqlusAByMVpbD6BM6zSs7is04oBYYv1nAEBA4VG8PzuVUfg55c/s2048/IMG_1820.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirK6qbETkZujiVxIERVketixEGn8JDXVyIsWYpzntKQuHgf2QBSBWUfj7qsO85qjA5AtN0Ay7NRN256XKJDPrHWIt-clqlusAByMVpbD6BM6zSs7is04oBYYv1nAEBA4VG8PzuVUfg55c/s320/IMG_1820.JPG" /></a></div>One of the greatest joys for me as a business owner is to see that some encouragement I gave to others, especially young people, helps them build a career in coffee. Joel Arusha is an example of this as he starts a new position this month within a well-known non-profit. Joel will be leading the non-profit's entrance into the coffee sector! The organization has a reputation for helping subsistence farmers in many countries in East Africa move themselves above the poverty line and feed their families. In my travels, I often meet the staff from this group. They all seem to be young, bright, energetic professionals dedicated to their work and ready to make the world a better place.<p></p><p>Thus I always encouraged my friend Joel to be persistent when he was first applying for the job. I knew Joel would be a great fit. Eventually, after <i>seven </i>interviews Joel was offered a procurement position. This is significant, as he was responsible for purchase of critical supplies like the fertilizers that the organization distributes to smallholders.</p><p>I first met Joel in 2015 through a "Farm to Cup" program organized by a consortium of universities: Washington State University, Michigan State University (MSU) and University of Rwanda<span style="font-family: times;">. <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Six students from the U.S. universities traveled to Rwanda and met up there with six Rwandan student-counterparts. I was one of the three students selected to go from MSU. Joel was one of the Rwandan agri-business students selected.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> This is the same program where I met Grace Izerwe. (<a href="https://decafcoffeenamerica.blogspot.com/2021/04/grace-izerwe-lands-new-position-at.html" target="_blank">Click here</a> for previous blogpost.)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI29MpFimyqriR4k463NuaB1AfmCklbm06ZsnJtik_2YfOgtcT390YspEqPklvK0biEMTicCG_Af-YMONYqfZ7vW6ngYI2VECQKBqWwLtKZihEZku0n-lPAGd3a6fBFyjCGvVolbX7VtE/s4608/DSC03527.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI29MpFimyqriR4k463NuaB1AfmCklbm06ZsnJtik_2YfOgtcT390YspEqPklvK0biEMTicCG_Af-YMONYqfZ7vW6ngYI2VECQKBqWwLtKZihEZku0n-lPAGd3a6fBFyjCGvVolbX7VtE/s320/DSC03527.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">UR students </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">Joel, Grace and Samantha in 2015</span></span></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJbhxeBNIsEC2wFkKRiolDOjxePCbtefdtPZ8K_yP_ng1i0_C0D9bZ4K_2buUfFpTaDsmFC8x5CWiQRQzbrhVIj79mVPrTQ8r-j5bZjy7lX-SvpH9RkgJVwEce82nzysP0vU99R49i5Q/s3577/ConneXion_crop.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2841" data-original-width="3577" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJbhxeBNIsEC2wFkKRiolDOjxePCbtefdtPZ8K_yP_ng1i0_C0D9bZ4K_2buUfFpTaDsmFC8x5CWiQRQzbrhVIj79mVPrTQ8r-j5bZjy7lX-SvpH9RkgJVwEce82nzysP0vU99R49i5Q/s320/ConneXion_crop.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Joel (far right) hanging out at the ConneXion Cafe in Huye - 2015</span></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: times;">After I started importing coffee from Rwanda I began hiring Joel frequently as a translator and assistant for trainings and other projects. He would somehow fit this work in during his days off from work. In 2019, Joel also translated for one of Artisan's customers, Andrew Timko, who came to Rwanda to consult with Kopakama cooperative on soil rejuvenation. At the same time, Joel would co-lead trainings at the dry mill in Lean and coffee cupping sessions. Joel's passion for the coffee industry was so evident. He would often say, "I love this industry so much. Some day I have to work in coffee."</span></span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGFVIqkjQ7nAb-CX1Uv1UdZ2xevDVOH0OIhtYkw3VMWqZCyMBKq-ibjOHhcl_tKsl_yw6bmHFf_J1p8aa7u4k8aYC1hwALNwEwxnWB14pejVOlLiwrYxQBWwmD9gb-SMpsDaMnBdUnH8Y/s1280/IMG_1980.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGFVIqkjQ7nAb-CX1Uv1UdZ2xevDVOH0OIhtYkw3VMWqZCyMBKq-ibjOHhcl_tKsl_yw6bmHFf_J1p8aa7u4k8aYC1hwALNwEwxnWB14pejVOlLiwrYxQBWwmD9gb-SMpsDaMnBdUnH8Y/s320/IMG_1980.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times;"><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times;"><br /></span></div>In 2019 Joel started his masters in Agri-business at University of Rwanda. He selected a research topic in coffee, (of course), namely "Effects of Payment Modalities on Coffee Productivity in Rwanda." I was excited about this topic and the results of the data analysis and farmer interviews that Joel conducted.</span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times;">In 2020, Joel started his own coffee company, <a href="https://www.suncoffeeexports.rw/" target="_blank">Sun Coffee Exports and Roasting</a>, and he started a youth cooperative near his hometown of Huye -- all while holding down his full-time demanding job in procurement at the non-profit.</span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times;">At about the same time that Joel was putting the final touches on his masters thesis, he noticed the posting for an internal position: "Market Access Entrepreneur". He also noticed the description said the organization encouraged applicants with interest in the coffee sector to apply, which was unusual, since the organization had always only worked on food crops in the past, like rice, maize and beans. Never export crops like coffee. </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsfRAbaBaYszVFbF01m3ToaGtkUG0FmOaPIeEGoxFIWsnJQa1LGpsus-bq7H5vArnmtqhHdUz9yP-NRcRSEpN0wOQ6Umn5AN6t1WpM84F_dYRUTstNRiSqYxw4k9bUs-iPGX0COTGTNQw/s2048/IMG_2058.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsfRAbaBaYszVFbF01m3ToaGtkUG0FmOaPIeEGoxFIWsnJQa1LGpsus-bq7H5vArnmtqhHdUz9yP-NRcRSEpN0wOQ6Umn5AN6t1WpM84F_dYRUTstNRiSqYxw4k9bUs-iPGX0COTGTNQw/s320/IMG_2058.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times;">I was excited as I heard about this. Having a pro-farmer, global, well recognized non-profit organization in the coffee sector in Rwanda would be positive. I was even more excited when just three weeks ago Joel announced he had been selected for the position and was transitioning fast into his new role. Congratulations Joel!</span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times;">As you can tell by this story, Joel is an amazing individual with incredible energy, focus and drive. We recognize that he would be successful at anything he puts his mind to whether we were there "encouraging" or not. At Artisan Coffee Imports, we just feel fortunate to be part of one more young professional's exciting entry into a full-time coffee career.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFCDo3J-x86iLcBFm51EkQVWpeqqvcSQyWpiW-6j_fjIlmPyS-hPS5qH4gHrGibt9mofh1M5p7coT3Kj-aHVAfaZZbPOE4GiOKs87BCllheAnYRljE-d4_Yz23-YI0-1rs0UQ7A6lfWO4/s2048/IMG_1988.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFCDo3J-x86iLcBFm51EkQVWpeqqvcSQyWpiW-6j_fjIlmPyS-hPS5qH4gHrGibt9mofh1M5p7coT3Kj-aHVAfaZZbPOE4GiOKs87BCllheAnYRljE-d4_Yz23-YI0-1rs0UQ7A6lfWO4/s320/IMG_1988.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Joel (right) translating during Lean at Origin for dry mill management. 2019.</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdU_1BcQqjVjvg_uK9z0brQciGWR4z1I4q_lKfbZR9ajMc2bIKE2uR2PlrBgOo1QQiuAsw2JxrQbxN8njOoeXvfFC5uZ_fow5CKQ6TuBb5XgFrY-LSoH9Sf5H28kX1NkiJhnRSfMWYnS0/s3132/Chez_Lando_Owner_Visit_2015.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3105" data-original-width="3132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdU_1BcQqjVjvg_uK9z0brQciGWR4z1I4q_lKfbZR9ajMc2bIKE2uR2PlrBgOo1QQiuAsw2JxrQbxN8njOoeXvfFC5uZ_fow5CKQ6TuBb5XgFrY-LSoH9Sf5H28kX1NkiJhnRSfMWYnS0/s320/Chez_Lando_Owner_Visit_2015.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Owner of the well-known Chez Lando Hotel in Kigali talks to Joel and another student. 2015.</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div>Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-25549742896387687792021-04-23T10:00:00.008-07:002021-05-07T13:07:27.325-07:00Grace Izerwe Lands New Position at Kopakama Cooperative<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDzhcGqp2VrTECKswt9ox5gggY4giWmgJe611hcdglrgj0U5jpdACG0MQjqeouc4T6UGAaEXqYjjtCXVim3_rGGNCCtEBwG-JUxlR3RCCOV_nnrjbFYgpCjJiETpd-MMo2nlz4PlGA9Yg/s2048/2019_Sep.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1523" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDzhcGqp2VrTECKswt9ox5gggY4giWmgJe611hcdglrgj0U5jpdACG0MQjqeouc4T6UGAaEXqYjjtCXVim3_rGGNCCtEBwG-JUxlR3RCCOV_nnrjbFYgpCjJiETpd-MMo2nlz4PlGA9Yg/s320/2019_Sep.JPG" /></a></div>Earlier this month a colleague and friend, Grace Izerwe, started her new role as Chief Production Officer at Kopakama Cooperative in Rutsiro District, Western Province, Rwanda. She is certainly among the first women to hold this high-level position in a cooperative in Rwanda! <div><br /></div><div>For the past year, Grace has been a dedicated Quality Control Intern for Artisan Coffee. This means she was working without a salary, receiving only compensation for her expenses as she fulfilled a wide variety of duties supporting all the processes at Kopakama: from farm to washing station to cupping lab to export.<p>The fact that a large, respected cooperative has now recognized her considerable skills and talents in coffee agronomy, quality control at many points in the supply chain and her agri-business background is a wonderful time to pause and say "thank you" and "good luck"!</p><p>I first met Grace in May 2015 during a unique and impactful "Farm to Cup" program organized by a consortium of universities: Washington State University (WSU), Michigan State University (MSU) and the University of Rwanda (UR). Six students from the U.S. universities traveled to Rwanda with a professor from WSU and met up there with six Rwandan student-counterparts, and Rwandan educators. I was one of the three students selected to go from MSU. Grace was one of the Rwandan agri-business students selected. I had the good fortune to be assigned to work with Grace as a field research partner.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi53_yR919_F6RPyJbsJM9YLCoe6F-pNTub4t8STD_ZfELTh5ahayicrDN5LA6Uiz31i101HsR3-3GmXW5MS6FovM-CHwGUPdrKpM1pemwuZ7eYeqdGlxBv_OSbCBXcSq_0hUVCYmtHJcs/s2574/Group_cropped_lighter_ARW_LI.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1222" data-original-width="2574" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi53_yR919_F6RPyJbsJM9YLCoe6F-pNTub4t8STD_ZfELTh5ahayicrDN5LA6Uiz31i101HsR3-3GmXW5MS6FovM-CHwGUPdrKpM1pemwuZ7eYeqdGlxBv_OSbCBXcSq_0hUVCYmtHJcs/w640-h304/Group_cropped_lighter_ARW_LI.jpg" title="Farm to Cup Students - Grace (arrow) Ruth (far R)" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2015 "Farm to Cup" students. Grace (arrow), Ruth Ann (far right)</div><div><br /></div>Grace graduated soon after the Farm to Cup program ended and a year later she got married! Next came two darling children, Keila in 2017 and Kent in 2018. For someone with Grace's energy and drive, this was still not enough. Throughout her early years of marriage, she would occasionally work for Artisan during my travels to Rwanda, translating both verbally and in writing. Eventually, in 2019, she told me she would like a career in coffee! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtegiUA_KvpteTMKdhduieWZyEcfi1omvZxMjuoe-C-OZwAN2A-DGjtz4SnKY0OemaLOc3o10ysYDUGo8-nMJ2LcZJdbHGrfMsRiX_zRrpSYgruEcGLNXYB5Wz2PlRg77xf3s6iXFtrfE/s2048/2019_July.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtegiUA_KvpteTMKdhduieWZyEcfi1omvZxMjuoe-C-OZwAN2A-DGjtz4SnKY0OemaLOc3o10ysYDUGo8-nMJ2LcZJdbHGrfMsRiX_zRrpSYgruEcGLNXYB5Wz2PlRg77xf3s6iXFtrfE/s320/2019_July.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Grace's strong interest in working with farmers and getting hands-on experience in coffee agronomy coincided with my recognition of an acute need at Kopakama. This cooperative supplying Artisan's green coffee desperately needed more support in the quality control area. In January 2020 I proposed Artisan's first "Quality Control Intern" program to Kopakama's leadership. I was delighted when they agreed. Grace started in March 2020 and within two weeks, I believe, the Coronavirus lock-downs started! All buses between the capital city, Kigali, and the rural areas were stopped. Grace was forced to stay at home for nearly two months. During this time she conducted phone interviews for Artisan with the farmers of the Ejo Heza women's group. She assessed their opinions of Artisan's latest program (the 300 Club) and overall impacts of COVID19.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizP0p5kEHOUhe8jG4J_McmXEobWrVC0pGH97js7siFK0rforvqsU4XXvDfzLFwmD176krO25taJP8f2hP-1ofn-RlRTmv9XF9ofewxCiIgJaNDbyF-A3NHmcEnmIs73AvgY0TE6kV18E4/s1080/2020_Jun_Grace_learning.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizP0p5kEHOUhe8jG4J_McmXEobWrVC0pGH97js7siFK0rforvqsU4XXvDfzLFwmD176krO25taJP8f2hP-1ofn-RlRTmv9XF9ofewxCiIgJaNDbyF-A3NHmcEnmIs73AvgY0TE6kV18E4/s320/2020_Jun_Grace_learning.jpg" /></a></div><br />Finally in June 2020 she was able to return and continue working with Kopakama's staff. She participated deeply in all the steps of the coffee value chain from harvest, to de-pulping, to drying, to all the export steps. She also became a master of sample roasting and cupping. Grace's assistance was becoming more and more valuable to me as the importer since I was "stranded" on the US side of the ocean. I was unable to travel to visit, as I normally would, but Grace could give me detailed reports in fluent English and send photos. The photos! We've discovered Grace could easily have a second career as a photographer. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKXkEhIVS2uirPXIF9gCn6ki6qoqv-weLIVUkmg6RHNI-ncRMFrbB8FjLK9JCkxNIwlMMYcPA_x447qFY2sY_QgNj0j85rcNbEG6abHhL-PqzrK0yiRHmtyg07lf4zjXGe-5H_48O2_rg/s1080/2020-07-14+w+EjoHeza+farmer.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKXkEhIVS2uirPXIF9gCn6ki6qoqv-weLIVUkmg6RHNI-ncRMFrbB8FjLK9JCkxNIwlMMYcPA_x447qFY2sY_QgNj0j85rcNbEG6abHhL-PqzrK0yiRHmtyg07lf4zjXGe-5H_48O2_rg/s320/2020-07-14+w+EjoHeza+farmer.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />In December 2019 Kopakama posted several open positions, and Grace submitted her application for Chief Production Officer. At the end of March she was one of three final candidates invited to take an exam on topics related to the position. Grace scored the highest, and the position was offered to her! Congratulations!</div><div><br /></div><div>"Now the real work begins," as they say. Her first week on the job was marked by an auspicious event. Kopakama was visited by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture. Grace, along with other leaders of the cooperative, participated in the formal meeting and tour of Kopkama's dry mill. The Secretary and local mayor were there to show there support for the coffee industry.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlcLVm57cRBG1YZjicoKh8Dre-LUPPlwBBlehmV9NcUz6QBXpK8-4QJHv2LIlHxuNiPn4SPIq6oWdMF1fecwL_871-mWJG7f0emGe_tDeQWwc7J2uS17p7GqxbX8ndNPOVGI-Rzivs-CI/s1000/2021_Apr_MINAGRI_KopaDryMill_visit.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlcLVm57cRBG1YZjicoKh8Dre-LUPPlwBBlehmV9NcUz6QBXpK8-4QJHv2LIlHxuNiPn4SPIq6oWdMF1fecwL_871-mWJG7f0emGe_tDeQWwc7J2uS17p7GqxbX8ndNPOVGI-Rzivs-CI/s320/2021_Apr_MINAGRI_KopaDryMill_visit.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Grace will face many challenges working in a rural area, finding work-life balance as a parent of young children and tackling the issues that seem endless in the coffee sector in Rwanda. But she is well prepared and will certainly continue to benefit many farmers, colleagues and organizations in her career - Artisan Coffee Imports included, we hope!</div><div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfBgzoOiIqQVUrCznCrjTwgrRX9NgvOsOY0YjDkBuwXtL33SNX2ETZC9KHMlAG9Ml5nzY_seMIN7UVxeUyB6hH8AMjA968_dfVTrbzReVcAf2rwY6-uDQilYHgG6ko6UtdLuFrRF0nvc/s2048/2019_Jul_home.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfBgzoOiIqQVUrCznCrjTwgrRX9NgvOsOY0YjDkBuwXtL33SNX2ETZC9KHMlAG9Ml5nzY_seMIN7UVxeUyB6hH8AMjA968_dfVTrbzReVcAf2rwY6-uDQilYHgG6ko6UtdLuFrRF0nvc/s320/2019_Jul_home.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi10jm0Ti41MU3Fdf9ucOxTmU3zMrd4WSzEq0XPtK6ALheIsR6LZBUgRzpoV-H5P0n5kGlyGEQzy1tKvDDN9KLOsIK7_tHiG5WN1Z_eAl0Dv58sf_kGywUT34Jaio9iNavkLdmUtZiPcpM/s1080/2019_Nov.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi10jm0Ti41MU3Fdf9ucOxTmU3zMrd4WSzEq0XPtK6ALheIsR6LZBUgRzpoV-H5P0n5kGlyGEQzy1tKvDDN9KLOsIK7_tHiG5WN1Z_eAl0Dv58sf_kGywUT34Jaio9iNavkLdmUtZiPcpM/s320/2019_Nov.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-OHqPNZ4f9Jb98cU4bkBGCYODGACTdZZ3HET4t38igy7wL4r6n3GWw7DEx9DQX3S9AGf0IBwAafUvHY8hn_ujf0eeknVZPWCfrq5vwu9QkCWnmdlS0Y6bgbJI4laMVkEuQX7sUCdNlQs/s5152/2019_Sep_Interview.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3864" data-original-width="5152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-OHqPNZ4f9Jb98cU4bkBGCYODGACTdZZ3HET4t38igy7wL4r6n3GWw7DEx9DQX3S9AGf0IBwAafUvHY8hn_ujf0eeknVZPWCfrq5vwu9QkCWnmdlS0Y6bgbJI4laMVkEuQX7sUCdNlQs/s320/2019_Sep_Interview.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIn4PZP5gaFbl60Q7RUMMgoka4fgvAMP0STK4dIMeYlgQ6A-nCPYpZ430gR3BulekAe7beTCzuLqROeqGQguLLoZC-EQ1NQyGTy3pfS6vwdxbhTd_VdieUtWyDwSoSlSSCGe2Thyphenhyphenzt1S4/s1080/2020_harvest_2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIn4PZP5gaFbl60Q7RUMMgoka4fgvAMP0STK4dIMeYlgQ6A-nCPYpZ430gR3BulekAe7beTCzuLqROeqGQguLLoZC-EQ1NQyGTy3pfS6vwdxbhTd_VdieUtWyDwSoSlSSCGe2Thyphenhyphenzt1S4/s320/2020_harvest_2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9BCh0Zl5026DPEJuL7IAtJA4JsWBzP4RTzpHWVVowmRTAxChuAc-FNJyDlY3kMqvN-uilF7W1tFr1SeNVesxH4g2da53qEyehp0qyUXEY_CvSpHVkNbyvmllzT3JwLNdX-3gnwMnrbJM/s1080/2020_Jul_cup2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9BCh0Zl5026DPEJuL7IAtJA4JsWBzP4RTzpHWVVowmRTAxChuAc-FNJyDlY3kMqvN-uilF7W1tFr1SeNVesxH4g2da53qEyehp0qyUXEY_CvSpHVkNbyvmllzT3JwLNdX-3gnwMnrbJM/s320/2020_Jul_cup2.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzT4d2VoEdLJpN29lLkMaxkN9BWSq1LDPMJmIvhMY-CLUa4pyAssZPu8wJM7MQvC9xWQsLlQx4-KaBxwEYd5bCczgA6sZUKVF0LhA4yaSkvtPoxw4kfj1afQogBuN5lxFDaJtC2Rr8FbA/s1080/2020_Jul_Roasting_1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzT4d2VoEdLJpN29lLkMaxkN9BWSq1LDPMJmIvhMY-CLUa4pyAssZPu8wJM7MQvC9xWQsLlQx4-KaBxwEYd5bCczgA6sZUKVF0LhA4yaSkvtPoxw4kfj1afQogBuN5lxFDaJtC2Rr8FbA/s320/2020_Jul_Roasting_1.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMS0-YqL7lViAwp3C2O1B3_glj08AzPcpQoZepuWmgz0rqf3z0PjdYIvnS09qwq8XKeVqHEjRFWxjJ8l2_tx17GUKEJ-vsQN_4RUf10MZQXrWpgVOBMZp959UIeuo0uj-o4-5htqMb568/s1080/2020_Jun_Ikawa_1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMS0-YqL7lViAwp3C2O1B3_glj08AzPcpQoZepuWmgz0rqf3z0PjdYIvnS09qwq8XKeVqHEjRFWxjJ8l2_tx17GUKEJ-vsQN_4RUf10MZQXrWpgVOBMZp959UIeuo0uj-o4-5htqMb568/s320/2020_Jun_Ikawa_1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikJ8M2buXQkQr_PSFJK30kDvUJLNtqAedOrUhojVaLkmL_0XVe63X3smD63A51VZxweKocaZvKFo5eOIHY4a0EcSr7lYwlqsXqutE0MBSNJ2WKP6vCWB7C-U02MbCjuPQNuN4H3LtpjXE/s2592/2016_cupping.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1944" data-original-width="2592" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikJ8M2buXQkQr_PSFJK30kDvUJLNtqAedOrUhojVaLkmL_0XVe63X3smD63A51VZxweKocaZvKFo5eOIHY4a0EcSr7lYwlqsXqutE0MBSNJ2WKP6vCWB7C-U02MbCjuPQNuN4H3LtpjXE/s320/2016_cupping.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div></div>Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-6337309304957350542021-02-01T08:25:00.051-08:002021-02-02T11:28:50.103-08:00Lean Introduction Video Available to Producers<p>Feb. 1, 2021</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://youtu.be/Jb0-s65VFAY " style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7R_PiWYA7K6ku5Z8wuoP4397iOt-_ZTxew1T6WJOM_hvccosl_I_JVuQd7MQpq4s6BV5pysM-_JAzepJG7w3VVv94q0ECqREVEOkXjyeTyZcgGQ-einJJIDHd2Op2X6lai86rQARWd84/w400-h225/Slide1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p>Thanks to a smart initiative by and invitation from Atlas Coffee Importers, our company offered an introduction to our copyrighted "Lean at Origin" training on-line to a global audience of producers. Most of them were cooperative leaders. The Sept. 16, 2020 webinar was the first in a four-part series Atlas produced, which included seminars on marketing, quality control for sample roasting, and "flavor formation in natural and honey-processing."</p><p>Our 50 minute session, titled "The Importance of Efficiency in Coffee Production" is available to view on YouTube: <a href="https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FJb0-s65VFAY&data=02%7C01%7Cdrew.billups%40nkg.coffee%7C256a429826e54fb454f708d8649c0fe6%7C321a398de2614d65adecc9cc85f02498%7C0%7C0%7C637369970063250525&sdata=PU7gTJHhtTcnkeMbcJ0HM1gM1vurBdS8w4EKjwwtC%2B4%3D&reserved=0" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: #f8f8f8; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://youtu.be/Jb0-s65VFAY</span></a><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"> .</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> The video is thanks to the technical team and everyone at Atlas, but especially Drew Billups, Director of Education and Quality Control.</span></span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://youtu.be/Jb0-s65VFAY" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="1274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd-7gKfqWNUmrpZh7eC177bKH0nGnQ4N410V9tKdLBQ9srxE_rrisyC_YB7767430poZVhfq3Yit91noZ6ndju8Gz_yGZPWy8aS6PsVcYm108cC9ZpilkPZ5N8BpcLGE0Ne-biuP44hfk/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-02-01+at+10.19.35+AM.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The webinar starts with emphasizing that the purpose of adopting a "Lean" culture for coffee processing is primarily to <b>allow us to pay farmers more</b>. It is our strong belief at Artisan Coffee Imports that by 2025, Lean concepts will transform the coffee supply chain. We started teaching Lean in 2015 and predicted back then that within 10 years lean principles at origin will transform the coffee supply chain, just as it has become the "bread and butter" of other global supply chains like automotive and aerospace.</span><p></p><p><b>Why is this operations management practice so compelling? </b>Because it embraces what we all know as leaders makes organizations stronger: worker empowerment, growth and innovation, data-driven decision-making and teamwork. These are only a few of the many key principles that allow companies with a "Lean" culture to outperform their competitors. Toyota Motor Co. headquartered in Japan, is known as the world's best expert in "Lean". Not coincidentally, they are also the most profitable automaker on the planet.</p><p>Curious? Learn more by <a href="https://youtu.be/Jb0-s65VFAY " target="_blank">clicking here</a> and listening for a few minutes to how this powerful training can help coffee producers operationalize Lean. We use an example: Kopakama cooperative in Rwanda.</p><p><b>Where has "Lean at Origin" been implemented?</b> We've had the honor to train about seven coffee-producing organizations, both cooperatively and private owned, in three countries: Rwanda, Burundi and D.R. Congo. The training has been most completely adopted at Kopakama, where the efficiency concepts were also brought to the dry mill manager and staff. In D.R. Congo, we were pleased to offer the training as a tool to help the cooperative staff adapt their operations to include not just women and frontline workers, but also people who are amputees and landmine victims. Diversity training was easily added to that customized program.</p><p><b>Ready to learn more? </b>Contact Ruth Ann Church (rachurch@artisancoffeeimports.com) today to arrange a FREE introductory 30 minute, interactive webinar for your group.</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://youtu.be/Jb0-s65VFAY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="1270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjBUFWXPVGw-xhff1ZdHVdirVKHz4065-51kAaPiuic8o0cYx4_esAXaD0MHUtY-uL5cNKP5vAsJo3txkDsT7jnH9ZXB24x6pQHG467T2yktRP0-5bpFNN967yfMabe0Q5010PumOC4XI/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-02-01+at+10.14.34+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-88712262248247292822020-06-23T10:03:00.000-07:002020-06-29T13:56:22.212-07:00Rebirth of a Roaster - M36 Coffee Launches<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDxrwwLiblQ1cqYqslHIw995emaAyc9LKf3ariw8T6TPJZSUFUo33zxcaV3E-41Ct5eI_9487XFgyXPAkyMitGjW-ZYt1qBcijC0qh2p5zZihQz2-dlBVBUAH7JUITSmR-k94RhrDJ_oA/s1600/IMG_0626.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDxrwwLiblQ1cqYqslHIw995emaAyc9LKf3ariw8T6TPJZSUFUo33zxcaV3E-41Ct5eI_9487XFgyXPAkyMitGjW-ZYt1qBcijC0qh2p5zZihQz2-dlBVBUAH7JUITSmR-k94RhrDJ_oA/s320/IMG_0626.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Co-owners: Ken Pargulski (L) and Lisa Tuveson (R)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Lisa Tuveson and Ken Pargulski have performed a "COVID rescue" of the coffee sort, launching new roasting company <a href="https://www.m36coffeeroasters.com/" target="_blank">M36 Coffee Roasters</a> out of the ashes of an old one. The owners of icon Michigan roasting company, Espresso Royale Coffee (ERC), decided to sell in the midst of multiple COVID pandemic-related business issues. Today I was allowed a brief visit (with social distancing) to check-in on the duo. It's amazing! The M36 brand is clearly displayed even though the official opening of the company was only June 1, 2020. Ken has been a roaster at ERC over 20 years, 13 of them as master roaster. "He's always been at the heart of operations here," Lisa explains. Lisa started with ERC in 1989 and eventually became VP of operations. As co-owner with Ken, she will continue to lead administration, sales, contracting, etc. There's a feeling of "coming into their own" as I speak to them. It's like owning a roasting company is the logical next step for both of them.<br />
<br />
<b>What happened?</b><br />
Espresso Royale, established in 1988, was ahead of the game on many fronts before COVID19 hit. They were in the midst of launching a buy-ahead app to make purchasing brewed drinks simple and fast for consumers. The company had <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80kA1Gs0d3wE44KUT25YH06U74aKMj2936YZr5sOGTPi-nzTP5_a7nmYztF-GytaIi7pD-tTEAxSNW5ecBIqOpLpl63v8llN9SSgUMgclBAId_GMcrqQPkY1rpyVQCYpn3L1xA_ajDAU/s1600/IMG_0492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80kA1Gs0d3wE44KUT25YH06U74aKMj2936YZr5sOGTPi-nzTP5_a7nmYztF-GytaIi7pD-tTEAxSNW5ecBIqOpLpl63v8llN9SSgUMgclBAId_GMcrqQPkY1rpyVQCYpn3L1xA_ajDAU/s320/IMG_0492.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Closed Espresso Royale store on State St, Ann Arbor</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
key accounts with universities, due to its ability to create synergies that saved money for the food service companies signing the coffee contracts for those institutions.<br />
<br />
But the challenges of managing expensive retail space and dozens of employees during a global health pandemic with rising risks and increasing 'unknowns' was too much. "There was a temporary closing at the end of March," Ken told me, "which became official some weeks later, but not publicly announced until June 11." He was already working limited hours when the owners told Ken they would not continue. He thought about it for one night, and the next day came back to the owners asking if he could buy the company. Soon Lisa was attracted to the conversation also. They formed a two-person team, with Lisa taking 51% ownership to Ken's 49%.<br />
<br />
<b>What's happening now?</b><br />
Growth! Ken and Lisa are working out of exactly the same roasting, "headquarters" space as Espresso Royale and have acquired all of the roasting equipment. Kurt Donaldson, the long-time head of machine service and account rep for universities, is on the team with them. This has enabled them to keep operations going with no interruptions. Grocery and on-line sales are growing. By being as frugal as possible, they are working on keeping current customers happy and supplied and securing new customers.<br />
<br />
Innovation is still perking along as always. The previous company had launched a "Bourbon Barrel Aged Coffee" with lots of excitement and M36 has <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwaAX0AzCIl3a7X0n6Q7E08RrbsdrEUOPSy7UnEX7Jg7_Ea4-rjsrd782Zu4gRyQd4bUX-fM16RkcNX_AGBjRczmIwGbIi6YTcWkqlwlq8-oj1sFg5YRjvmir-NsopBZ_QthUr9kX3mXU/s1600/IMG_0625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwaAX0AzCIl3a7X0n6Q7E08RrbsdrEUOPSy7UnEX7Jg7_Ea4-rjsrd782Zu4gRyQd4bUX-fM16RkcNX_AGBjRczmIwGbIi6YTcWkqlwlq8-oj1sFg5YRjvmir-NsopBZ_QthUr9kX3mXU/s320/IMG_0625.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bourbon barrel-aged coffee at M36</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
successfully continued that label. "For consumers looking for the aroma of bourbon, this one will give you that!" exclaims Ken.<br />
<br />
<b>Future?</b><br />
Ken says growth of on-line sales will be a focus in the future. They are keeping the look-and-feel of the M36 brand inclusive, not only in terms of gender and race, but also with conscientiousness about the age of their most loyal consumer base. The middle-age demographic has demonstrated a love of Espresso Royale's roast profile and Ken, as the master of that roast, wants to reassure them that it is not changing.<br />
<br />
A retail coffee house in Illinois that had close ties to the former company is continuing with the M36 brand and plans to open two locations before the end of this year.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4RtQs_Rt9gHk-Le7zp17evk8Bzb7kLS0gAKJI-vg0QEEOMY5AzVepv6mAXuw4EezyuIEynwqa46pysYWBeADDhr2uN9dmwkkd_xA1UZ-iWHsOPrI0swYrapqOQxEjIWfQv8LnvZD60EM/s1600/IMG_0083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4RtQs_Rt9gHk-Le7zp17evk8Bzb7kLS0gAKJI-vg0QEEOMY5AzVepv6mAXuw4EezyuIEynwqa46pysYWBeADDhr2uN9dmwkkd_xA1UZ-iWHsOPrI0swYrapqOQxEjIWfQv8LnvZD60EM/s320/IMG_0083.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ken, dedicated roaster, now steps to the helm of M36.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
For the key university accounts, Lisa and Ken are forced to take a wait-and-see approach as to how many students return to campus and when. Announcements from university officials mostly describe a "mixed approach" to learning, combining in-person and distance learning options for students. "It's a tough problem with no easy answers," Lisa admits. While she would love to know the foot-traffic is returning to the dozens of university buildings where the university sells their coffee, she also knows a return to a full lock-down is something everyone needs to avoid.<br />
<br />
They are talking to the Michigan DNR about options to increase sales of their "MI Parks" branded coffees. With names like "S'mores Roast" and "Paddlers Brew" it seems like there could be some natural synergies with M36 brand and its "Michigan centered" name. Purchases of these coffees<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "oswald"; font-size: 17px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">help to improve recreation in Michigan state parks, trails and Waterways.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>What's behind the M36 name?</b></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxD0vYTJ1JSQ2SSHCZMx1q7aLfo5KLKWuDiwpU1xh5NIB2FqRvl2Kd098aTUuO80dB53-fHOAxnrg941RPj4rpWEE0n2s9RfLpzr9Gqs2AHObJ6x_3yiBVBVvFEOh4kQmpIu7dwxVTXLk/s1600/IMG_0621.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxD0vYTJ1JSQ2SSHCZMx1q7aLfo5KLKWuDiwpU1xh5NIB2FqRvl2Kd098aTUuO80dB53-fHOAxnrg941RPj4rpWEE0n2s9RfLpzr9Gqs2AHObJ6x_3yiBVBVvFEOh4kQmpIu7dwxVTXLk/s320/IMG_0621.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front door of the roastery for the new M36</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;">I asked Ken and Lisa how they landed on the M36 name. It seems they were brainstorming together, coming up with many names, which they would then google and find out were already taken. They knew they needed something unique and noticed roasters with place-based names were undeniably one-of-a-kind. That's when Lisa thought of M36. Ken liked it and the new name was born! Now, just weeks later, you can see the sharp, black-and-white logo proudly displayed outside and inside their building in an industrial park off the real M36 highway in Whitmore Lake, Michigan.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>What is on the M36 highway?</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">M-36</span><span style="background-color: white;"> is a state trunkline </span><span style="background-color: white;">highway</span><span style="background-color: white;"> of Michigan's lower peninsula </span><span style="background-color: white;">that runs for about 50 miles, west–east between the two small, rural towns of Mason (15 miles south of Lansing) to Whitmore Lake, which is 12 miles north of Ann Arbor. Like many two-lane highways in Michigan, it is known for the off-road scenery of forests and farmland, and the traffic includes a lot of pick-up trucks, semi-trucks and bikers. All things that go great with coffee, especially a re-born coffee brand named M36!</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzUSMDf93jc7eCmWiS96-Ls0kC4hXAXOS8oQuQ3_dAUkyI63imFln6KBGFcsDbWf5brbSDAD7ok959AwEx80Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOOVt-UDGDLnFOlcXbXpTcBwHv28n_uJu02hTBR3lz3dJVrTMeYgs5b4qGIFZhnSevC5HtFJWvUYanitL_nreSCmh5-GpRFXfwEO04MEjESvVlsKUKYF8eL-t_wzjruzONBM72P6sEnAQ/s1600/signpost_collage.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOOVt-UDGDLnFOlcXbXpTcBwHv28n_uJu02hTBR3lz3dJVrTMeYgs5b4qGIFZhnSevC5HtFJWvUYanitL_nreSCmh5-GpRFXfwEO04MEjESvVlsKUKYF8eL-t_wzjruzONBM72P6sEnAQ/s320/signpost_collage.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMIJEJfHiHhWyde5zb7HhQolzVOpipKrPuC6sSF2Heb8ml_Xr-KSLvIE1R7hp35wvyeEYQ3hoYIEbsN7B6GinzoZpO9AyObIMZ_yn3NNhMy2s1YeJik_ebjAiSDbswEQH-mS-IFERrc30/s1600/IMG_0637.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMIJEJfHiHhWyde5zb7HhQolzVOpipKrPuC6sSF2Heb8ml_Xr-KSLvIE1R7hp35wvyeEYQ3hoYIEbsN7B6GinzoZpO9AyObIMZ_yn3NNhMy2s1YeJik_ebjAiSDbswEQH-mS-IFERrc30/s320/IMG_0637.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Common sight on the M36 two-lane highway.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjL_7CBmwnpSQZprxe3ItaHAqQzGdllwAMoC5XUWrQ1_EV5MZ8HrPOPk7uYFmTeczAB70d4whQU0aqVsjlocgIdoevx5_Bfh6Q5qjXf2xaeiSjNf9HKqM_S8zgMKICIiW76Fu4b69qd-c/s1600/IMG_0624.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjL_7CBmwnpSQZprxe3ItaHAqQzGdllwAMoC5XUWrQ1_EV5MZ8HrPOPk7uYFmTeczAB70d4whQU0aqVsjlocgIdoevx5_Bfh6Q5qjXf2xaeiSjNf9HKqM_S8zgMKICIiW76Fu4b69qd-c/s320/IMG_0624.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As always, taste quality comes first at M36.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-42585574045682666702020-05-08T15:33:00.001-07:002020-06-19T21:20:30.852-07:00In Rwanda Coronavirus restrictions increase labor costs for coffee farmersMay 8, 2020<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNGjczyglNkB1cxNmxM3UGGgU-ayoQUjLied5gJz0HX-vrbKYz_Zf9Ck6aVBRoUgugWX15ZP4ZyOJn-e1CxoKsEgknCEKweYX4A5lasIlBZtvWjQeaCN8PbUfbMGg45iURx0_zfASJgp0/s1600/washing_station_RWANDA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="926" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNGjczyglNkB1cxNmxM3UGGgU-ayoQUjLied5gJz0HX-vrbKYz_Zf9Ck6aVBRoUgugWX15ZP4ZyOJn-e1CxoKsEgknCEKweYX4A5lasIlBZtvWjQeaCN8PbUfbMGg45iURx0_zfASJgp0/s320/washing_station_RWANDA.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Yesterday <u>The Conversation</u>, an on-line newpaper targeting the academic community published an article on how the Coronavirus pandemic is affecting coffee the coffee supply chain in Rwanda. Two researchers we know at Michigan State University are the authors - Andrew Gerard and David L. Ortega. <a href="https://theconversation.com/rwandas-coffee-harvest-will-go-forward-despite-pandemic-at-a-safe-distance-136900" target="_blank">Click here</a> to read! It is a short article and well written.<br />
<br />
A key take-away from the article is that "<i>health restrictions are increasing coffee production costs in Rwanda..."</i> At Artisan Coffee Imports we have also been investigating the impacts of Rwanda's Coronavirus policies on coffee farmers. Our informal research confirms that costs of production are going to be high for farmers this year due to the increased labor costs. Labor is known to be about 75% of all costs for coffee farmers in Rwanda, (<a href="https://artisancoffeeimports.com/sites/default/files/2020-02/RChurch_CoP_MSBProject_2017_wLNX.pdf" target="_blank">click here</a> for source), and harvesting labor is 36% of that total labor figure.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://resiliencycoffee.blogspot.com/2020/05/96-coronavirus-and-coffee-interviews.html" target="_blank">Click here</a> to hop over to our "Resiliency Coffee Blog" and read a summary of 10 interviews with female farmers conducted April 22 - 27, 2020, which is right near peak of the coffee harvest season for Rutsiro district, where they are.Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-71913032058108773412020-04-20T09:19:00.000-07:002020-05-14T09:20:34.691-07:00COVID19 Images from Kopakama CooperativeStrict movement restrictions were implemented starting March 23rd in Rwanda.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1r12MO8LjTPCnbKvAw7BrvfXfJmnU7eEAgdMqkO1AvEIRonDGbGa-e8ayRDjk73Nl90EuTCM8PAar5IuZ0sPKpIjlEzxVv3t3cNwuk_I4mYd-zZSUqzmbipUDSvxNkBrpaAkHqqbr0C4/s1600/MLCB1717+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="668" data-original-width="770" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1r12MO8LjTPCnbKvAw7BrvfXfJmnU7eEAgdMqkO1AvEIRonDGbGa-e8ayRDjk73Nl90EuTCM8PAar5IuZ0sPKpIjlEzxVv3t3cNwuk_I4mYd-zZSUqzmbipUDSvxNkBrpaAkHqqbr0C4/s320/MLCB1717+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">April
6 - general assembly for the cooperative had<br /> to be only the essential few
officers, sitting 2 m apart.</span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Here is what Gervais KAYITARE, Executive Director of Kopakama Cooperative had to say when the lockdown started on March 23:<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The Government took further preventive measures
against Coronavirus today. No movements are allowed between Kigali and rural
areas nor between districts. For agricultural activities,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we are still allowed to collect cherries. I'm
preparing the guidelines for farmers, collectors, reception, etc in order to
meet the preventive measures."<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"></span>Regarding farmers, he shared, </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNXC13Om6XnAjidX_R-gHFmLK3qolJUSsS0m5o5CWVOXy6dekRNUNsBacaXJwxH6kMaG0fIidqnnuGzXC210DTIMOfNKEFmQH7GkntfMs4HnOnwuKR4C6BerkpnXdl-uGcIgoOqWj22Rg/s1600/IBCD6069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="648" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNXC13Om6XnAjidX_R-gHFmLK3qolJUSsS0m5o5CWVOXy6dekRNUNsBacaXJwxH6kMaG0fIidqnnuGzXC210DTIMOfNKEFmQH7GkntfMs4HnOnwuKR4C6BerkpnXdl-uGcIgoOqWj22Rg/s320/IBCD6069.JPG" width="192" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Modeling masks -<br />
head agronomist, Justin, and<br />
Ejo Heza farmer, Marie Grace</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"like others in the World
Wide, members of Kopakama are frightened of the pandemic. Because of
restrictions, as rural people who live by daily routines, I can't say they feel
safe because they're not free to move for satisfying their needs. Despite that they
remain calm since they don't have any choice and nothing to do except respect
of preventive measures proposed by the Government."<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Seems like we will all be happy for Coronavirus to be under
control so we can visit again!<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
See below for the March 23rd announcement from the Minister of Agriculture in Kinyarwanda.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxnzE1iI8iCyo0DEUTVFuZ6TCILdLwtc7m7HM6tu6G5jY679nqgUjbTOmg8gCibgC3q1F5QleuwpzapXPksbgF_QYyIinek2mmO8dpLsomzSLK83IZV2dwS5sIycUFDosC9I5EVjE7H8/s1600/Amabwiriza+ya+Minisiteri_COVID-19_Page_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1132" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxnzE1iI8iCyo0DEUTVFuZ6TCILdLwtc7m7HM6tu6G5jY679nqgUjbTOmg8gCibgC3q1F5QleuwpzapXPksbgF_QYyIinek2mmO8dpLsomzSLK83IZV2dwS5sIycUFDosC9I5EVjE7H8/s400/Amabwiriza+ya+Minisiteri_COVID-19_Page_1.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_KFu7t-dvwve_f9_JWHX9X6vXow2Y3csQDUwRbSUTyjq2498Fmrmg5PVH6aO36iwc29WzQuQUfEu27KbIPiqJi-y2xqRApePk1a6HkcAUkGWf6jdbm1_JBUVEagSDnJ9jWc6tgaIWRmU/s1600/Amabwiriza+ya+Minisiteri_COVID-19_Page_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1132" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_KFu7t-dvwve_f9_JWHX9X6vXow2Y3csQDUwRbSUTyjq2498Fmrmg5PVH6aO36iwc29WzQuQUfEu27KbIPiqJi-y2xqRApePk1a6HkcAUkGWf6jdbm1_JBUVEagSDnJ9jWc6tgaIWRmU/s400/Amabwiriza+ya+Minisiteri_COVID-19_Page_2.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQi6zMHgqVONszHZlqRv0s1KM-ihbSUMhK2gEytW_UdwopS8qEQB5wivCw5FQdl7DkmydydbtYhkU878O9GAQKFbrl8G4gqBeAkjqcPXhWL_EACCwb89uSbqFX0MpXkgZDj_imE_6je70/s1600/Amabwiriza+ya+Minisiteri_COVID-19_Page_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1132" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQi6zMHgqVONszHZlqRv0s1KM-ihbSUMhK2gEytW_UdwopS8qEQB5wivCw5FQdl7DkmydydbtYhkU878O9GAQKFbrl8G4gqBeAkjqcPXhWL_EACCwb89uSbqFX0MpXkgZDj_imE_6je70/s400/Amabwiriza+ya+Minisiteri_COVID-19_Page_3.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-40072799378989579112020-03-16T13:00:00.000-07:002020-03-16T20:24:38.982-07:00CoffeeFest NYC - Coffee People in the Big Apple!March 16, 2020<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR2wiDBS5KUS853AAgDrHXT_JTixRs4En23sROt-S8QM3WBV8ZIanHfdwICclKxWDFQMadTpv-EIcqyjk7Zq2h9GVSXj-tI_0gBNbXirIR2DCKZbWJXbSnvn9zot3MpLW4BqtMK3f9D4g/s1600/IMG_7724.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR2wiDBS5KUS853AAgDrHXT_JTixRs4En23sROt-S8QM3WBV8ZIanHfdwICclKxWDFQMadTpv-EIcqyjk7Zq2h9GVSXj-tI_0gBNbXirIR2DCKZbWJXbSnvn9zot3MpLW4BqtMK3f9D4g/s320/IMG_7724.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
The world has changed dramatically since only a week ago, when coffee people from all over the Eastern United States gathered at Javits Center, NYC for CoffeeFest. I suspect those giant halls are empty now, due to global Coronavirus social distancing! This blog is dedicated to the friends new and old made at the conference. Thank you all for being there, and stay safe until we meet again!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2DyK0YGQ5q5bU89SbBsZRI_geF2llGOaLv_Ee5-__uHGhjp5-3RnA_cpMxWKHUNycA9q4hCEfM2fqcKPjg057hdd6CaIxtnukwhB9JXk0LGqn3RwR6XiOZYfWJF8d3DRA6ayvIYtxjY/s1600/IMG_7730.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2DyK0YGQ5q5bU89SbBsZRI_geF2llGOaLv_Ee5-__uHGhjp5-3RnA_cpMxWKHUNycA9q4hCEfM2fqcKPjg057hdd6CaIxtnukwhB9JXk0LGqn3RwR6XiOZYfWJF8d3DRA6ayvIYtxjY/s320/IMG_7730.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-OaU6ZZ7vLYeg9wUwATWdHOtuHyFowIJjjjd40PLdTQTF5zaQbMZ1woSE_V8u6fhKJTLCkfwzdbDni5Ph8DEhPU-ChlWVQA-6NKsadl6WpheEndWnv0BweTZeCag4Fj9-ZoZKDxP9ZYw/s1600/IMG_7731.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-OaU6ZZ7vLYeg9wUwATWdHOtuHyFowIJjjjd40PLdTQTF5zaQbMZ1woSE_V8u6fhKJTLCkfwzdbDni5Ph8DEhPU-ChlWVQA-6NKsadl6WpheEndWnv0BweTZeCag4Fj9-ZoZKDxP9ZYw/s320/IMG_7731.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Was great to see Sam of Dillanos -- she won first prize in the US Barista Championship last year. This year she made a great return taking 4th place -- just two weeks ago!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxoN2DZS72yZr0lyqNQcaxXA6tq5YZBd1H7Foi1GFoKS9jOTx2Yk504vmYwfXxEpDYIsLtpN36el2HMsd8hAslt2dCyenB15Yy1NC_f2SAdmJ0LBzR5sGPyNasFl0N1qPmpinL-Bx4eVQ/s1600/IMG_7732.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxoN2DZS72yZr0lyqNQcaxXA6tq5YZBd1H7Foi1GFoKS9jOTx2Yk504vmYwfXxEpDYIsLtpN36el2HMsd8hAslt2dCyenB15Yy1NC_f2SAdmJ0LBzR5sGPyNasFl0N1qPmpinL-Bx4eVQ/s320/IMG_7732.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
Claire Harriman and colleague, Doug, with Roast Magazine.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHd-sZYgYrc2OXhzMjGxY65b51VZuwECDRacCyKTzLKwtu9tf_UF94s6JFX5bBzDghpExqL_rWx0f5h4pxU87rbpv6FaggMHkhxorPVzIZvEqfbd7gjP2D_9BY3ZI6N1MwmMZHh1oFP-A/s1600/IMG_7734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHd-sZYgYrc2OXhzMjGxY65b51VZuwECDRacCyKTzLKwtu9tf_UF94s6JFX5bBzDghpExqL_rWx0f5h4pxU87rbpv6FaggMHkhxorPVzIZvEqfbd7gjP2D_9BY3ZI6N1MwmMZHh1oFP-A/s320/IMG_7734.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
Loved seeing Kevin Kuyers of Theta Ridge promoting his women-grown coffee from Colombia!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-M57DDwWRejpvyNveeQzecZ1vS999uhSR8dLYDQZ2Ueu8_COWfi2RP260uwecj1VQQ9_xOvmjuRQUxgdsWOFzPmIL_xlYsQoawYX2URBfUswo5EcXzGvSba2_-ZtnS1OqBvbpSMmPjw/s1600/IMG_7743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-M57DDwWRejpvyNveeQzecZ1vS999uhSR8dLYDQZ2Ueu8_COWfi2RP260uwecj1VQQ9_xOvmjuRQUxgdsWOFzPmIL_xlYsQoawYX2URBfUswo5EcXzGvSba2_-ZtnS1OqBvbpSMmPjw/s320/IMG_7743.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Cyrus Hernstadt of Think Coffee explained how they thoughtfully put sustainable pricing and great tasting coffee together!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAFYe2nKCJE2YDTlT7bgyxYrtjxGuSA8WgYXhoEsuJKgND0LOAPUWZJw3nBVVtQK343TZYTG2fUMPZAlhaLJnqTjROIjE2fIjkOthUY9wIeuPbIwN2yB4kABG2B_2fSzuujRbptuNUF-A/s1600/IMG_7760.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAFYe2nKCJE2YDTlT7bgyxYrtjxGuSA8WgYXhoEsuJKgND0LOAPUWZJw3nBVVtQK343TZYTG2fUMPZAlhaLJnqTjROIjE2fIjkOthUY9wIeuPbIwN2yB4kABG2B_2fSzuujRbptuNUF-A/s320/IMG_7760.JPG" width="240" /></a>Preston of Birch Coffee impressed Ruth Ann with his frozen capsules of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghaDY8B5n7PgKC2V8D5UOwkn7kCq2DGic-50A-JL_zlZmlUKyX9gHMsye3gp_P3_La0aSQ85EqXrZEIOF8zTxmLdQTZ_KqLic9-uD1orTQzJbvdNLX9EcGOrcZBgaOzgm5OZPylBcn_9M/s1600/IMG_7762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghaDY8B5n7PgKC2V8D5UOwkn7kCq2DGic-50A-JL_zlZmlUKyX9gHMsye3gp_P3_La0aSQ85EqXrZEIOF8zTxmLdQTZ_KqLic9-uD1orTQzJbvdNLX9EcGOrcZBgaOzgm5OZPylBcn_9M/s320/IMG_7762.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkW6nC-jUZWWy8XkJ0SkxYAsFVOsUV1UdBid2OKD1fhjv6H22DsdDWh1LTa7S5y7jAQ8pnzTX1rFmcAwyQBsXmVBUSCtc9GUl-R3cPrfC4Un0YAxPkPVOmK9Mqdhg6rKp5Ne9OQsMLjg/s1600/IMG_7765.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkW6nC-jUZWWy8XkJ0SkxYAsFVOsUV1UdBid2OKD1fhjv6H22DsdDWh1LTa7S5y7jAQ8pnzTX1rFmcAwyQBsXmVBUSCtc9GUl-R3cPrfC4Un0YAxPkPVOmK9Mqdhg6rKp5Ne9OQsMLjg/s320/IMG_7765.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4OolT2v5prVumNyj2H17okq2l_ju3YhXy69LPYDwnfEQihhatokSAhNcRqDx1XL2j245K5aUNEL-FPYtqIKUixuzmkXLu_vie0j6Xya3MWfUsCIOFMDY85sUqGqrN8UaQLC7MW4r2nzM/s1600/IMG_7776.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4OolT2v5prVumNyj2H17okq2l_ju3YhXy69LPYDwnfEQihhatokSAhNcRqDx1XL2j245K5aUNEL-FPYtqIKUixuzmkXLu_vie0j6Xya3MWfUsCIOFMDY85sUqGqrN8UaQLC7MW4r2nzM/s320/IMG_7776.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
The big apple was very welcoming to CoffeeFest!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8nqahyGdCO5GitQVQE48d_obSSNUHYV95HDdd7VYuwJuoVRRk9prAsDsDJj9Uq-JldxRZJqtDmjiQ1l-tZbQvQpeoBSJdOSB8UsErrcTwa4x6TBA04_Je0mF_nEmJmc3DhEIjjVXtD0/s1600/IMG_7778.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8nqahyGdCO5GitQVQE48d_obSSNUHYV95HDdd7VYuwJuoVRRk9prAsDsDJj9Uq-JldxRZJqtDmjiQ1l-tZbQvQpeoBSJdOSB8UsErrcTwa4x6TBA04_Je0mF_nEmJmc3DhEIjjVXtD0/s320/IMG_7778.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3HTwm22bxfjFkfOuCcQ4RFEWtKbOCbg9l05YjAmXtzB5GgXN9Y5M5fFWNlWF71Yox5d-nVvo1rUNtUHaqpLzq7Sm2pSVVtwf-HRdbtixZxkeWv70M6upyV5FYxjs9bDew9uS_Gj9Z5ug/s1600/IMG_7780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3HTwm22bxfjFkfOuCcQ4RFEWtKbOCbg9l05YjAmXtzB5GgXN9Y5M5fFWNlWF71Yox5d-nVvo1rUNtUHaqpLzq7Sm2pSVVtwf-HRdbtixZxkeWv70M6upyV5FYxjs9bDew9uS_Gj9Z5ug/s320/IMG_7780.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-1545275690721742902019-12-31T13:44:00.000-08:002020-01-15T13:45:42.180-08:00Happy New Year! - Highlights from 2019<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0E-Bct-kenVfM7zrmQ0CFKOdRcW-Zn8wP-3kqB3PqvF4AInjMrBx24pzaT31Eui0fTmAR-7EGXgzNTl6BnNWSYCy5Jucee65lvao4vqHx8K8VZJUczhL4sdwrgSjMWj9tRd5OIvZ6vNA/s1600/2019+highlights_v2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0E-Bct-kenVfM7zrmQ0CFKOdRcW-Zn8wP-3kqB3PqvF4AInjMrBx24pzaT31Eui0fTmAR-7EGXgzNTl6BnNWSYCy5Jucee65lvao4vqHx8K8VZJUczhL4sdwrgSjMWj9tRd5OIvZ6vNA/s640/2019+highlights_v2.png" width="256" /></a></div>
As we look back on 2019, the items in our infographic (left) are the biggest highlights. They include:<br />
<br />
<b>Achieved Q Processing Level 1 certification!</b> Took the three day course with Drew Billings at Atlas Coffee in Seattle, June 2019<br />
<br />
<b>8 new roaster customers</b> of green coffee grown by Rwandan women.<br />
1 new consulting customer<br />
1 new shipping consolidation customer<br />
<br />
<b>Lean at Origin training was introduced</b> to a third country - Democratic Republic of Congo! It was an honor to be sponsored by the Polus Foundation (Boston, MA) to work on beautiful Idjwi Island. Artisan trained leaders from 2 coffee cooperatives in Lean at Origin skills.<br />
<br />
<b>Finished in the black.</b> Calendar year 2019 achieved a cash-basis profit. While we seek to do good, we have to stay in business and this means earning a profit.<br />
<br />
<b>Relationships Deepened.</b> Relationship coffee requires investments of time and travel dollars to be present and observe what is happening at origin. Grateful to be able to travel to Africa three times in 2019.<br />
<br />
<b>Coffee Literacy Expansion.</b> Artisan supported Grace Izerewe to follow an intensive 6-week course in Kigali, Rwanda covering many coffee topics including cupping, green grading, sample roasting, production roasting, wet mill processing and LeNez du Cafe sensory skills.<br />
<br />
<b>Coffee Career Mentoring.</b> Artisan was proud to be selected as mentor by Joel Arusha, a rising young coffee entrepreneur in Rwanda. Monthly calls were arranged by Joel where he could ask questions and Ruth Ann tried to guide. It was exciting for both sides to see excellent new career pathways develop for Joel!<br />
<br />
<b>IWCA Global Board Director.</b> Ruth Ann was proud to serve on the board of the International Women's Coffee Alliance for a fourth year. The non-profit, all-volunteer group has overcome many obstacles in 2019, moving forward in its transition to a staffed model. Most exciting is when there are opportunities to see up-close what the now 24 chapters around the world are doing!Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391651177404135166.post-84553581966751653872019-07-08T22:30:00.000-07:002019-07-09T10:48:07.561-07:00Eliminating Waste Using Machinery - Dukundekawa MusasaJuly 8, 2019<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGyihwwi69V8N5FriJJzAtYU8Adg4vRZ-Sg6N3VDL6AxzSJls7gPVQDLdaa6xA0czsy6Qx2qM79eRyjoRv_7l8zpLX8uT9HINT3hgoGQN4ci87gP6JYWzg3NiU2nP4nvH6zXwD3IqgwQ/s1600/005_DSC01716.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="1600" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGyihwwi69V8N5FriJJzAtYU8Adg4vRZ-Sg6N3VDL6AxzSJls7gPVQDLdaa6xA0czsy6Qx2qM79eRyjoRv_7l8zpLX8uT9HINT3hgoGQN4ci87gP6JYWzg3NiU2nP4nvH6zXwD3IqgwQ/s640/005_DSC01716.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dukunde Kawa Musasa drying tables offer a spectacular view of Gakenke district mountains.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In Rwanda, you often see four armed soldiers or policemen walking single-file on the side of the road. They walk slowly, as if they have all day to get where they are going and they know they have to walk many miles. I often wondered whether the objective is 1. to be seen on the roads or 2. to get where they are going. Today I learned that at least sometimes, it is to "get where they are going." I stopped at a dusty mountain intersection to ask directions from a civilian, and the lead soldier in a group-of-four walked up to my car and said they needed a ride. Next thing I knew, I had three soldiers with machine guns in my back seat (my translator in the front passenger seat) and the 4th soldier was crouched in the luggage space of my Toyota Rav4 with knees to his chin!<br />
<br />
The above scenario is a metaphor for the way Rwandan coffee is also beginning to "get where it is going" by using machinery. For the soldiers, a half-day's walking journey, became a 15 minute, somewhat cramped, car-ride. At Dukundekawa Musasa in Gakenke district, I saw how a forward-thinking cooperative of farmers is investing in machinery to take them where they are going faster.<br />
<br />
Since my first visit to Dukundekawa in early 2016, I've returned at least three times. Each time I see new investments in machines. [1]<br />
<br />
What Dukundekawa is doing is eliminating waste. They are doing so without knowing that they are demonstrating <a href="https://artisancoffeeimports.com/consulting" target="_blank">Lean at Origin</a> principles. (Refer to our "<a href="http://resiliencycoffee.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Resiliency Coffee" blog </a>and search on "Lean" to learn more about Lean at Origin.) Here we will share the unique machines that Dukundekawa has brought on-line and name the wastes that these machines will help eliminate.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe8-5lR_0T5xEc6fTj4CjKmnj8it4ajp5K6gUvOptw20UMlWVmWoeYofOmF0vVbvaXNNXYMYyEQDV3lZJYk8R6VIwQaj33ZRi9obB6k0iCDdx7Z2V9gPGzegGfHQmZhhyphenhyphenvdbn1L5J70Hc/s1600/Avoids+1..JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe8-5lR_0T5xEc6fTj4CjKmnj8it4ajp5K6gUvOptw20UMlWVmWoeYofOmF0vVbvaXNNXYMYyEQDV3lZJYk8R6VIwQaj33ZRi9obB6k0iCDdx7Z2V9gPGzegGfHQmZhhyphenhyphenvdbn1L5J70Hc/s400/Avoids+1..JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pinahlense 11 MT cherry sorter.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>1. The Pinhalense cherry sorter</b> was first used in the 2015 season, and fully implemented before the 2016 season started. This machine eliminates <b>defects</b> (one type of waste) by sorting cherries by density that have just been delivered by site collectors. Site collectors bring large volumes of cherry to the washing station. One site collector might arrive with as much as 800 kg. The cherry sorting machine uses gravity, water and floatation. The machine's channels shake and have holes in the bottom to separate the dense (good) cherry from the light (bad) cherry, sometimes called "floaters." The two types are moved into a different chutes. Dukundekawa staff can easily measure the weight of the floaters of any site collector's delivery. The agreement signed with the collector is that if any delivery has more than 1% floaters, the entire weight of floaters will be deducted from his service pay. In the 2019 season, only one collector over-stepped the 1% mark for allowable floaters. Apparently, the threat of a monetary fine is usually good enough to ensure site collectors are strict with quality control at their site.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0doz_-D1WEkp4pbgDXqO2x6tqdzoMEQNKgtgpcbvRhN0tCQ1ZhQCbGDgZwp49Lqma43qPhOKjedcYE0XWcZ_rzClZTVzuNY5XUxRu2ceD25NAvBLrOvKIBYPYE2uLT2QvS6aiCU6bcgM/s1600/Avoids+4+and+6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0doz_-D1WEkp4pbgDXqO2x6tqdzoMEQNKgtgpcbvRhN0tCQ1ZhQCbGDgZwp49Lqma43qPhOKjedcYE0XWcZ_rzClZTVzuNY5XUxRu2ceD25NAvBLrOvKIBYPYE2uLT2QvS6aiCU6bcgM/s320/Avoids+4+and+6.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking left.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDxg4DBjPR7-8-gco8Ny9WDN0YIAf9dQ1zaeBWBoAuyCGl6raApljZIBT14-pszSjg0cWPZYDQtdh9Td4r_xj0mz1m4woenKlb70akNTllIwA2nCK5B1kzV9nqlAvpftBeZ1btTrBvJWw/s1600/IMG_1322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDxg4DBjPR7-8-gco8Ny9WDN0YIAf9dQ1zaeBWBoAuyCGl6raApljZIBT14-pszSjg0cWPZYDQtdh9Td4r_xj0mz1m4woenKlb70akNTllIwA2nCK5B1kzV9nqlAvpftBeZ1btTrBvJWw/s320/IMG_1322.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Above: Looking right. Entrance to reception area is designed for easy access of trucks and farmers.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
2. In 2015 Dukundekawa re-constructed the <b>entrance to the receiving area for cherries</b>. They eliminated wasted <b>transportation of material</b> and wasted <b>motion of people</b> by thinking about how to allow trucks and farmers carrying heavy sacks on their heads to get as close as possible to the scale for weighing their delivery. The ramp from the main road (top photo) slopes down and curves towards the reception area, which can be seen straight ahead in the bottom photo. (Under the roof shown in the bottom photo is where the cherry reception process starts.) The improved access saves the steps of workers and farmers who spend hours of back-breaking labor at other washing stations to move heavy sacks up stairs, around columns and over bumpy, steeply sloped terrain to unload trucks or just arrive on foot. While not yet documented, it's possible that the improved access has shortened the lines during peak season, eliminating <b>waiting</b>, another type of waste.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeNoLDVRzghvga6E_TYg-gdT7w4PyoE-r3uEkHs6qAijXadKVqlmetWbAlur00X8ZJ0V5BEjE6V21QieMhoNuonREe13fyNdCxR-cGJ3mmdz-O1uOdTxCPxRIPilxNAOm3a5DS8rHcUWM/s1600/IMG_1296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeNoLDVRzghvga6E_TYg-gdT7w4PyoE-r3uEkHs6qAijXadKVqlmetWbAlur00X8ZJ0V5BEjE6V21QieMhoNuonREe13fyNdCxR-cGJ3mmdz-O1uOdTxCPxRIPilxNAOm3a5DS8rHcUWM/s320/IMG_1296.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside of dry mill</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgG9XAzqV3VWtQIj0az9CrAlcEG-8H6mFbrBENjh4hlmoLKOOF_IuTT7XDJrz_QX_sEWxpvJQPw3qyvS2V5IsBB6nqyr4jiiqnXPYzKZFFlZcq6h4JVPj-Oo4Xnf5JnLt-ogNmI7bWBq8/s1600/IMG_1304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgG9XAzqV3VWtQIj0az9CrAlcEG-8H6mFbrBENjh4hlmoLKOOF_IuTT7XDJrz_QX_sEWxpvJQPw3qyvS2V5IsBB6nqyr4jiiqnXPYzKZFFlZcq6h4JVPj-Oo4Xnf5JnLt-ogNmI7bWBq8/s320/IMG_1304.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the dry mill.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
3. In 2016, Dukundekawa built <b>a dry mill -- right across the street from the washing station</b> (wet mill), establishing one of only a handful of dry mill functioning outside of the capital of Kigali and bringing a significant industrial process to their rural mountain village. Besides increasing the number of skilled and unskilled laborers employed during the season, the dry mill had all the benefits the cooperative management had been longing for: more control over export preparation of their semi-finished product, parchment coffee. The new dry mill eliminates <b>defects</b> by allowing the coop direct control of machine maintenance, settings and storage. It eliminates <b>unnecessary processing steps</b> by allowing the coop to skip steps in the milling process if they are not required by a customer order. It eliminates <b>waiting</b>, because in Kigali the cooperative's trucks of parchment could wait days or weeks for "their turn" to be processed. It eliminates wasted <b>transportation of material</b>, wasted <b>inventory</b>, and wasted <b>motion of people</b>. Clearly, the investment in a dry mill helps Dukundekawa eliminate wastes of many kinds, and the associated costs, for all future seasons, while at the same time increasing quality. It is a strikingly good example of Lean at Origin management.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLgBZj_nQL_nB6g68ak5yxjjDKctSVScnEyRb0Ojq3ToLe5IJxhyphenhypheny77L8tVFXKsmxT8UxLPkG6oenwPtFKw1EqFd-zMlp5owFdEXdJZgiBdYblPssKYC8_x6HhdSsDTQVWVCBTB9i2SNc/s1600/020_DSC09505.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLgBZj_nQL_nB6g68ak5yxjjDKctSVScnEyRb0Ojq3ToLe5IJxhyphenhypheny77L8tVFXKsmxT8UxLPkG6oenwPtFKw1EqFd-zMlp5owFdEXdJZgiBdYblPssKYC8_x6HhdSsDTQVWVCBTB9i2SNc/s320/020_DSC09505.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manager Isaac with drum dryer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
4. In 2018, Dukundekawa purchased a mechanical <b>drum dryer </b>for more speedy drying of low-quality coffees. This dryer eliminates <b>defects</b> to high-grade coffee that occur when space on raised tables is lacking, and quality grades therefore get stacked too high or worse - left waiting in a tank too long. It also eliminates <b>waiting, transportation of material</b> and <b>motion of people</b>. Without a drum dryer, washing stations are forced to dry low-grade depulped coffee on drying tables, taking up valuable real estate for higher grades, or dry the low-grades on plastic sheets spread on the ground. Drying on the ground is unsanitary for the coffee, lengthens the process and involves several additional movements of material and people. However, the real beauty of being able to whisk low-grade coffees into a mechanical dryer is the additional <u>space gained on raised beds</u> for the high-quality coffees, especially during peak season.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHr3usJT-1gFn4jibnnqzCHp_CeGoBzmtQ8KbhaKHDNqiNFszAAvDLKOYUczqua6plOh6KPQ61mRq0zM9vNG4kV-44KRoeZQGKtfkPNbPw_v8OyFqQm7N3qV1b5Y-Q9TZ8o47odyxoTcQ/s1600/Avoids+1+-+B.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHr3usJT-1gFn4jibnnqzCHp_CeGoBzmtQ8KbhaKHDNqiNFszAAvDLKOYUczqua6plOh6KPQ61mRq0zM9vNG4kV-44KRoeZQGKtfkPNbPw_v8OyFqQm7N3qV1b5Y-Q9TZ8o47odyxoTcQ/s320/Avoids+1+-+B.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two new coffee elevators (l and r) and the new Sortex color sorter from Buehler.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTWlKn3BFyk3hactOWkBdjk-0jRwANdI-bSxkgHvadMmlPVAzdQJ0-CmHi69CxVtTvNEgorR-mnmLHEH4O4mkNn2avkoaFrhd_QJf0KiIcFwCU6DHaZyXXy4jbEhI6gu4mvZHDgj3cT7w/s1600/IMG_1301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTWlKn3BFyk3hactOWkBdjk-0jRwANdI-bSxkgHvadMmlPVAzdQJ0-CmHi69CxVtTvNEgorR-mnmLHEH4O4mkNn2avkoaFrhd_QJf0KiIcFwCU6DHaZyXXy4jbEhI6gu4mvZHDgj3cT7w/s320/IMG_1301.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rwanda's only Buehler Multi-vision Sortex B now resides at Dukundekawa's dry mill.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
5. Now, in 2019, Dukundekawa is in the final installation stages of a <b>Multivision Sortex B color-sorting machine <a href="https://www.buhlergroup.com/global/en/28436.htm" target="_blank">from Buehler</a></b>. The main waste eliminated by this machine is <b>defects</b>. Olivier, the installation technician from Brazafric, explained to me that the Multivision uses three wavelengths and can therefore detect colors that other (two-wavelength) color sorters in Rwanda cannot. Importantly, they believe they have shown in tests that discoloration from insect damage, not detected by two-wavelength machines, will be identified and rejected by the Multivision model. This capability has the potential to significantly reduce potato taste defect in Rwandan coffee, which has been shown to be highly correlated with antestia bug infestation (<a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/fsp/publications/policy-research-briefs/policy_brief_63.pdf" target="_blank">click here for the paper</a>).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGwSYrUS8r2SBZ4Fj_ocNLtANQxibw4lLCdPJoEeh_dRRsFXIZF9wzf7v6GXIeS2SlI1c_TM5Nm0cwRJTW2kPgnxh491AR6lpY11-3XV2zyz55Mrba20o_4rnT0m1Ackuhk5e8LfXeOA/s1600/Avoids+1%252C+6+and+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGwSYrUS8r2SBZ4Fj_ocNLtANQxibw4lLCdPJoEeh_dRRsFXIZF9wzf7v6GXIeS2SlI1c_TM5Nm0cwRJTW2kPgnxh491AR6lpY11-3XV2zyz55Mrba20o_4rnT0m1Ackuhk5e8LfXeOA/s320/Avoids+1%252C+6+and+4.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">6 new conveyor belts for sorting green coffee. Automated movement to the "mixing silo" at the back.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEAAhCUgU-ZKzmpbFMw5nKMe333yQLhLXWYR2vvz6qbOzsMb3soOf_tGVnzKS_tQYRzPQVuhfCigtFHFjmNRe8MOMnBezDSlfvGFWk3xQdGK49JLBK7vGJLFWEf6bAuFoLMK2avJlq08/s1600/IMG_1312.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEAAhCUgU-ZKzmpbFMw5nKMe333yQLhLXWYR2vvz6qbOzsMb3soOf_tGVnzKS_tQYRzPQVuhfCigtFHFjmNRe8MOMnBezDSlfvGFWk3xQdGK49JLBK7vGJLFWEf6bAuFoLMK2avJlq08/s320/IMG_1312.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Workers will be able to sit during their 7 hour day and sort the green coffee under UV lights.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxZpgug6vUCCcirPKBz4Fw2GkGDuEjFhd539PN7D3VzALZt6sLKsnaz5-ZJb4fGGupHbVx4N3xBqxZauYpjjs5WCatN_f1lcSsVoSj-bp_pK9O4REnpWRU_R3MF6EHwxGzEsQRkjonzM/s1600/IMG_1314.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxZpgug6vUCCcirPKBz4Fw2GkGDuEjFhd539PN7D3VzALZt6sLKsnaz5-ZJb4fGGupHbVx4N3xBqxZauYpjjs5WCatN_f1lcSsVoSj-bp_pK9O4REnpWRU_R3MF6EHwxGzEsQRkjonzM/s320/IMG_1314.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chairs where hundreds of women will be able to sit, instead of sitting on the floor to do their job - improving worker conditions, avoiding injury.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
6. Also this year, Dukundekawa is installing <b>six new Pinhalense conveyor belts</b> for sorting green coffee, connected to <b>automated transport to a mixing silo</b>. The new equipment and chairs will eliminate waste from <b>defects, waiting, transportation of material, motion of people and inventory</b>. This new process is an advancement and transformation from the traditional hand-sorting method. In most dry mills in Rwanda, you will find a giant hall like the one pictured above, with hundreds of women (and a few men) sitting on their scarves, stretched out like a blanket on the floor. They will have one or two of the plastic bags used for transporting parchment flattened on the floor next to them, on which you will see two or three piles of green beans: the unsorted pile, the "good" pile and the "bad" pile. They work for 7 hours a day. In the dry mill I know best, there is a supervisor who walks around to all the women checking their work, letting them know when/if the "good" pile is good enough to move on to the next bag. [2] Once their "good pile" is approved, each worker has to carry that pile of beans to a different place in the hall, and the "bad pile" or waste beans to even a different place (see spaghetti diagram below). Clearly there is wasted movement of material and people, much waiting for a supervisor and potential for human error under such conditions. Dukundekawa has changed all that.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGl2fw-KGfNnHhFxDCsij40vHXACpbOepODPyU6_UHo9jnYlwfmnZ8CNhgpcseqqDt5SgACbbaLupInAZWFTuvELY6owcOg8uEJ66wb3h0SyUiJP5NfsOFTOQ7dJpDznjDD-VMnDZRYqc/s1600/hand-sort_diagram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="617" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGl2fw-KGfNnHhFxDCsij40vHXACpbOepODPyU6_UHo9jnYlwfmnZ8CNhgpcseqqDt5SgACbbaLupInAZWFTuvELY6owcOg8uEJ66wb3h0SyUiJP5NfsOFTOQ7dJpDznjDD-VMnDZRYqc/s320/hand-sort_diagram.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A so-called "spaghetti diagram" of the traditional hand-sorting process helps visualize the wasted movement of people and material. (The steps of each worker are dotted lines that look like a plate of spaghetti.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
7. A highly valued resource for every coffee producer, however, is a fully equipped and on-site cupping lab. Cupping labs allow a trained cupper to evaluate the quality of each lot of coffee, and thus enables the producer to know the potential value of their crop. Dukundekawa is already advancing from their first on-site cupping lab to a new, still-under-construction, state-of-the-art cupping lab that will likely qualify for Specialty Coffee Association certification.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqrygpbOwKBZz6bVnwB11QjNDbvTU_UCcpJ2uxn6aBlid6jAcYa7EAhJiNAG1mqFj46BVS5IqI-PEoD8lhK3psJ7f0heLAZoKnvmKQWOGT7BB-rgV0wgvAWLvK08lYC4OFKaVc31DFT-M/s1600/IMG_1282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqrygpbOwKBZz6bVnwB11QjNDbvTU_UCcpJ2uxn6aBlid6jAcYa7EAhJiNAG1mqFj46BVS5IqI-PEoD8lhK3psJ7f0heLAZoKnvmKQWOGT7BB-rgV0wgvAWLvK08lYC4OFKaVc31DFT-M/s320/IMG_1282.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside the old cupping lab - this one to be discontinued this year.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilamyFkWGG2bq0GQKYArvP9f_sCNBqIJYmQN21zrhTeemG78Yd8FPKdGNaFJGZwxGBUOu2kt3re7YDdece6bxwdwYrN5OVAD8U1kqbZ4FHIHGCnPu0CJzCvcFHSku0rcsRr-BPv2DYsYA/s1600/IMG_1283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilamyFkWGG2bq0GQKYArvP9f_sCNBqIJYmQN21zrhTeemG78Yd8FPKdGNaFJGZwxGBUOu2kt3re7YDdece6bxwdwYrN5OVAD8U1kqbZ4FHIHGCnPu0CJzCvcFHSku0rcsRr-BPv2DYsYA/s320/IMG_1283.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the old cupping lab.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkoWyLN5PjE_iY-tUdL5A2b1J2-ThIDFBDXpaXPsWBBbw07LY4MWfcq82jq_G1ND4CjYSQ87l2shc2RZZyaFQpN79jPq-thGNMQss5bT1mazaSrDc720qtZSnh8avxkICUSXg5tZ-eeEg/s1600/IMG_1294.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkoWyLN5PjE_iY-tUdL5A2b1J2-ThIDFBDXpaXPsWBBbw07LY4MWfcq82jq_G1ND4CjYSQ87l2shc2RZZyaFQpN79jPq-thGNMQss5bT1mazaSrDc720qtZSnh8avxkICUSXg5tZ-eeEg/s320/IMG_1294.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New, quite large, state-of-the-art cupping lab under construction.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
With a cupping lab, old or new, producer groups are able to go much further with understanding the quality and thus the value of their coffee. They can work more strategically to <b>eliminate defects</b> in all parts of the production system.<br />
<br />
My ride with the soldiers ended happily for everyone, by the way. I invited them to try the brewed coffee I had just purchased at Bourbon in Kigali and kept warm in a thermos. I had little thermal cups (typically used when I serve farmers) and we all stood around enjoying a nice coffee break with Rwandan coffee!<br />
<br />
[1] This is the first time I've arrived at Dukundekawa as a buyer. Prior visits I was wearing only my researcher hat. This year Artisan Coffee Imports will import just a few bags of Dukundekawa's Rambagira group women's coffee. Rambagira coffee is from Dukundekawa's female members and it is collected on Wednesdays during harvest. Then it's kept separate throughout processing and export.<br />
[2] The usual rate of work is 30 kg of green coffee sorted per person per day, for high-grade coffee. More coffee can be finished per day for lower grades.<br />
<br />
<br />Ruth Ann Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12276332516008210117noreply@blogger.com0Gakenke, Rwanda-1.6908586 29.835230300000035-2.1987426 29.189783300000034 -1.1829746 30.480677300000036