Editor's Insight
Editor’s Note
EDITORIAL OFFICE
1030 W. Higgins Road, Suite 230 Visit us online: www.specialty-coffee.com E-mail: specialtycoffee@m2media360.com
Ensure w e endure
S
ustainability ensures our capacity to endure. The fragility of our planet’s ecosystems and the decades it will take to repair damage already done mandate sustainable business practices. Compostable plates, biodegradable forks, recycled cups, cellulose packaging, corn starch polymers, reusable mugs and energy-efficient machines are a meager but meaningful start. More significant, adopting sustainable practices demonstrates the coffee industry’s commitment to the future. Mighty conglomerates market their environmental initiatives in prime-time commercials, but a plain spoken explanation by the folks at your neighborhood coffee shop is far more likely to alter consumer behavior. Cap and trade, energy taxes and city, county, state and federal laws will do little, too late. Raising awareness and action, as we see in the pages of this issue, are a far more promising response to the global crisis we face. A commitment to sustainable retailing begins at the top. In the pages that follow you will read how founders Cortt Dunlap at Awaken Cafe in Oakland, Calif., and Jeff Chatlos and partners David and Jennifer House at Flat Black Coffee in Boston, Mass. virtually eliminate waste. Business savvy? Shaun Morrissey and Jason Scherr with Matt Fury at Think Coffee just opened their fourth New York City shop in four years. Endurance? Since 1999 Lee Wallace’s team at Peace Roasters in Minneapolis has traveled 8,000 miles a year delivering roasted coffee on bicycles. Ingenuity? Victoria Davies and Dan Berezcki in Austin, Texas converted a shipping container into an all-green, Euro-style coffee shop. Equally important is the commitment of manufacturers to present the industry with disposables, innovative equipment and clever solutions identified in our annual Eco-cents Commendations on Page 22. A sustainable coffee industry ensures its own profitability. This is not about making everything you do 100 percent green, advises Dunlap. “What’s more important is that you’re asking: ‘Is there is a more sustainable green option that would work for your business?’” Store by store as we answer this question with actions, we learn to balance commerce and the complex issues of energy conservation, the environment and human resources. Getting it right at “grounds” level gives us hope.
EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor-in-Chief Dan Bolton dbolton@m2media360.com
PRODUCTION STAFF
Art Director Production Manager Britt Menendez Robin Walton
CIRCULATION STAFF
Vice President of Circulation & Collateral Services Joanne Juda-Prainito
SALES STAFF
Sales Manager List Rental & Reprint Services Brian Grau Cheryl Naughton
EXECUTIVE STAFF
Group Publisher Charlie Forman cforman@m2media360.com
Associate Publisher Bill McIlwaine bmcilwaine@m2media360.com
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Jason Burton, lab Terry Davis, Ambex Inc. Desiree Farden, Big Train, Inc. Jack Groot, JP’s Coffee And Espresso Bar Wes Herman, The Woods Coffee Meghan Hubbs, Equal Exchange Rob Jeffries, North Atlantic Specialty Bag Craig Min, LAMIL Coffee Lon LaFlamme, Dillanos Coffee Roasters Kate LaPoint, Sound Provisions, Inc. Joe Monaghan, La Marzocco Tom Palm, Design & Layout Services Steve Schnitzler, Port City Java® Andi C. Trindle, Atlantic Specialty Coffee Bill Waddington, TeaSource
Corporate Office: 1030 W. Higgins Road, Suite 230 Park Ridge, IL 60068
PRESIDENT/CEO VP FINANCE & OPERATIONS VP OF CIRCULATION & COLLATERAL SERVICES PRODUCTION & OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
M arion Minor Gerald Winkel Joanne Juda-Prainito M ary Jo Tomei
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PRESS RELEASES: Press releases on supplies, services and new products are welcomed and encouraged. Direct them to Patricia McCartney, managing editor. Color print photography is preferred, slides and transparencies are accepted. Specialty Coffee Retailer reserves the right to edit all submissions.
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Specialty Coffee Retailer (ISSN 1077-3460) is published monthly by M2MEDIA360, a Bev-Al Communications company, 1233 Howard Street, Suite. 2-i, San Francisco, CA 94103. Copyright© 2009 Specialty Coffee Retailer (ISSN 1077-3460) is published monthly by M2MEDIA360, and may not be reproduced without written by M2MEDIA360, a Bev-Al Communications company, 1030 W. permission. Postmaster please send address corrections to: Specialty Higgins Retailer, P.O. 230, 2121,Ridge, ILIL 60076-7821. Periodicals Coffee Road, Suite Box Park Skokie, 60068. Copyright© 2009 by M2MEDIA360, and may not be reproduced mailing offices. postage paid at San Francisco, CA and additional without written permission. Postmaster please send address corrections to: Specialty Coffee Retailer, P.O. Box 2121, Skokie, IL 60076-7821. Periodicals postage paid at Park Ridge, IL and additional mailing offices.