Jack's Blend
Jack’s Blend
Jack Groot provides coffee and business consulting and training through the Midwest Barista School (MBS) and On Track Coffee Consulting. MBS is a coffee and business training school for those in, or going into, the coffee business. On Track provides consulting, training and products to the coffee industry, including the recently released “Barista Basics” and “Latte Art” training programs. Mr. Groot also founded and owns JP’s Coffee & Espresso Bar in Holland, MI. Jack can be reached at jack@jpscoffee.com or (866)321-4MBS (4627).
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y my own admission I am not a “green” person. You know, a tree-hugger. I’m not proud of the fact nor am I ashamed either. I am what I am based on many factors: my upbringing, my own decisions, where I live, who I hang out with and, ultimately, my world view. I’m sure I have used the term “green” derogatorily more than complimentary. I have on occasion referred to certain areas of the country as “green” and would connect certain world views with being less “green” than others. Mine being one of them. But before I go on about me and green, let me tell you a story. Not long ago I found myself educating a JP’s customer looking to purchase whole bean coffee. She asked a few questions about our coffees, which led to a conversation something like this: Customer: “So what does this fair trade and organic label mean?” Me: “Well, coffee is an agricultural product and there are various ways of growing coffee and bringing that coffee to market, some better than others. Fair trade attempts to be fairer to the coffee grower and the organic label means that the coffee is certified organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.” Customer: “So what’s ‘fair’ about fair trade?” Me: “Well, when coffee is sold, there’s usually a person between the coffee farmer and the coffee roaster. That person is called a broker. The broker isn’t bad, but rather provides a service of connecting growers to roasters. They, of course, need to make a living at what they do, but sometimes this method of commerce is not beneficial to all involved. I make money at the retail level, the roaster makes it at the wholesale level and the broker makes it doing the job in between. But some farmers don’t make enough to make a living. If this happens a lot, the availability of good coffee may go down. Which is not good for any of us.” I then explained fair trade and my perspective of what it means. That fair trade works at bypassing the middleman, among other things. But it is still a third-party that doesn’t necessarily benefit the farmer. I went on: “But there are two new ways some roasters purchase coffee. One is called ‘relationship coffee’ and another is ‘direct-trade coffee.’ ” I explained to her a little about each; How the goal of each
10 | July 2010 • www.specialty-coffee.com
system was basically a way to try to get increasingly great coffee with all parties winning for the long haul. A big part of both methods is to connect the coffee farmer with the coffee roaster. The benefit for a farmer is direct feedback on what a roaster is looking for in the coffee, tools to help them achieve it, and more money actually reaching the farmer. Some benefits a roaster realizes are controlling costs, helping the supplier (the farmer), improving operations, increasing quality in the green coffee, and, of course, receiving a sustainable supply of great coffee. Wow! I’m a proponent of green – or “sustainability” – and I didn’t even realize it. Part of it has come with age and experience. Part of it with education. I now see more value in common sense practices that benefit our world or avoid the unnecessary destruction of it. I personally make decisions that I may not have before. I still have my same world view, but I also see the practical benefits of changing habits I’ve long been trained in. A simple but effective example is throwing trash out car windows. When I was little, I remember the big push against dumping trash on highways. Remember the commercial with the Indian standing by the highway with a tear streaming down his face? Well, I now benefit from Michigan’s clean and beautiful roadways. And I notice it best when I travel to other places or countries that don’t enforce such standards. Sustainability, a buzzword in coffee right now, is defined as “coffee grown in a manner that is kind to the environment and its people.” I can dig that. And although I do not consider myself a tree-hugger, I do believe in best practices that promote sustainability, especially as it pertains to coffee. Am I green? No. But, maybe a nice shade of chartreuse. SCR