Growers First Blog

Growers First uses the Ten Seeds Technique (TST) developed by MAP International to help our communities identify and address their own needs. It is a vital part of our work of empowering our farming communities, and we recently reached out to the Alvarado family to see if they would be interested in taking part.

Zuri and his wife Loida jumped at the opportunity. Loida recently took part in an extensive, week-long training seminar, led by Dr. Ravi Jayakaran of MAP International, to learn how to facilitate and lead the Ten Seeds Technique. She prepared with Gabriela Osorio (a TST pro), practiced by interviewing a coffee farmer from a neighboring community, and received some real-world experience helping facilitate the technique in the nearby village of La Germania.

Loida and Zuri are excited to use this training to further empower their community and neighboring communities, and we're glad to have them on board. Empowering our coffee farmers to take ownership in transforming their communities is at the center of the Growers First model of transformation. The Alvarado's are just one of many families that have stepped up to the task, and we know there will be many more to come.

Rito has experienced dramatic improvements in his family's quality of life over the course of his five years with Growers First, and this winter he was able pay the transformation forward to his neighbors.

Leonzo "Chavelito" Benitez, his wife Maria, and their eleven children live just a stone's throw from Rito in the village of La Cayentana. Until recently, they had been living in a home with a dirt floor. Rito, who was in the same position when we met him five years ago, wanted to help. He coordinated with Growers First and acted as foreman to install a cement floor in Chavelito's home, volunteering his time and labor to help pour the floor and leading a team of Growers First board members and their families as they assisted in the project. Rito's wife, Maria, served the group coffee in her home as they relaxed after the hard work.

In addition to helping Chavelito, Rito had the opportunity to share some of his family's heirloom seeds with a local orphanage, which will allow them to plant yellow, white, and blue varieties of corn. He is also coordinating with Growers First to use his solar drying facility as a nursery to raise organic vegetables for his community.

This past week, Growers First Coffee presented at the Vator Splash event in San Francisco. Out of a pool of almost 100 companies, we were selected, along with 9 others, to present our model of transparency and transformation in front of a crowd of business leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors. We received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from judges and attendees who were excited by the Growers First story and our vision for empowering remote, small-plot coffee farmers. This event was an important step in our mission to expand the work of Growers First.

We couldn't have made it to the Vator Splash event without the help of you, our Growers First supporters. Presenters were selected by a round of voting by peers and supporters, followed by a round of ranking by a panel of judges. In the voting round, we surged from the middle of the pack to the top five in a matter of hours. Our sincere thanks go out to all of you who voted online and spread the word by mouth and through email, Facebook and Twitter.

Christmas shopping? Check.

Here at Growers First, we're excited about the holidays, and even more excited that we don't have to search far and wide for the perfect holiday gift. The answer is obviously Growers First coffee.

We just sent out our holiday email promoting this gift, as well as announcing the chance to get free Growers First swag and sharing a pretty cool story about Rito. If you didn't get the email, you can check it out below.

This holiday season you can help the Growers First Foundation by giving the gift of coffee! Stuff stockings or tie bows 'round bags of Growers First as you treat friends, family, customers and employees to a coffee that empowers the farmers who grew it. Giving coffee is easy - we'll deliver it with a personalized message from you right to the doors of the people you care about most. Visit our store, add coffee or a coffee club subscription to your cart, and at the checkout, put in the address of the friend, loved one, or colleague that deserves being treated to a warm gift. Add a personalized note in the comment field, and it will be delivered along with their coffee.       With every 6 month or greater subscription to the coffee club, we'll add a free Growers First Coffee mug! Let the world know the empowerment you support with every cup you drink.     If you've seen the Growers First video about Rito, you'll be happy to know that the impact you've made on his life is getting paid forward. Several board members and their families worked alongside Rito to put in another cement floor over Thanksgiving. Chavalito is pictured here with his wife and youngest daughter. Rito used to make $97/year when he started with Growers First, now he makes $1500/year and has the nicest home in the village. Chavalito has 11 kids and had a dirt floor...until today.

Controversy within the Fair Trade organization may make Direct Trade the more obvious choice for socially conscious coffee drinkers in America. 

An internal argument between Fair Trade International and Fair Trade USA ended last week with an official split between the organizations. 

The primary motives for this division are as follows:

1) Which farmers can get Fair Trade certified? 

A. Fair Trade USA will now allow large plantations to receive certification. The group claims this decision is intended to improve the lives of plantation workers, who without land or autonomy, are generally the poorest group in a coffee community.

B. Fair Trade International is committed to keeping the FT certification for small farms and farmers. This group feels that allowing plantations to acquire certification will increase their power and profit to the detriment of small farms, who will have a harder time competing in the global market, while hardly helping the plantation worker. 

2) What constitutes Fair Trade?

A. Fair Trade USA has decided to grant certification when 10% of the beans are fair trade. They hope this decision will double sales in the US (by 2015), and that by increasing the volume of sales, they will be able to increase the impact of Fair Trade. They will also no longer be required to pay fees to the International umbrella group, an amount that topped $1.5 million last year alone. 

B. Fair Trade International will keep the standard certification requirement of 20%, and feels that the US groups' decision to dilute the standards is motivated by earning more fees (every certification is accompanied by fees that cover the necessary audits, one of the arguments against Fair Trade in general). This group is concerned that this will encourage companies to include only the minimal amount necessary for certification. 

This split has forced many companies to re-evaluate where they stand on the Fair Trade issue, including industry giants like Starbucks, Wal-Mart, Whole Foods and Green Mountain. 

Certification logos are about to change to delineate the two groups, making things more confusing for consumers, who may not be aware of how the certifications differ. The controversy may make Direct Trade models more popular, as people come to realize how much of the premium they pay for Fair Trade certification is channeled towards administrative and auditing costs, and how much of the product is actually Fair Trade.

For the caring consumer, small companies with direct and transparent relationships with growers are a good choice…..less is lost in the shuffle and more time and money are concentrated on those who really need it. You can forget about percents and buy Grower's First coffee----all the information you need about where your money is going and how your coffee was grown is right on our website!!