Can’t stop, won’t stop. For the third straight year, Counter Culture Coffee has publicly released their annual Transparency Report, and for the third straight year, we want to bring this remarkable living document to your attention.
An overview, from the report itself:
This marks our third annual transparency report, and every year it seems more valuable than hte year before. Often, when asked about Counter Culture Direct Trade Cetification (CCDTC), we end up effusing over the importance of transparency and describing it as the umbrella for everything else we use – from quality to communication to price -t o measure the strength of our relationships. In 2011, we both added new dimensions to existing relationships by supporting different kinds of experimentation and also added a few brand new offerings to our lineup of certified coffees.
The report features 10 distinct CCDTC coffees, stretching from Jagong, Indonesia to Haru, Ethiopia, to Aida Battle’s constellation of fincas in El Salvador. Raw data – including average cupping scores, the last time each farm was visited, and whom on the CCC staff made that visit – are buttressed by thoughtful essays on each relationship and even a glossary of terms, explaining such esoteric coffee trading terms as “FOB”:
FOB stands for “Free On Board”, and represents the price paid for a coffee at the point of export, when it is ready to be loaded onto a ship at port. The most common way to express price paid for coffee, FOB represents the price paid after farming, processing, milling, and preparation for export, but before overseas shipping, importation, and overland transport. The New York “C” market price is expressed in terms of FOB.”
Congratulations to our friends and partners at Counter Culture Coffee on year three of the Counter Culture Transparency Report, and feel look back at our coverage of year 1 and year 2. This model has already been adopted by Tim Wendelboe and others, and we hope to see its spread continue throughout the upper echelons of the specialty coffee industry.
New Englanders can personally pat Counter Culture on the back at this weekend’s Boston Brewer Trade Up, which goes down Saturday, October 20th at noon. Get yerself a free Bonmac, score some beans, and see that gorgeous new Training Center space. Jealous.
