Peace Coffee is an organization based in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, Minnesota that sells organic,

fair trade Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and enviro ...

coffee. The company sells coffee through

grocery A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, an ...

retail stores The retail format (also known as the retail formula) influences the consumer's store choice and addresses the consumer's expectations. At its most basic level, a retail format is a simple marketplace, that is; a location where goods and services are ...

, food co-ops, and via the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

. The organization operates throughout the United States with a strong presence in the

Upper Midwest The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referring ...

. Peace coffee is one of 24 fair trade coffee roasters part of Cooperative Coffees.

History

Peace Coffee was formed by the

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) is a non-profit organization, non-profit research and advocacy organization that promotes sustainability, sustainable food, farm, and trade systems. IATP has offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota, W ...

in 1996 The company also partnered with Rigoberta Menchú. The idea for Peace Coffee came from

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

coffee producers who had the goal of selling 100% certified organic and fair trade coffee. In 1999, Peace Coffee joined the group Cooperative Coffees. Currently, Cooperative Coffees has partnered with 20 different coffee-growing cooperatives in the countries of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, and

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

. In early 2018 the company was purchased from IATP by long time CEO Lee Wallace and her business partner, Kent Pilakowski.

Coffee sourcing

Peace Coffee sources coffee in two distinct ways. The organization partners with larger coffee-growing co-operatives that are fair-trade certified rather than individual farmers. Groups such as

Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union The Oromia Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Union (OCFCU) is a smallholder farmer-owned cooperative union based in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. The region is characterized by its unique native vegetation and tropical climate conducive to coffee ...

, which have over 10,000 members, allow for

economies of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables ...

to exist while maintaining a farmer friendly attitude. Co-operatives are necessary due to the high scale of demand from a large company like Peace Coffee. The disadvantages of not working directly with these farmers include less direct control over farming practices such as harvesting and processing improvements. Although Peace Coffee does consistently travel the countries of origin, visiting their co-ops at least once every two years, they do not have the same influence on cup quality because of the larger number of growers. Peace Coffee also founded its own coffee importing cooperative with other roasters in 1999. Since then, Peace Coffee has imported coffee from cooperative farming groups that support small-scale farmers around the world. Being an owner and importer gives the organization increased access and transparency in the supply chain. Peace Coffee publishes contracts with its coffee farmers on its website Fair Trade Proof.

Reception

Peace Coffee received publicity after rapper/actor

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...

mentioned that he often made Peace Coffee in the morning in an interview with

Bon Appétit ''Bon Appétit'' is a monthly American food and entertaining magazine, that typically contains recipes, entertaining ideas, restaurant recommendations, and wine reviews. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered at the One World Trade Center i ...

magazine.

Energy efficiency

Peace Coffee has a mantra "pedal not petrol", which refers to the company's policy of using bicycle couriers to deliver their product to stores, coffee shops, and food co-ops. While the company uses the bicycle couriers within the cities, it purchased a

biodiesel Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat (tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil with ...

van for deliveries to the suburbs and out of state.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official Website
Fair trade brands Coffee companies of the United States Certified B Corporations in the Food & Beverage Industry