California Hospital Converts to Fair Trade Coffee!

Fresh-brewed fair trade java

Thursday, August 26, 2004

By Peter Crowley

Gilroy - In the interests of social justice and coffee drinkers taste buds,
Saint Louise Regional Hospital this week replaced the frozen-concentrate
coffee in its cafeteria with fresh-brewed stuff that is certified fair trade.

Gilroy entrepreneur Mike Monroe, a catalyst behind Saint Louise s decision,
said the hospital is now the biggest organization to go with fair trade
coffee, so far, in Santa Clara County.

Fair trade coffee companies purchase their beans directly from cooperatives
of small family farms, rather than from large plantations staffed by day
laborers. With a guaranteed minimum price for beans that is roughly double
what the Central and South American growers would get from conventional
coffee importers, fair trade firms and proponents say their method prevents
exploitation by letting farmers, not corporate middlemen, keep more coffee
profits.

It also ensures more environmental safeguards, sellers and proponents say.
Much fair trade coffee is organically grown, and the smaller farms require
less rain forest cutting.

The Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul operate Saint Louise as
well as six other California hospitals, and the fair trade philosophy fits
with the Daughters of Charity mission and values, hospital Food and
Nutrition Services Director Angela Vasquez said Wednesday.

The new coffee, provided by the Equal Exchange company, also got favorable
reviews from a hospital staff taste test Vasquez led in June.

It s very tasty, Sister Mary Peter Diaz said while drawing a cup Wednesday
in the cafeteria. Diaz, who visits patients through the hospital s
chaplaincy services, has cut back on her coffee drinking, but she said the
new brew will probably tempt her more than the concentrated java did.

It s much better than the other stuff, said hospital spokeswoman Vivian
Smith, an avid coffee drinker.

We ve had some positive feedback, but it is new, Vasquez said. It takes a
while for people to notice.

Vasquez said she has heard no negative feedback so far, despite a near
doubling in the charge per cup. Whereas the hospital formerly charged 40
cents for an eight-ounce cup, it now charges 75 cents. For 12 ounces, the
price went up from 65 cents to $1.15. Still, these prices are comparable to
or better than those in cafés around town.

The demand for fair trade coffee is growing nationwide, according to Equal
Exchange sales representative Ian Sitton of Boulder Creek, who was
installing Saint Louise s new brewing machines Wednesday. Equal Exchange,
the nation s oldest and largest fair-trade company, is seeing a
10-to-20-percent annual profit gain, he said, but its 66-percent market
share is slipping every year - meaning the industry is growing even faster.

In Gilroy, however, it s still a much more limited niche market than in
cities like Santa Cruz and Palo Alto. Here, one can get a fresh cup of
certified fair trade coffee at Garlic City Coffee and Tea on Monterey
Street and now Saint Louise, but that s about it - except for on the 20th
of each month, when Starbucks stores brew their fair trade variety.

For home brewing, one can purchase fair trade coffee by the pound at Garlic
City, Safeway and through Monroe s business, Integrity Express. Prices
range from $8 a pound, home-delivered by Monroe, to nearly $15 a pound at
Safeway for the same brand, Equal Exchange. Starbucks stores sometimes have
it in stock as well, but the First Street location did not Wednesday.

In March, Monroe expanded his delivery/courier business to become a seller
and deliverer of fair trade foods - coffee, tea, chocolate and olive oil -
as well as fair-trade-certified soccer balls and T-shirts made with organic
cotton. He also sells environmentally friendly coffee accessories: cups
made of recycled-paper, rather than Styrofoam, and flatware made of a
biodegradable grain product, rather than plastic. He hopes to open a retail
store someday.

The 18-year Gilroy resident said his motivation was twofold: part simple
economics - diversifying his business to make more money - and part a
personal mission to create more justice in the world.

Monroe thinks it s good that large-scale retailers like Safeway carry fair
trade coffee, but he wishes they didn t mark up the price so much. That
gives fair trade coffee an unnecessary stigma as an elite product, he said.

It does create this perception that it s kind of out of reach for most
people, Monroe said. It s a high-quality coffee, no doubt about it, ...
(but) Safeway and others would really help out with the fair trade issue if
they would price in according with (brands like) Peet s or Tully s or
Seattle s Best.

Monroe s wife works in the hospital s Education Department, and in April he
approached Vasquez and asked her to consider switching to fair-trade
coffee. The contract was too big for him, so he referred the hospital to
Equal Exchange, one of two coffee brands he sells.

The Saint Louise cafeteria gets 150 to 200 customers per day, according to
Vasquez. For Equal Exchange, the contract - its second in the county - is
not insignificant at all, Sitton said.

It is our mission to educate the staff here at Saint Louise that they are
making a difference (in the world) ... just through selling coffee.

Both Monroe and Sitton said they rely heavily on churches and other
religious organizations for their clientele. As part of the deal with Saint
Louise, Equal Exchange will donate about 1.5 percent of its profits to
Catholic Relief Services. Lutheran World Relief and the United Methodist
Council on Relief are also major clients of the Massachusetts-based Equal
Exchange.