Interview with: Florent Gout of Cooperative Coffees

Florent Gout during his Sept. 2011 trip to Americus

In an effort to better explain and understand Cooperative Coffees, our importing cooperative of 24 roasters in the U.S. and Canada, I’ve decided to do a series of interviews with Cooperative Coffees’ staff.  What can Cooperative Coffees’ staff tell me and customers about why the way we source coffee is so unique?  And who are all of these interesting people who work in two separate offices- one in Americus and one in Montreal?  First interview?  Florent Gout, Cooperative Coffees’ coffee buyer.  It’s timely, too, as Florent left Cooperative Coffees’ Montreal office on Nov. 4 to work from home-  France (deep sigh).  Below are excerpts from my interview with Florent during his September 2011 visit to Americus.

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Name: Florent Gout
Job: Coffee Buyer
Current Office: Paris, France

What do you do at Cooperative Coffees? 
Buy coffee.  Basically, I try to be a bridge between the roasters and the trading partners.  My main role is to buy the coffee that we need, which includes a lot of math, but I also work to maintain the relationship between both the roasters and the producer cooperatives to make sure that information flows back and forth.  For example, when there is a specific demand from a producer group for us to change the buying price of their coffee, or if they want us to bring in a transitional coffee, I’m going to receive this request and forward it in a very efficient way to the roasters.  I try to create a discussion that will get a response back to the farmer co-ops as quickly as possible.
Read more…

Tags: Cooperative Coffees

Tragic Producer Partner Loss in Colombia

Luis Carlos Mestizo, a visionary community leader and president of the Fondo Paez board of directors, was murdered on Monday in Santander, Colombia.

Cafe Campesino was saddened to learn that Luis Carlos Mestizo Condo, the president of the Fondo Paez cooperative in Colombia, was robbed and murdered on Monday.  Apparently, Mr. Mestizo was was shot and killed while in Santander, the town at the base of the mountain where the coop’s members live and farm their coffee, where he was in the process of buying some equipment for the coop.   This is a stark, harsh reminder of the reality in which our trading partners live.  We are waiting to hear how we might honor Luis Carlos and our good friends at Fondo Paez in the aftermath of this tragedy.  We will keep you posted on developments.  

 Below is a Spanish-language news piece about the incident. 

Cauca: El trabajo con la comunidad no se borra con las balas

Informamos a la opinión pública, que el día 12 de septiembre de 2011, en horas de la mañana, fue asesinado el señor Luis Carlos Mestizo Conda en el casco urbano del municipio de Santander de Quilichao. Estos hechos sucedieron entre las 9 y 9:30 am, cuando Luis Carlos salió del Banco Bancolombia, se dirigía a hacer diligencias para comprar unas maquinas de fique para los asociados del Fondo Paez.

Santander de Quilichao, es un municipio que ha sido azotado por los paramilitares y la guerrilla, la policía que hace presencia en esta localidad no es efectiva en estos casos como los ocurridos en el día de hoy. Todo esto ocurrió a plena luz del día, los asesinos iban en moto y sin casco, las personas testigos no pudieron hacer nada porque los hombres iban armados.

Los que estuvieron presentes en los hechos nos contaron lo siguiente: “…yo me encontré con Luis Carlos en el almacén Agromáquinas, yo entré al almacén mientras Luis Carlos se quedó afuera hablando con las personas que iban por las máquinas de fique, cuando de pronto mire hacia afuera y le estaban forcejando el bolso, el tipo que lo estaba asaltando tenía un revolver y le estaba apuntando, yo me devolví a buscar un objeto para defenderlo pero escuche los disparos y salí a ver y los asesinos se fueron en una moto, Luis Carlos estaba en el suelo con tres tiros y sin su bolso…”.

Luis Carlos Mestizo Conda, llevaba un año y medio como presidente de la Asociación Kwesx Uma Kiwe Peykajn Mjinxisax Fondo Paez en el norte del Cauca (Trabajar y Proteger la Madre Tierra), y seis años en la directiva de esta asociación. El Fondo Paez lleva más de 15 años de creación y jurídicamente se constituyó en el 2005. Actualmente hay 800 familias asociadas de los Resguardos Indígenas de Jambaló, Munchique Los Tigres, Caldono y Corinto. Esta Asociación tiene como eslogan “Recuperando el pensamiento de la agricultura”, trabajan en la producción orgánica del café y producción de comida.

El trabajo que hizo Luis Carlos Mestizo en el Fondo Paez fue ejemplar,  la comunidad de Jambaló y todos sus conocidos se encuentran consternados por su asesinato. Lo recuerdan como una persona muy trabajadora y responsable con su comunidad. Luis Carlos era conocido por la gran labor que hizo en el Cabildo de Jambaló, impulsó el fortalecimiento del Proyecto Global – Plan de Vida de esta comunidad. Trabajó en la comisión jurídica, en el programa agroambiental, hizo parte de la Escuela de Derecho Propio “Cristóbal Secue” de la zona norte del Cauca y también hizo parte de la directiva del Cabildo de Jambaló.

Seguimos denunciando los atropellos que comenten contra nuestra gente que trabaja por la comunidad del norte del Cauca. Luis Carlos  Mestizo luchó siempre con humildad, sencillez, sabiduría y responsabilidad por el Plan de Vida de todos.

En estos momentos se sigue investigando por parte de las autoridades propias estos hechos ocurridos en el día de hoy.

Names of Cafe Campesino’s Favorite Canines

From left to right (top):  Jack, Bill Harris’ dog; Nina, Rebecca Young’s dog; Samson, Tripp Pomeroy’s new pup; Lulu, Nancy Aparicio’s dog; Buddy, Paul of Servpro’s dog; Joleen, Nema’s dog.

An interview about Nicaragua with: Janet Utecht

Janet Utecht, executive director of Cooperative Coffees (center), with producers and Joe Lozano from Third Coast (left) in Nicaragua, July 2011.

Janet Utecht recently traveled to Nicaragua for Cooperative Coffees as a part of a United States Agency for International Development project that brings technical assistance and business training to coffee producers around the world.    She was joined by Joe Lozano of Third Coast Coffee, a roaster member. Read more…

In Memoriam: Jack Harris

Jack Harris- mellow soul, good dog.

“Doggie lama,” “quiet,” “contemplative,” “mellow,” scared of thunderstorms, lover of pain-killers- a few descriptors for Jack, a good ole’ dog, who will be missed and remembered for many dogs to come. A few people who have spent some time with Jack over the years share some of their favorite memories or thoughts below. Additional stories are always welcome in the comments section. Read more…

Cafe Campesino Donates to Fondo Paez in Colombia

 

Luis Carlos Mestizo, current president of Fondo Paez' board of directors and Monika Firl, producer relations manager for Cooperative Coffees. Mr. Mestizo is holding a letter from Cafe Campesino that announces a donation to the producer cooperative.

 In an effort to show support for its coffee producing partners, Café Campesino launched a fundraiser for Fondo Paez farmers’ cooperative after a particularly devastating coffee harvest.  The donation was presented last month during a Cooperative Coffees Farmer-to-Farmer trip to Colombia.  Cooperative Coffees, the green bean importing cooperative of which Café Campesino is a founding member, was selected by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to lead technical assistance trainings for coffee farmers around the world.  Learn more about Cooperative Coffees’ Farmer-to-Farmer trip to Bolivia in May where Café Campesino’s Tripp Pomeroy volunteered.

Monika Firl presents the Fondo Paez farmers' cooperative a donation on behalf of Cafe Campesino.

Bolivia: FECAFEB Cooperative

Tripp has been updating us about his meetings in Bolivia over the last week.  Learn more about our trading partner- FECAFEB (Federation of Exporting Coffee Producers)- and its work to improve coffee quality and yield, as well as create a voice for its members.  Read about them online.