CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT: BOXCAR GROCER
Café Campesino is thrilled to welcome Atlanta-based Boxcar Grocer as a new customer. With food justice at the core of its mission, Boxcar is setting new standards in retail grocery in Atlanta. It is committed to bringing locally sourced, sustainable and high-quality products to its Castleberry Hill neighborhood, an area of the city that had been previously underserved by grocery and fresh produce outlets. In addition to Café Campesino, Boxcar purchases from other community-oriented entities that include Truly Living Well Urban Farm, Johnston’s Family Farm, Sweet Georgia Grains and Dr. Bronner’s. We encourage you to stop in (249 Peters St. SW), grab a cup (or a bag) of Café Campesino and get to know Boxcar. Learn more at www.boxcargrocer.com
Customer Spotlight – The King Center
Café Campesino is pleased to welcome The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change as a new customer! Dedicated to advancing the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this Atlanta-based entity works to educate visitors about Dr. King’s life and teachings. Most recently, the King Center has partnered with JPMorgan Chase & Co. to digitize more than 1 million documents written by Dr. King and other key figures of the Civil Rights Movement. Visitors to the King Center can explore the imaging project through touch-screen technology. Then, they can head to the King Center Bookstore and pick up a bag of Café Campesino’s King Center Blend. Learn more at: www.thekingcenter.org
Customer Spotlight: Brown Bean Cafe
CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT – BROWN BEAN CAFE (ALBANY, GA)
As the oldest independent coffee shop in Albany, GA, The Brown Bean Café has been serving up hot, iced and frozen coffees and specialty drinks since 2005.
The first location was in downtown Albany on Jackson St. Quickly building a reputation as a comfortable and welcoming place to enjoy well-made espresso specialty drinks during the day, many local businessmen became “regulars”. Others enjoyed stopping by in the evening to listen to local musical groups or enjoy private parties.
In October 2009, the business moved inside the Northwest Branch of the Dougherty County Library. Today, we proudly serve library patrons as well as a significant number of “Beaners” who have followed the shop across town. Seeking to increase their ability to give back to the local and world community, this past fall they began serving organic and Fair Trade coffees and teas supplied by Café Campesino. An expanded menu of healthy snacks and a light lunch menu are in the works, as are holiday gift ideas and “Bean” merchandise. They are committed to building community, and creating satisfied and loyal customers is priority. They believe that commitment resonates with everyone who deals with The Brown Bean Cafe. So stop by next time you’re in the Albany area – they look forward to serving you!
Customer Spotlight: Jenny Jack Sun Farm
Introduced to Cafe Campesino by their farming mentor, Skip Glover of Douglasville, GA, Jenny and Chris Jackson (above) began selling fair trade, organic, shade grown coffee at the farm stand of their livelihood, Jenny Jack Sun Farm, in Pine Mountain, GA, in 2008.
Growers of produce that is chemical fertilizer and pesticide free, Jenny and Chris believe in doing what is right for the land as well as for the folks that eat the food they grow. And they experience first hand how labor intensive a farmer’s life can be. According to Jenny, “Our customers really appreciate having access to such a high quality, fresh, organic coffee when they come by to get their fruits and vegetables. Since learning about how important it is to support fair trade, we only buy Cafe Campesino and often give it as a gift to folks we know appreciate good coffee!”
“I got a chance to visit the coffee house in Americus a couple of years ago, just after we started carrying Cafe Campesino coffee at our farm stand. Tripp was so kind as to give my friend and I a tour of the roastery,” she tells us. Jenny and Chris are quite the hospitable hosts as well. From school field trip tours and dinners at the farm for guests to CSA memberships and farmers markets for customers, they love what they do and it shows!
Cafe Campesino supports local, sustainable, healthy foods. We’re glad to know Jenny and Chris and wish them many a bountiful harvest. Note: GPB’s Georgia Traveler “discovered” Cafe Campesino when host David Zelski picked up a bag of organic coffee at their farm stand. As he read the package, he realized that a fair trade coffee company was just down the road. Read about GPB’s visit.
Customer Spotlight: Emory University
CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT – EMORY UNIVERSITY
Emory University is one of Café Campesino’s newest customers. A private research university with more than 12,000 students, Emory describes its community as being “inquiry-driven, ethically engaged,” and committed to working “collaboratively for positive transformation in the world.” Its main campus is in Atlanta, but it still maintains a campus in Oxford, Georgia, where it was originally founded in 1836 that today instructs about 750 students. Café Campesino came on board at Emory’s main campus earlier this year in the Cox Hall Food Court, which offers students, faculty and staff a wide selection of foods from local producers. Offering local or sustainable foods is a part of Emory University’s vision to source 75 percent of its food for hospitals and cafeterias from local or sustainable food sources by 2015. In addition to Cox Hall Food Court, you can also find Café Campesino coffee in Cannon Chapel and at the Green Bean Coffee Cart, a student-run coffee cart that is committed to Fair Trade.
Café Campesino is thrilled to be at Emory University and building relationships not only with Emory Dining, but also students, faculty and staff. In fact, Café Campesino welcomes its first Emory intern this summer, rising senior, Caroline DeMitchell, who will be working on our newsletter archiving system as well as organizing a Fair Trade Book Club in Atlanta. Thank-you Emory for introducing us to Caroline and for keeping Fair Trade and sustainability at the forefront in Atlanta!
Customer Spotlight: Sevananda Natural Foods
One of the largest consumer-owned cooperatives in the Southeast, Sevananda Natural Foods Market has been a Café Campesino customer and supporter for years. Read more…
Customer Spotlight: Farmers Fresh CSA
Farmers Fresh CSA
Last month, we featured our friends at Nature’s Garden Delivered, a cooperative food delivery service in the Atlanta metro. This month, we’re proud to tell you of another partner in the “slow food, buy local” movement that continues to grow here in Georgia thanks to the efforts of Community Supported Agriculture groups like this one.
Farmers Fresh CSA is based in Carrollton, GA (west of Atlanta) and they have been doing some wonderful things to expand food options for folks in their region. Their ever-expanding online market complements their traditional CSA program to include not only the freshest and most nutritious produce but also egg, bread, meat, seafood, and cheese options.
They now have more than 25 drop-off sites to choose from to receive a regularly scheduled delivery of goodies. See the entire list of pickup points here and if all goes as planned, they’re almost ready to announce the grand opening of a brick and mortar storefront in Carrollton. It’s sure to be a big hit. Check out their website for more details or drop them an email or a phone call to learn more. Support local farmers and healthy foods. It’s good for everyone!
Customer Spotlight: Nature’s Garden Delivered
Nature’s Garden Delivered brings local organic produce (and coffee) to Atlanta Neighborhoods and surrounding areas through its automated web based service. Produce boxes are delivered Tuesday through Thursday and the contents change each week depending on what’s in season. Through the support of local farmers, the produce is usually days from harvest. The service can be customized through an online preferences feature. In addition, members can make substitutions to their boxes each week ensuring they always get what they want.
Co-founders Michael Kirk and Scott Frishman teamed up after meeting at Auburn University back in the 90’s. Their vision: to build a fun company that focused on something progressive within the community. After having worked for a small organic produce company in Colorado they came to Atlanta and founded Nature’s Garden Delivered.
“We are a web based farmer’s market operating year-round here in Georgia. Our service is a new outlet for the distribution of local food in a technologically advanced era. Local organic farmers and vendors enjoy the ability to sell their products without the limitations associated with the conventional farmers market. So much of our health is ultimately decided by what we eat. We think convenience plays a major part in everyone’s purchasing decisions. Our goal is to enable people to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. By making quality organic produce available through our delivery service, we feel that we are offering a great convenience. By increasing the health of the environment we are ensuring the health of the community and ultimately the health of all living things.”
For more information, visit naturesgardendelivered.com
Customer Spotlight: Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn Cafe
Grand Opening of our Atlanta coffee house
Hey there, Atlanta! Mark your calendars for Saturday, Nov. 14, because you’re invited to help us celebrate the grand opening of Café Campesino Sweet Auburn, our first Atlanta coffee house.
Store manager, part-owner and all around creative genius Maria Moore Riggs is planning a day full of festivities that includes live music, samples of her homemade baked goods, and tastings of our latest coffee to hit the shelves- the aptly named Sweet Auburn Blend.
Although the store officially opened Oct. 31, the grand opening celebration is an opportunity to bring together Café Campesino friends from across the state and expose Atlanta coffee enthusiasts to Georgia’s first 100% fair trade coffee company. “We want to make sure that we’re reaching out to all of the Atlanta folks who have been supporters of Café Campesino for years and spreading the word to new customers,” says Maria.
Tucked into the front entryway of the open-air Sweet Auburn Curb Market, Maria’s store generated a buzz even before it was opened. As signs went up, windows got cleaned, and a shiny Italian espresso machine settled into its new countertop, the neighboring vendors and market regulars popped in for an early latte or an iced coffee. And we were so well received during the setup phase. In fact, the store’s first pound of coffee sold two days before Café Campesino officially opened its Atlanta doors.
Now, with a staff of two committed baristas- Julie, who recently moved back home after working as a barista for two years in Madison, Wis., and Nema, a recent Georgia State University grad who worked as a Café Campesino intern this year- Maria is setting her sights on attracting customers from nearby Grady Hospital, Georgia State University and downtown businesses. “I hope to collaborate with the local community as much as possible,” she said.
She also plans to host monthly events such as coffee tastings and workshops. With such caffeinated classics as americanos, cappuccinos, and chai lattes, as well as homemade goodies like scones sweetened with seasonal fruits, wholegrain cookies and mini donuts, monthly events won’t be the only attraction at this new coffee house. So grab your friends, neighbors and coffee drinking buddies, and make it out for the Nov. 14 grand opening. We’ll see you there.
P.S.- If you want to check it out before the 14th, Café Campesino Sweet Auburn is located at 209 Edgewood Ave SE and its hours are Monday-Friday, 6:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Saturday, 8 a.m. -5 p.m. And bring your computer, because it is wired (with wi-fi… as well as caffeine).
Las tres baristas: Julie, Maria, Nema.
At your service at Cafe Campesino Sweet Auburn.
Customer Spotlight: Crimson Moon Cafe
Crimson Moon
A brief history from our friends, customers, and longtime fair trade coffee supporters:
The tiny seed that was planted in October of 2001 and began a seven year long evolution from a single story art gallery into a 150-seat nationally known music venue was the mission statement “To Support, Promote & Reward Creativity & Community.” Housed in the historic c.1858 ‘Parker Nix Store-House,’ and decorated in funky folk art ‘The Moon’s ‘ welcoming atmosphere now feels like a fusion of ‘California coffee house’ and ‘New Orleans supper club’ – but it didn’t always! From an art gallery that gave away free coffee… to a full ‘coffee house’ serving only organic, shade grown, fairly traded coffee/tea and locally made baked goods… to a deli with a two page menu and live music two nights a week… to the building along the way of a brand new kitchen, four different stages and a c.1900 style ‘saloon’ upstairs… The Crimson Moon Café slowly morphed into a renowned restaurant that is also a rising star on the list of nationally known ‘listening venues.’ A four page feature article in Southern Living’s Feb. ’08 issue didn’t hurt a bit, but it was the proprietress’s dreams, drive, and dedication that fed and watered the tiny seed of 2001 that grew into a business that can now wear ‘The Southeast’s Most Intimate Listening Venue – Where the Creative Spirit Shines’ as it’s defining statement.
Ask any local about The Crimson Moon Cafe and they will often describe it as “the coolest, most happening place in North Georgia.” Now featuring a six page menu, a full coffee house, live music four days a week, and a saloon with an awesome ‘over the square’ view, the same stage that hosts renowned acoustic artists from all over the world also showcases the best of local talent via weekly jam sessions or monthly Open Mics and Southern Songwriter Showcases. Ask any artist who’s shared their music from The Crimson Moon Cafe’s stage and they’ll most likely tell you that ‘The Moon’ is one of their most favorite places to perform in the entire United States. The proprietress’s dream became a dynamic reality – a place of ministry and community where the authentic creative spirit can truly ‘rise and shine!’
From Café Campesino:
If you find yourself in the Dahlonega, GA area, we encourage you to stop and hang a while with “The Moon”. Thanks Dana & crew.