Learn what Tim Hortons is doing to make a true difference in the developing countries that produce our coffee. I had the pleasure recently of speaking with Tim Faveri, Tim Hortons Director of Sustainability and Responsibility.

Tim Hortons is a Canada-based coffee company and the country’s largest food service operator, surpassing even McDonald’s.  Independent marketing firm Interbrand ranks it as the country’s tenth most valuable brand across all industries.  The company commands around 60% of the Canadian coffee market and if that doesn’t impress, Starbucks is second with less than 10% share.  If you live in Canada, you don’t need any of this explanation.  If you live in some parts of the US, you’re starting to see them crop up.

I recently saw the following TV commercial for Tim Hortons Coffee Partnership and I wanted to know more.  Only recently have I become aware of the crisis plaguing coffee farmers in the world today.  I consider it a responsibility while enjoying good coffee to learn what else I need to know and what I can do to help.  Tim Faveri had just completed a tour of the Partnership’s work in Central America, so my timing was good.

The Coffee Partnership was formed between Tim Hortons and the Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung Foundation (HRNS).  The HRNS was founded to bring together private sector partners, public sector partners and government to contribute to the sustainability of the coffee sectors of growing countries.  Tim Faveri explained that the Tim Hortons Coffee Partnership is very much in line with Tim Hortons’ “Making a True Difference” framework which up to that point had focused on giving back to local communities in Canada.  It made sense to turn focus to the producing regions and give back directly.

This is a very different approach from other large coffee companies who have instead used vehicles like Fair Trade to make sure farmers receive a fair price for their coffee and money is allocated to development projects in the growing regions.  Instead, Tim Hortons went to the source of the problem to provide direct aid.  Any aid program is good, whether certified or not, but the challenge for Tim Hortons is making sure people understand their unique approach to helping solve this problem.  You won’t find the Fair Trade logo slapped on their coffee cups, but they are helping in the most grassroots way.

For five years, Tim Hortons has been setting up three-year projects of different kinds.  The HRNS is already installed in these growing regions with a successful model of helping coffee farmers and the community in general.  In Guatemala for example, public education is provided up to third grade.  Tim Hortons was able to provide resources for a community to extend education to sixth grade.

I asked Tim Faveri who decides what specific help is needed most by the community.  He relayed a story from his most recent trip.  On one farm he visited, a family of five people live in a space roughly the size of Tim’s office and off of the equivalent of $2,000 of income for the family for the year.  Tim explains that in an example like this, basic amenities like functioning sanitation can be the first priority before other considerations like education and improvement in farming practices.  It depends on the needs of the specific farmer.  For each project, Partnership organizers agree on the key performance indicators that will be used to measure the project’s success.  In some cases, aid goes to support equality in the area by subsidizing farms owned by women.

When you drink Tim Hortons coffee, you can feel good about the fact that the company is giving back in meaningful ways to the coffee farmers in the areas where they source their coffee.  Tim Faveri has seen firsthand the help they need and having once run his own sustainability practice, has real passion to give back to these communities.  It’s good that we have coffee certifications, but unique and perhaps even more effective that a coffee giant like Tim Hortons goes right to the source with real grassroots support for the people and communities that give us the coffee we drink.

Learn more about the Tim Hortons Coffee Partnership.
Learn more about the Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung Foundation.

At the beginning of this month, the nonprofit organization Coffee Kids announced that  Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. has committed almost a half-million dollars – yes, $500,000 – over the next four years to fund scholastic projects in Nicaragua.  In the coffee supply chain, there’s nobody that has it worse than the coffee farmer and Coffee Kids ensures that money gets to where it’s needed, coffee-farming families and their communities.

The Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is a public company (NASDAQ: GMCR) based out of Vermont.  They sell coffee and equipment over their website and through some retail channels.  Coffee Kids is a nonprofit organization based out of Sante Fe who works closely with partners in coffee-growing communities to create programs that improve the integrity of the community.  Nicaragua is in particular need of the investment in education where today roughly one in four children are caught in a cycle of poverty and are not in the education system.

“Nicaragua is one of the countries with the greatest need in the Western
Hemisphere. As part of our mission, we are dedicated to helping the
families at coffee’s origin,” said Green Mountain’s Rick Peyser. “Coffee Kids helps families reduce their dependence on coffee and supports innovative
development efforts in coffee-farming communities.”

I think this is amazing news. There’s alot to be argued about corporate philanthropy and whether a company gives to the CEO’s favorite cause or to something relevant to what the company does.  Green Mountain knows the growing regions because it buys from them.  They are aware of the needs and let’s face it, they profit while coffee farmers suffer poverty.  This giving back isn’t just generous, it’s logical.  Awesome on Green Mountain!

Learn more about Green Mountain’s donation to Coffee Kids.
Learn more about Coffee Kids.
Learn more about the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters company.

Last week, I wrote about a study out of the UK that identified an opportunity for coffee drinkers to reduce their carbon footprint by switching from drip-brewed coffee to the instant variety.  I said the study wouldn’t change my coffee habits until I heard more, either to reinforce the findings or dispute them.  Recently however, I caught wind of an environmental initiative in a Denver coffee shop that I found very impressive.

The Fluid Coffee Bar in Denver, Colorado took on an ambitious goal to encourage their patrons to stop using paper cups.  The goal was to keep 40,000 paper cups from going to landfill over the course of a year.  It started on January 1, 2009 and the goal was met at noon on December 30th.  Patrons were encouraged to enjoy their coffee in the shop in a ceramic mug that could be washed and re-used, or else to bring their own travel mugs and charged the same for the same amount of coffee.  At noon on the 30th, the 40,000th coffee was served in something other than a paper cup.

“The idea was to get people more focused on sustainability,” said Nick Berry, employee of the Fluid Coffee Shop.

The shop’s owner, Jeff Aitken, wanted to raise awareness to promote environmental sustainability and show what just one shop could do.  Aitken says that 41 million paper coffee cups are thrown out each day by coffee shops around the world.  Aitken agreed to donate 5 cents for each paper cup saved from landfill and made good on a $2,000 personal donation to charity.

I love this story!  I believe this is how you make a difference in the world, by showing what can be done at the smallest level and replicated across the world.  Good for Jeff, and unfortunate this story won’t get more coverage because if any of the major chains took up the same challenge, the impact would be even greater and more coffee drinkers would understand what part they can play to reduce waste.