CAFE FEMENINO - COFFEE THAT COULD CHANGE A WOMAN'S LIFE
Canterbury Coffee has announced that they have just become a western Canadian distributor for
Café Femenino -- a very special coffee imported from Peru by a small West Coast company called
Organic Products Trading Company, or
OPTCO.
OPTCO was founded in 1989 by
Gay Smith and her husband
Garth, with the express goal of developing and importing high quality certified organic and fair trade coffees. Today their company is a recognized industry authority on certified organic coffee, but they do far more than just sell better coffee. They are also one of the pioneers of the Café Femenino project.
What is Café Femenino? In 2004, OPTCO, along with several other organizations, founded the
Café Femenino® Coffee Project, a program created to teach and empower women coffee growers in rural communities around the world.
As their literature states:
Despite numerous advances in many parts of our world, the marginalization and oppression of women still occurs, especially in areas of extreme poverty. In urban areas of Peru, the abuse rate is estimated at 41%. In rural communities, the isolation results in an even higher abuse rates. In coffee producing countries, they are often mistreated physically and emotionally – and financially. The Café Femenino story is about helping women to be able to provide for themselves and their families, and of hope for a better life. Through the combined efforts of OPTCO and other foundations; significant improvements have been made to educate and to build financial support and social networks for independent women coffee producers. Today the Café Femenino family is over 5,000 women strong and branches out to Colombia, Brazil, Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, with additional interest coming from cooperatives in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania. OPTCO is the exclusive importer of the Café Femenino Coffee into North America, with Gay Smith serving as a lead spokesperson and advocate for the project.
Canterbury Coffee is proud to announce that via their distribution system, exclusive cafés throughout Vancouver, Victoria, Prince George, Calgary and Edmonton will be featuring the Café Femenino Peruvian coffee beginning June 1, 2008. Over and above the premium that goes directly back to the coffee growers when purchasing this coffee, Canterbury Coffee is donating 25 cents from every pound sold back to the Café Femenino Foundation.
In British Columbia, look for Café Femenino coffee at:
Bean Brothers Café Bistro – 41st & Kerrisdale, Vancouver, BC
Mattu’s Coffee & Tea – Willowbrook Shopping Centre, Langley, BC
Decades Coffee Club – 45846 Wellington Ave., Chilliwack, BC
Koffi – 1441 Haultain Street, Victoria, BC
Courtyard Café – Hotel Grand Pacific, 463 Belleville St., Victoria, BC
The Buzz Coffee House – 1-4515 Uplands Drive, Nanaimo BC
Books & Company – 1685 3rd Ave., Prince George, BC
In Alberta:
Higher Ground Specialty Coffee – 1126 Kensington Road, Calgary, Alberta
The Old Grind – 410-9000 Carmichael Lane, Hinton, Alberta
