By: Zane Fletcher
The conventional coffee industry has a hidden dark side: child labor, indentured servitude – not to mention a massively negative environmental impact. What if we told you that you could pacify your early morning caffeine cravings, AND help keep the earth fair and sustainable?
In late 2021, the Co-op’s grocery team added a new option to the coffee shelves with brightly colored packaging and even brighter-tasting beans: Peace Coffee.
The Minneapolis-based Peace Coffee was founded in 1996 by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), a similarly Minneapolis-based nonprofit focusing on food sustainability, farmer support, and environmental protection. Partnering with Guatemalan Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist Rigoberta Menchú, Peace Coffee began importing high-quality, ethically sourced coffee beans from cooperative coffee growers in Central America, South America, and Africa.
Originally named “Guatemalan Peace Coffee” inspired by the Guatemalan Peace Accords of 1996 – which ended the 36-year Guatemalan Civil War – the Peace Coffee name stuck. Since then, Peace Coffee has expanded and celebrated 25 years of operation in 2021.
In 2017, Peace Coffee became a certified B Corporation, which solidifies their dedication to people over profit. Peace Coffee brings this conscientious approach to their roasting as well, “dedicating [them]selves to the craft of artful coffee roasting.” In 2018, Peace Coffee became an independently-owned company when their CEO, Lee Wallace, purchased the company from IATP in order to ensure that their mission would be preserved through the change in ownership.
While we receive our shipments on a truck, Peace Coffee has a motto of “Pedal not Petrol” and delivers to Minneapolis-area markets via a team of cyclists and pull carts – really putting their muscle where their mouth is.
Concord Co-op’s grocery buyers (all of our buyers, in fact) place a heavy emphasis on selling products that are ethically produced along the entire production process: growing, harvesting, shipping, packaging, and every tiny step in-between. While we’re proud to have a wide variety of coffee that meets these requirements, we just couldn’t turn down the opportunity to offer Peace Coffee’s delicious array of products.
All varieties of Peace Coffee are $14.69 at the Co-op, limited Peace Coffee products are available on our curbside program, Rosie. Check out Peace Coffee’s story, products, and testimonials here!
