Let's play "Follow the Coffee"

A friend wrote the other day and said she bought some coffee that said it was from Aceh. I was very excited.

I started to wonder if it was possible, given what we now know about how coffee and cocoa are “certified,” and how nearly impossible it is for us in the US to really know where our products come from, if we could work backwards down the value chain and find out exactly where this coffee came from.

My fantasy, of course, was that it would be traced to the Takengon region of Aceh, where JMD helped 1,100 coffee farmers improve their growing and harvesting techniques from 2009-2011.

Did I mention it was a fantasy? Not a far-fetched fantasy, mind you, since this was a very large project, done with IOM and one which included all kinds of international marketing components and coffee cupping competitions with European judges—in other words, the coffee from these guys and their co-ops definitely reached the world market. Plus, it was organic. Plus, it won several competitions.

So I had high hopes.

I asked my friend to tell me exactly what was on the label of her coffee.

Her response:Brand is Full Circle Foods, www.fullcirclefoods.com, dist. by Topco Associates in Elk Grove Village Illinois

I got curious to know how companies know where the product comes from, and if indeed they know which area the growers come from.

The results, while not remarkable, are mystifying. And sad.

A thorough internet search told me practically nothing about Full Circle Foods or their actual coffee. They seemed to be a company that specialized in the more “natural” products, but existed only as a shell for another company. The only reference to their coffee was found on another website:

Full Circle Coffee

http://www.fooducate.com/app#page=product&id=C40EC9EE-4042-11E1-AFF9-1231380C18FB

Coffee, Organic, Whole Bean, Highland Blend

Weight: 12 oz (340 g)

Product Details

This canister of coffee provides 2 meals in America. [I have no idea what this means.] Fair trade certified. USDA organic. [however, it does not say that on the package, and how can Aceh coffee be USDA organic?] Full body with a fruity aroma and a smooth finish. Return to a natural way of living. Project 7. Products for good. Feed the hungry. Provides food for the hungry. Help feed the hungry by drinking Organic Full Circle Project 7 Coffee. Doing a little to save the world - one cup at a time! Because we understand your well-rounded lifestyle goes beyond what you eat, Full Circle has paired our natural and organic mission with project 7's social advocacy. We know you are passionate about giving your family the very best and we hope we can be a part of that mission! Visit us at www.project7.com or www.fullcirclefoods.com. Certified organic by OCIA.

Ingredients

Certified Organic Coffee. Really!

Manufacturer

Topco

Elk Grove Village, IL 60007

Okay, so I looked up Project 7 http://www.project7.com/mission/

Our Mission

For much of Tyler Merrick’s life he has been a successful entrepreneur and benefactor for good across multiple platforms and organizations. Yet in 2008 Tyler found himself at a professional crossroads wanting to help more people through his business endeavors and be a catalyst for change in a continually inward consumer centric culture.

The answer was simple…“products for good”!

“If people are going to buy things. Lots of things. Then let’s use those things they purchase to help change the world around us. Let’s make everyday products for everyday people to solve everyday problems around the globe.”

In 2008, Tyler Merrick became a Social Entrepreneur and Project 7 was born; a company dedicated to making “Products for Good.”

WHAT WE DO:
We make everyday products that give back to seven areas for good around the globe.

WHO WE ARE:
Products for Good.
We exist to do good around the globe. We make everyday products like bottled water, gum, mints and coffee that everyday people can buy. For every purchase of a Project 7 product, good is done in seven areas of need
– Feed the Hungry, Heal the Sick, Hope for Peace, House the Homeless, Quench the Thirsty, Teach them Well and Save the Earth./span>

So. This website says they “make” coffee.

Well, no they don’t. Our Takengon farmers make the coffee.

There is another section called “How we give” that lists a variety of non-profits, none of which I am aware of are working in Aceh, and certainly not with coffee farmers, that says:

“We partner with nonprofits to help provide financial support, as well as raise awareness for each organization and educate about global issues. These organizations provide aid/programs/relief specific to the seven areas of need that are P7’s core focus including. . . ” and I won’t repeat them.

So now the big question in my mind is:

Who is Tyler Merrick?

I will say this; they have a wonderful and creative youtube video of Project 7 coffee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOCswWgJ3Bk

that says absolutely nothing about Aceh. But it does say “We buy coffee directly from farmers.” (They have 33 videos by the way. Project 7 s very busy, if nothing else!)

Okay.

If project 7 buys directly from farmers, and Full Circle Coffee says something very convoluted about a relationship with Project 7, then I should be able to write to them and ask, “which farmers do you buy your Aceh coffee from?”

Right?

Along the way I found an article on Tyler Merrick at Entrepreneur magazine:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/219817

It talks about his early start in the chewing gum-and-mints biz (I am not making this up), and then its expansion into organic coffee and bottled water.

Since its launch in 2008, the company has landed in nearly 4,000 stores nationwide, including Caribou Coffee shops in the Midwest and HMSHost airport locations. In March, approximately 170 West Coast Wal-Mart stores picked up Project 7's (much-improved) Save the Earth Fresh Mint gum and Feed the Hungry Peppermint Vanilla gum and mints. The company's annual revenue has topped $1 million.

Read more: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/219817#ixzz2peyi4kgQ

Still absolutely no talk of how anyone knows where, really, this coffee comes from or how they know it is truly organic, or what, indeed, that means.

The email I wrote to Project 7 ended up being a bit of a “form letter” to all the little US links on this bizarre section of the Aceh coffee value chain: Dear Project 7:

Building Bridges to the Future supports a local sustainable livelihoods agency in Aceh province, Indonesia, called Jembatan Masa Depan (JMD) that in part that helps farmers increase coffee production. Your website and youtube video indicates that you “buy coffee directly from farmers.” A company called Full CircleFoods, a subsidiary (I believe) of Topco Associates, packages a coffee called Full Circle Coffee, Organic Medium Roast Sumatra Aceh Ground and indicates Project 7 as a “partner.” Therefore I am assuming that Project 7 buys coffee from Aceh farmers, and in turn sells it to FullCircleFoods. Is this correct?

To help JMD better serve coffee and cocoa farmers in Aceh, we are conducting a survey from "the other end of the value chain" to see if we can trace our farmers' coffee from the store back to its origins, and if buyers, importers and distributors have information regarding the provenance of their product.

Can you let us know from which farmers in Aceh you buy coffee?

You mention that you “partner with nonprofits to help provide financial support, as well as raise awareness for each organization and educate about global issues. These organizations provide aid/programs/relief specific to the seven areas of need that are P7’s core focus . . . “

Could you let us know to which nonprofit in Aceh you are providing financial support? I did not see, from the list on your website, and agency that was currently working in Aceh or Indonesia. Do you have another list?

Additionally, there are several "certification" bodies and we'd like to know which one your company chooses when it is purchasing beans from the farmers or cooperatives.

Thanks in advance for any and all information you can give us.

That oughtta amuse ‘em.

It’s a great looking website. I do hope they are legitimate. But when you start asking really simple questions like “what does it mean to be “fair trade certified?” "Who at your company goes to Indonesia to buy coffee? Do you really do that, or do you do that by 3^rd degree proxy, through a host of other companies so by the time you get your coffee all you know about it is that it probably is, indeed, coffee?" and you can't find the answer, you begin to doubt the validity of any pronouncements that are made.

All the other websites about fullcircle foods or the Aceh coffee are pretty much identical:

http://www.directionsforme.org/index.php/directions/product/COFFPL/00036800306929

Full Circle Coffee, Organic Medium Roast Sumatra Aceh Ground

Product Details: This northern-grown Sumatra has light acidity, a thick, rich body and a complex flavor of sweet grapefruit with cedar and lemongrass undertones. Hand-crafted Arabica coffee. Fair Trade Certified. USDA organic. Return to a natural way of living. Fair Trade farmers have been growing coffee for generations. The Fair Trade model ensures a fair price for their coffee so these farmers can have a better life. They can keep their families healthy, build strong communities, and preserve the land. Full Circle Fair Trade coffees taste better because they are grown with care - for today and for the future. Certified organic by OCIA. Come Full Circle. Return to a natural way of living. Visit us at www.fullcirclefoods.com. Quality Guarantee: 100% satisfaction.

INGREDIENTS

Certified Organic Coffee, May Contain Natural Flavors.

So I modified the form letter and wrote to the full circle foods on their little “contact” form:

Hi:

I work for a foundation supporting an agency in Aceh province that helps farmers increase coffee production. We're dong a little experiment to see if we can trace our coffee. I cannot find where in Aceh your coffee comes from. Would the distributor (Topco) know? How does your company know that it comes from an appropriate source in Indonesia, ie what criteria do you use? Thanks for any and all information you can give me.

Then I looked up Topco http://www.topco.com/

They are the distributor of every cheesy “store” brand you can think of, from Shur-Fine to Top Care to Food Club to Valu-Time . . . and Full Circle is just one of their sub-distributors.

Topco Associates LLC is a privately held company that provides innovative business solutions for its food industry member-owners and customers. Topco leverages the collective volume, knowledge and commitment of these companies to create a competitive advantage in the marketplace by reducing costs and offering winning business-building capabilities. Topco's membership collectively represents billions in retail sales volume with thousands of stores.

Topco provides procurement, quality assurance, packaging and other services exclusively for its member-owners, which include supermarket retailers, food wholesalers and foodservice companies. Topco has no conflicting profit motive because it distributes all earnings back to its member-owners based on their level of participation.

They have this section:

Premium / Value Added Brands

Topco provides business solutions for both member-owned and Topco-owned brands. Offering nearly 20 Topco brands to its membership, the company’s item mix covers almost 10,000 items. With multiple tiers within its branding strategy, Topco provides its members with the ability to differentiate themselves within their competitive marketplaces. Tiers include premium and value added, mainstream – or first-label quality, and economy brands.

And then they list their sub-companies

World Classics

Paws (the low-end pet food)

And . . . .

Full Circle's products taste great and are good for you. Full Circle is at the forefront of the rapidly growing natural and organic market. The brand features more than 1,000 SKUs in 100 categories, including grocery, fresh meat, produce, dairy, seafood, deli meat, bakery, HBC and household cleaning products. Full Circle ... "Return to a natural way of living."

Oy! Talk about full circle!!! It’s dizzying!

No mention of coffee, or certified organic, or where these things come from—I could not find anything about this on the entire page.

But they do have an email address, so out zipped another form letter.

Dear Topco:

Building Bridges to the Future supports a local sustainable livelihoods agency in Aceh province, Indonesia, called Jembatan Masa Depan (JMD) that in part that helps farmers increase coffee production. We understand that your company distributes a brand of coffee called Full Circle Coffee, Organic Medium Roast Sumatra Aceh Ground.

To help JMD better serve coffee and cocoa farmers in Aceh, we are conducting a survey from "the other end of the value chain" to see if we can trace our farmers' coffee from the store back to its origins, and if importers and distributors have information regarding the provenance of their product.

Can you let us know how Topco verifies that its "Sumatra Aceh ground" coffee comes from Aceh?

Which is the entity that verifies certification and farm location?

There are several "certification" bodies and we'd like to know which one your company chooses when it is purchasing beans from the importer.

Thanks in advance for any and all information you can give us.

At the end of this exercise I got to thinking—does anybody really know that organic or certified or Aceh coffee actually comes from where it says it does? The only sure fire way is: if it tastes like civet cat poop—it’s authentic!!