Episode 18 :: Coffee As A Virtue

Steve von Kolkow and Laurie Britton, co-owners of the cleverly named Cafe Virtuoso, believe in delivering quality coffee and tea products primarily to wholesale customers. Their product line is all organic, and since October is Fair Trade month, we wanted to talk to them about that. How did Fair Trade look to them as businesspeople with a bottom line to mind?

It turns out to be a bit more expensive, yes, but it was hard to turn down since their experience at farmer’s markets taught them that individual customers were asking more and more for Fair Trade product. Seeing the demand, they in turn led the way with their wholesale customers, a victory for Fair Trade as more and more vendors will be moving FT product at an increasing scale that bodes well for FT to be a sustainable model.

Steve and Laurie each give personal accounts of how they started Cafe Virtuoso, how they educate customers on the products the pros and cons of Fair Trade’s certification and the trends in the industry.

October is Fair Trade month, and we have other clips from another recording we made onsite at Cafe Virtuoso. You will be able to enjoy three slideshows where you can see pictures of the Virtuoso shop and hear Steve and Laurie give a guided tour and offer additional interest to today’s recording.

Coffee as a Virtue