CBI and Mercy Corps Collaborate on Special Nicaraguan Coffee

August 26, 2003

(Portland, Oregon) – Coffee Bean International (CBI) and Mercy Corps - two Portland-based organizations with strong commitment to the farmers of Central America - have announced the formation of a unique partnership aimed at assisting marginalized coffee growing communities in Nicaragua.

Mercy Corps Café Aldea™ - the new Panache® Collaborative Coffee™ - is a delicious single-origin coffee grown in the remote mountains of northern Nicaragua. This outstanding coffee brews a brightly dimensioned cup, with a perfectly balanced flavor accented by delicate chocolate-like notes. The remarkable coffee is the result of a creative partnership between Mercy Corps - one of the nation’s leading humanitarian organizations - and CBI, who are working together to bring this coffee to market, while investing $2.00 from every pound purchased back into the communities that grew it.

Mercy Corps and Coffee Bean International share a similar respect for rural families, appreciation for traditionally grown coffees, and the same concern about the growers’ imperative social and financial needs. While the coffee is not yet fair trade certified (certification is expected for the next harvest), the unroasted green coffee has been purchased this season by CBI at prevailing fair trade prices, currently more than double the going rate for comparable Central American coffees. This Fair Trade-equivalent price - which is in addition to the $2.00 per pound being donated to the growers - will help the growers immediately by infusing funds directly into their families and communities.

Café Aldea is grown in the region of Jinotega - one of the mountainous “departments” of Nicaragua - by members of the Asociación Aldea Global Jinotega (“Aldea Global”). Mercy Corps helped found Aldea Global in 1992 to assist the marginalized residents of Jinotega, one of Nicaragua’s poorest regions. The once-ostracized coffee growing members of Aldea Global are today producing coffees recognized around the world as exemplary - with several members’ coffees finishing in the top ten in Nicaragua’s 2002 and 2003 Cup of Excellence® competitions.