Lecture Notes

Introduction

• Speaker from Johannesburg, South Africa
• Education: Graduated from WITS in 1993
• Career start at IBM and Dimension Data in the IT industry

Career Transition

• Took a year off to travel with wife after the 2001 market crash
• Met Ugo Ciro in Canada, introduced to Level Ground Trading and Fairtrade

Fairtrade and Direct Fairtrade

• Fairtrade: Practice of paying fair prices for products, established for 20 years
• Direct Fairtrade at Been There
  • Enhances Fairtrade by focusing on the source of coffee
  • Annual visits to producers in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC
  • Aims to establish long-term relationships and make sustainable differences in producer's lives

Agronomy Programs

• Extended reach into agronomy programs to improve yields
• Significant yield increase observed:
  • From 2 kilos/tree to 5, 8, and sometimes 10 kilos/tree
  • Substantial impact on farmer's income

Business Philosophy

• Trading fairly is beneficial for business:
  • Good relationship with suppliers leads to favorable terms
  • Well-treated employees are more loyal

Coffee Sourcing

• All coffee sourced as Single Origin
• Initial sourcing from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC
• Allows people to explore a country's identity through its coffee

Coffee Culture in South Africa

• Growth in coffee culture:
  • Transition from instant coffee to filter coffee, espresso, and cappuccino

Personal Note on Coffee

• Speaker's personal reliance on coffee to start the day
• Extreme importance of coffee in daily routine