In Costa Rica, Sergio Cascante sells his coffee harvest via Thrive Farmers Coffee, with its farm-to-table business model.
Just in case all you coffee drinkers missed it, there was a great article written this week in the New York Times. EÔTÉ COFEE is proud to be a parter with THRIVE FARMERS. The social impact of this business model is tremendous. Take a few minutes to read the article. It will make you enjoy that cup of EÔTE COFFEE that much more. Thank you for your love of our coffee. Thank you even more for the impact that you have on over 850 farmers and childrens programs that EÔTÉ is passionate about. Where is your passion leading you?
There is a great blog out this week about Thrive Farmers.
The fair trade movement has grown exponentially in recent years thanks to large corporate partnerships and more global awareness. It’s arguably made a difference for many tradespeople on whom wealthy countries depend.
But it’s not the only option out there if you’re interested in ethical consumerism – there are alternatives to fair trade that can work as well or better.
Recently theNew York Timespicked up the story of Ken Lander – a Georgian lawyer who moved his family to Costa Rica after purchasing a coffee farm. When the financial crisis hit, he became dependent on the farm for a serious profit; but he found, as many have before him, that it’s hard to profit off a coffee farm.
My friend, Mike Zserdin, is on a journey. Mike wants to help make the world a better place. He also wants to motivate others to join him. I remember sitting in a coffee shop with Mike over a year ago. He shared with me about his passiona and an ebook that he was writing, The Generosity Manefesto. Mike and I share the same passion. It is one of the reasons that I founded EÔTE COFFEE, Willow Springs Boys Ranch and Jacob's Ladder Camps.
Mike and his friends have created a platform that makes it easy for people to share about the causes that they are passionate about. They have made it easy to have one location where I can give to all the causes and non-profits that I am passionate about.
All of us talk about what is important to us: Our kids. Our sports. Our hobbies. Our favorite this and that. I can tell you from personal experience that some of the seemingly smallest things sometimes have the biggest impact on my life. It is often the small things can change the course of our life. There have been some extraordinary people who have done a collection of small things throughtout the course of my life that have made a tremendous impact on me. As an adult, now I have the opportunity to pay if forward.
What causes are you passionate about? I would like to invite you to join WHY NOT ME. Check out their website and become infected by what generosity can do. Generosity is contagious. Geneosity is fueled by passion. Generosity is Good.
EÔTÉ COFFEE has formed a Community at WHY NOT ME. EÔTÉ COFFEE has a passion for impacting the lives of children both locally and globally. Here are a few projects that we are passionate about: Willow Springs Boys Ranch, Eagle's Wings Home for Girls in Albania, and we are personally in a boy's schooling in central Uganda who wants to become a teacher and in turn teach others. We also have a heart for a group of students and pastors in Nicaragua who are impacting their communities.
Where is your passion leading you? Please join EÔTÉ COFFEE in fueling Mike's passion to make the world a better place. We welcome you to our Community Page at WHY NOT ME. Help us make the world a better place!
Use Discount Code: WHYNOTME and receive 10% off your next order for reading about Why Not Me.
EÔTÉ COFFEE is excited to be partnering with THRIVE FARMERS in bringing you Farmer-Direct speciality coffee. When you drink coffee brought to you by EÔTÉ COFFEE and THRIVE FARMERS, you are do more than just drinking outstanding coffee. You are impacting farmers and their families. You are also helping EÔTÉ COFFEE provide a direct impact on children in both the United States and abroad. Just when you thought drinking speciality coffee was good enough, EÔTÉ COFFEE and THRIVE FARMERS just made it even better!
Check out the excerpt below from Thrive Farmers website that will help explain why EÔTÉ COFFEE is excited to partnering with THRIVE FARMERS to bring you outstanding farmer-direct coffee.
Today, worldwide prices for quality Arabica coffee soar at double-digit rates while the farmers who grow the coveted crop barely earn enough to survive. This is possible because the highly segmented coffee supply chain rewards some players at the expense of others.
The THRIVE Farmers Approach – THRIVE Farmers brings an enterprise approach to the business of coffee by introducing the first integrated platform that allows farmers to participate in the full coffee supply chain.
The THRIVE Farmers Brand – THRIVE Farmers allows independent coffee houses and other specialty retailers to connect their customers to the farmers who produce the coffees they love.
An Economic Bootstrap Approach – THRIVE Farmers is not a charity, a branding organization or a trade policy group. THRIVE has found that the greatest economic impact occurs when people are given the business tools, distribution channels and knowledge resources to make a real living. This is an economic bootstrap approach tosustainable progress.
Leveraging the Value Chain – The THRIVE platform lets coffee farmers around the world take greater control of their economic destiny by leveraging the value chain of coffee. This includes processing the coffee fruit they grow, turning it into dried green beans, and selling it through wholesale and retail channels.
Delivering Profits – THRIVE provides a vehicle for the farmer to advance his/her coffee into the marketplace. Farmers receive revenue when their coffee is sold to the consumer. In this way, THRIVE yields profits to the farmer up to 10x the Fair Trade model.
Growth Model - The THRIVE Farmers model was launched in Costa Rica in a pilot program over the last two years and is now being expanded globally. For both consumers and farmers, THRIVE Farmers makes great coffee and a true livelihood mutually compatible.
Thank you for all of you who have been praying for Joseph. Here is the latest update on his recovery from Due Unto Others. Please consider joining Due Unto Others in their efforts to bring medical services to the rural areas of Uganda. The current blog will give you more info on how to get involved. We are excited to hear about Joseph and his recovery. God is Good!
Here is the latest update on Joseph and Tendo. Please keep these two children in your prayers. Click on the link to the Blog to read the update from the Due Unto Others blog. Due Unto Others is doing great things in Uganda as they meet the medical needs of people in rural areas who do not often have access to medical care. EÔTÉ encourages you to find out more about the great work that they are doing. You can get more information from the website about how you can get involved.
I had the privilege of spending three days in Uganda with Kent and his family in November of 2011. I got to see first hand what God is doing in Gulu and the surrounding area. Kent and I share the same passion for coffee and a greater passion for spreading the Gospel Message. Kent's family has started three churches in "city settings". Ten more have since been started in the villages. Kent and I are currently talking about ways to reach people in the coffee growing region of Uganda through the coffee industry. Be on the look out for Ugandan Coffee on our coffee offerings page this next year.
EÔTÉ is excited about the impact that Kent's family is having in Uganda. I had the privilege of worshiping in Gulu on a Sunday morning during my trip. The church walked water in five gallon jugs to fill up a water trough to celebrate four baptisms. Kent gave and amazingly simple and concise message of how for Believers to share their faith and the Gospel Message. Then something crazy happened. He invited to walk out of the church for thirty minutes....and go do it! And we did! Everyone walked through town with Ugandan students and they shared their faith. They also asked people if there was anything that they could pray about for that person. They prayed on the spot. The stories shared back at the church were life changing stories. The Sunday worship and prayer walk was one of the highlights of my trip. It has also change how I live back at home. Opportunities are all around us. The trip has challenged me to be more intentional and look for ways to help and invest in others. The opportunity may present itself in line at Lowe's, the grocery story for during a run around the lake. I don't want to miss out on those opportunities in Uganda or at home in Oklahoma.
Below is an update from Kent and the work that his family is currently doing in Uganda. I look forward to sharing more updates in the future:
"We just began our second "city church", there in Kitgum. The guy who is currently leading that church is named Patrick...he is 32 yrs old. We met Patrick through a short-term team that came over to work with us last May. When these guys met Patrick working as a manager of a small restaurant they asked if he wanted to know more about Jesus. Patrick pulled up 3 chairs and they sat for the rest of the afternoon discussing the new life Jesus promises to those who follow him with all of their heart.
Patrick quickly became a consistent attender of our first little "city church", here in Gulu. He began spending great amounts of time in the bible. He began leading small study groups for new believers. He even joined our small choir for a season. Now today Patrick is leading a new church! He still feels unqualified and is worried that he does not have enough knowledge. We get to remind him what he does have...a changed life and hope in Jesus!!! We think that makes him a perfect leader in aA culture that is deep in religion but does not know Jesus.
One part of this story that I do not want to miss is how we even met Patrick. We had a group of young adults fly all the way to Uganda to do one thing...look for people who were wanting to live a new life. Most "mission trips" involve a group of people traveling to some faraway place and helping a people group by building something...a church building or a school building.
We have had 9 short-term teams come work with us in the last two years and we have 5 scheduled for this year so far. Each one of them is prepared to work with people...to throw themselves into the people and look for the ones that have been prepared to hear the gospel! They are wanting to help build His Church...not our church. Because of these groups we meet people like Patrick , who meet the King of kings and then want others to meet Him also!
If you would like more information about his work or would like to find out ways that you can get involved or partner with them, you can contact us on via the EÔTÉ email address and we will connect you.
Here is the latest update from Due Unto Others on 3 of the children being served with serious medical conditions. Please keep the children and their families in your prayers along with the doctors who are treating them. You can subscribe to the Due Unto Others newsfeed on the link provided below:
I had the opportunity to take a 6 day trip to Uganda this past November. I continually have conversations with friends who are making regular trips to Uganda to serve and help others. What I find is that the person making the trip is helped and changed as much as the person who receives the help.
Winston Churchill affectionately called Uganda the Pearl of Africa. I agree. I feel in love with the landscape, wild life and natural resources. But what I was most taken with was the heart and hunger of most people toward God.
The Pearl is one of the wonderful and precious things found in the world. It is rare and is formed by pain caused by a tiny grain of sand. The oyster takes years to surround and cover that grain of sand to provide healing for the damage of that grain of sand can cause to the smooth delicate lining of the oyster. What is produced is the precious pearl. There has been years of pain and suffering in Uganda. However, much healing is taking place and God is forming pearls that have an eternal value for His Kingdom.
In my short time in Uganda, I have witnessed first hand just a few amazing stories of what God is doing in Uganda. To quote a friend, "Jesus is alive and well in Uganda." I have a good friend from my home town of Duncan, OK who is serving in a mobile medical clinic with his family in rural areas that normally do not have access to adequate medial care. I would like to highlight what his family is doing with some other great people that I also will blog about in the future.
I would ask you to consider helping in the great work that DUE UNTO OTHERS is doing in Uganda. Please consider joining EÔTÉ in helping one of the upcoming surgeries or current needs. Many of us can do a little and have great impact on a person for a lifetime. You can find contact information for DUE UNTO OTHERS on their blog and on their website.
Inspired by Acts 1:8, EÔTÉ COFFEE is a passion that had its beginnings on a trip to Albania in 2009. I was traveling with a team that would spend the next 10 days preparing a home and staff for a girls' home called EAGLES WINGS. On that trip, conversation began with a friend about roasting fresh coffee. I returned home, ordered a home roaster and began roasting. Word began to spread and I found myself roasting coffee for friends and family. In fact, I roasted so much coffee on that small roaster that I burned it up this past fall.
After three years of talking about "one-day" starting a coffee roasting company, my wife helped put feet to my passion when she asked, "When are you going to start talking about this and do something?" We all have passions. Sometimes we just need help putting legs to those passions.
Two things that I and passionate about are investing in children and drinking great coffee. WILLOW SPRINGS BOYS RANCH and JACOB'S LADDER CAMPS are two passions that I have invested most of my adult life on.
EÔTÉ COFFEE is a business committed to investing in Kingdom-minded projects and specific needs of children, families, and orphanages in the United States and around the world.
Most of my most meaning conversations happen over a cup of coffee with friends and family. The conversations are usually about life events, challenges, callings and passions. I have been blessed to be surrounded by people who help bring out the best in me and help me pursue my passions. EÔTÉ wants to be part of that conversation and inspiration. As you have a cup of EÔTÉ COFFEE with a friend or family, think about what inspires you.
WHERE IS YOUR PASSION LEADING YOU?
~Todd Vinson
Coffee Drinker and Founder of EÔTÉ COFFEE
EOTE COFFEE COMPANY
Farmer-Direct, Small-Batch Specialty Coffee. Roasting just off historic Route 66 in Chandler, Oklahoma.
EÔTÉ puts inspiration in your cup & your life's passion. Where is your passion leading you?
