For Our Shareholders (LinkedIn Profile)

Fair Trade coffee as an industry standard of excellence started with Java Joe Coffee back in the late 1990s at a single shop in Portland, Maine.  Today Java Joe Coffee is an international company with over 2000 employees in the United States and 4000 employees worldwide.  Working with more than 75 coffee growers in four different continents, Java Joe Coffee has made fair trade partnerships and economic justice for workers a top priority since its establishment in 2001.  

Economic justice allows people to live beyond a subsistence level and guarantees that workers will have the basic necessities that allow them to live a productive, dignified and creative life.  Long before it was a popular buzz word, Java Joe Coffee committed to paying their coffee bean growers a livable wage for their work through economic justice and fair trade practices.  Java Joe Coffee has also helped with several initiatives including establishing clean drinking water in Bolivia, sponsoring free public elementary schools in Chile, and providing mosquito netting for malaria prevention in Namibia.  

              Java Joe Coffee is a Fortune 500 company with fiscal 2015 sales of $124 million and a projected growth of 18% for 2016.  Java Joe Coffee has been recognized internationally for its commitment to fair trade and quality, named Best Fair Trade Coffee in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.  CEO and Founder Joe Brown received the International Humanitarian Award in 2012. And the Java Joe Coffee US based operations were noted as a Best Place to Work by Newsweek from 2011 to 2015. 

About Java Joe Coffee (AKA Facebook Profile)

At Java Joe Coffee we love good coffee and good people. We make our gourmet coffee exclusively with Fair Trade coffee beans purchased from all over the world.  The results of this global partnership include some of the best known coffee on the planet including San Pedro Columbian Roast Brew, Chilean Early Morning Brew and Salinas Valley Espresso Coffee. 

         Based out of Portland, Maine Java Joe Coffee spans five continents, working with coffee growers in Peru, China, Namibia, Bolivia and Chile.  Our coffee growers are part of our global family and we are proud to support their efforts toward economic justice for workers, and sustainable farming practices. To further help our coffee growers we have helped with several initiatives including establishing clean drinking water in Bolivia, sponsoring free public elementary schools in Chile, and providing mosquito netting for malaria prevention in Namibia.  

Our flagship store on Commercial Street in Portland, Maine 

We are proud of the good work we are proud of the good work that we take part in – and it shows.  Java Joe Coffee has been recognized internationally for its commitment to fair trade and quality.  It was named Best Fair Trade Coffee in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015.  Our CEO and Founder Joe Brown received the International Humanitarian Award inn 2012. And the Java Joe Coffee US based operations were noted as a Best Place to Work by Newsweek from 2011 – 2015.

Fair Wages for Coffee Growers: Why It Matters

Freshly roasted coffee beans in from our Salinas plant 

On the heels of the discovery of unfair trade practices at Java Joe Coffee, we have received a lot of support from our loyal customers, for which we are thankful.  Though we have taken steps to repair the damage done by the lapse in management at our Salinas plant, we feel it’s important to explain why Java Joe Coffee is 100% committed to economic justice for all our coffee growers –no matter where they live. 

Fair wages and safe working conditions are a guarantee for the American worker, but sadly, this isn’t the case for many of the workers around the globe.  Economic justice allows people to live beyond a subsistent level.  Economic justice guarantees that workers will have the basic necessities that allow them to live a productive, dignified and creative life. 

 

Juan Santez, a coffee grower in San Pedro, Bolivia 

Global Fair Trade Partners 

As a member of Fair Trade America, Java Joe Coffee was shocked to learn that the top management personnel at our Salina’s Valley facility was secretly buying coffee beans from Columbia that were not fair trade and pocketing the difference in prices. Those individuals have been terminated from the company, but the damage has been done.  So we feel it’s more important than ever to assure our customers, our employees and our global community that Java Joe Coffee is still the same company that helped invigorate village economies in Peru, China, Namibia, Bolivia, and Chile. We are committed to fair trade practices that will empower coffee growers to increase their social, environmental and economic sustainability.  To help repair the damage done to in the village of San Pedro, Columbia we are committed to paying 10% beyond the standard fair trade prices for coffee beans. In addition, we are also providing the seed money for a new public elementary school for San Pedro’s children.  

Coffee Grower Tsandi Omaheke from  Aroab, Namibia

A Long History of Fair Trade Practices for Coffee Growers  

We aren’t just a coffee company.  Our coffee growers are not just our suppliers. They are part of our global family.  Just as we value our workers in our US-based plants, we value our workers living thousands of miles away, on different continents. For us, Fair Trade is about more than just money.  Throughout our 20-year history of fair trade partnerships Java Joe Coffee has established numerous global initiatives including:

• Clean drinking water in Bolivia
• Free public elementary schools in Chile
• Mosquito netting for malaria prevention in Namibia 

We realize that Java Joe Coffee would not be where it is today without the contributions of our global partners.  We could not offer the variety or selection of gourmet coffee without beans grown in different soils and climates.  We are proud to be a USA company, and are proud of our roots that reach all over the world. 

META TAGS: Java Joe Coffee, fair trade, coffee growers, fair trade partnership, San Pedro, Columbia. 
 

A Message From Java Joe

Portland, Maine – March 20, 2016 – Local coffee giant partners with small Colombian village to purchase 100% of their coffee beans at 10% above fair trade value, according to Java Joe Coffee Inc. founder and CEO Joe Brown.  

Java Joe Coffee Inc. is known for its commitment to fair trade coffee beans, buying from small farmers on six different continents.  Following the discovery of a system wide departure from fair trade purchasing of their coffee beans earlier this year, Java Joe Coffee Inc. publicly declares a formal partnership with the Colombian village of San Pedro, agreeing to pay 10% above the current fair trade value for its coffee beans.

“We are excited to partner with the farmers of San Pedro,” says Mr. Brown, “Despite the setback in recent months, Java Joe Coffee Inc. is committed to fair trade coffee and working with farmers from around the globe. We hope this partnership demonstrates our continued commitment to paying a fair price for goods and encouraging safe and sustainable farming practices.”

In recent months Java Joe Coffee Inc. documents leaked to the Fair Trade Commission, indicated that nearly half of the coffee beans purchased by the company in 2015 were not from officially sanctioned fair trade sources.

Mr. Brown notes that though this was a system wide problem, the nearly 20 year old company has a long history of fair trade practices and has been praised repeatedly for the global good it has helped to bring about in developing countries.

“Java Joe Coffee helped put fair trade coffee on the map. It’s what we are known for. Nobody is perfect, not even us.  Our customers know that we take this problem seriously and will do everything in our power to make it right again.”

Java Joe Coffee Inc. was founded in 2001 by Joe Brown, as an independent barista in Portland, Maine.  Today the company has 275 shops in the United States and 540 worldwide.