For me, it is important that a gift be thoughtful, affordable, and of quality. I get my ‘holly jollys’ by watching a loved ones face when they open the carefully wrapped package and discover that ”just what they wanted” gift. I get my ‘merrys’ from hearing later on how much they are enjoying their gift. Most of all, it ‘jingles my bells’ to know I not only made a difference in my family or friends day, but I am making an impact on the world.

Every year, I give Heine Brothers’ Coffee as a gift to multiple family members and friends. As soon as they eagerly tear open the sparkly wrapping paper, the aroma of rich coffee permeates the air, mixing with the festive scents of the holidays. Then come the excited squeal and talk of the much anticipated brew in the morning. Accompanying the gift of freshly roasted goodness is usually a handmade mug from a local artist or a rich chocolate bar from a local chocolatier, both of which were also purchased at Heine Brothers’ Coffee.

Heine Brothers’ Coffee provides Fair Trade and Organic coffee that is locally roasted daily. Why is that important? I’m glad you asked…

According to the Heine Brothers’ website: “In reference to coffee, Fair Trade means that a minimum price per pound is set to insure farmers a decent income from producing coffee. If the coffee market in New York goes below that price, the farmers who grow Fair Trade coffee will be paid the higher Fair Trade price. If the market price rises above the Fair Trade Price, the farmers will get the higher price plus an additional premium of  20-60 cents per pound. This system protects farmers from the unstable commodities market.”

So, what’s that mean? It means coffee farmers can put shoes on their children’s feet and send them to school. It means those families can have a little food on the table. It means they may actually survive in the impoverished third world country in which they live. When giving the gift of Fair Trade products you are making more than one person happy, you are giving the gift of life.

Organic coffee is grown without the use of chemicals or other unnatural solutions for pest control. The age old adage, “You are what you eat”, rings true. Why put harmful chemicals in your body if you don’t have to? Organic coffee is traditionally ‘Shade Grown’ as well and all of Heine Brothers’ coffees are Shade Grown, Organic, and Fair Trade.

‘Shade Grown’ means the coffee is grown high up on a mountainside in the shade of taller trees. The taller trees prevent erosion, provide homes for birds and wildlife, and protect the coffee trees from intense sun and high winds, producing a more quality bean. The farmers are able to use the crops from these other trees, such as coconuts and bananas, as a source of extra income as well as use the wood from the trees for fires.

Heine Brothers’ Coffee is locally owned and operated as well as locally roasted and delivered every day. You are contributing to local commerce and making a difference in Louisville when buying locally. In my opinion, this is the highest quality and freshest coffee one could get. I love the Holiday Blend that is only out for a limited time. It is rich and full bodied blend with hints of chocolate comprised of coffees from Africa, Central America, and Indonesia. It makes me want to curl up in a blanket next to a fire on a cold winter day and listen to old holidays tunes. If that doesn’t tantalize your taste buds, there are 7 other house blends and a multitude of single origin coffees to choose from. In addition to the ¾ pound bags, the single pot bags of coffee make a tasteful and aromatic stocking stuffer. Heine Brothers’ Coffee also sells press pots, grinders, storage canisters , Ekobrew cups for Keurig coffee makers, and a variety of other coffee supplies.

So, you see, you can give the gift of ‘Good Tidings and Joy’ and ‘Good Will Towards Man’ as well as receive it. Fair Trade and Organic coffee is the perfect, affordable gift that you can feel confident about.

We have worked for a couple of years trying to find a fair-trade & organic chocolate to replace what we were using. Finally, a few weeks ago, we rolled out a new recipe for our mochas and hot chocolates using a fair-trade & organic cocoa powder with our fair-trade, organic, and raw sugar. We had tried it over and over again, getting the recipe just right, and loved the taste!

Unfortunately, it was a HUGE change from what we already carried. The cocoa powder had a different texture than the syrup, and, while a lot of people liked it, we defineitly heard some complaints. We’re always scared to change some of the items that we know our loyal customers love, and this ended up being too much of a change.

Starting today, we are going to have BOTH our fair-trade & organic cocoa powder Mocha, as well as a Mocha made with a delicious chocolate syrup (without HFCS!)! When you order a Mocha we’ll default to the syrup, so let us know if you’d like the fair-trade & organic cocoa powder when ordering. We can still make your mocha (using the fair-trade & organic cocoa powder) sweetened with honey or Splenda as well. Over the next few months, we’ll be testing out a couple of fair-trade & organic chocolate syrups too, so please let us know what you think! Thanks!

One of the most common questions we hear in our stores is asking to clarify the difference between ‘Free Trade’ and ‘Fair Trade’. It remains a vague idea that takes just a little bit of history to understand fully. Shall we?

The mid nineties buzzed with all the good that Free Trade could do with the world. The end of the Soviet era allowed globalization to take a firmer hold on economics and culture. For better or for worse, goods would start moving at an even more accelerated rate from country to country seeing as how most of the severe political blockades were being lifted.  Under this direction, economists began to assess the monetary hurdles that also affected the flow of goods and services. It turned out there were a great number of them, from environmental considerations to working conditions. A rising trend grew in international economy to alleviate burdens that slowed down the momentum of trade. With the 1994 passing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), America allied itself with this idea. It, along with many other foreign economic policies, was meant as a way to overlook much of these on-the-ground factors that contributed to the manufacture of goods, and to allow a much more uninhibited exchange.

With the aid of hindsight and the fact that my anti-establishment angst is safely behind me, I can good-naturedly say that Free Trade was not designed by evil little men trying to squeeze whatever they could out of impoverished countries. There were genuine economic principles that led this movement. There is the saying, generally ascribed to John F. Kennedy, that “a rising tide lifts all boats.” In true free market style, this belief is grounded in the resolution that if any sector of an economy is growing, then surely this will bolster the economy as a whole. This same sentiment can be seen in the “trickle down” economic approach taken by Ronald Reagan. Understandably, when the world slammed back together after being divided by the Cold War, economists and politicians began actively treating the world as a single, cohesive economy. The push for Free Trade was meant as a way to unite the new global economy and allow smoother sailing along a new rising tide.

Unfortunately, the reality of Free Trade did not prove to be as simple as the economic maxim would have you believe. First, as quickly as the first world acclimated to the idea of a free-moving global economy, much of the rest of the world could not. For the greater part of the last century, there was a political war being held with economic concessions either being doled out for allegiance or withheld due to defiance. Whatever the cause, many of the developing world’s economic infrastructures were limited, unstable, or nonexistent. As with many other times in history, the resources that were being offered by the promise of Free Trade led to more infighting than cooperation. Various individuals, companies, or governments monopolized the few avenues open to Free Trade in the developing countries.

Secondly, enterprising people almost immediately exploited the hurdles that were overcome in the spirit of Free Trade. NAFTA stipulated that regulations on working conditions or environmental impact could not be enacted if they proved to be a barrier to Free Trade. This had the somewhat predictable effect of inspiring manufacturers to drastically cut corners in production, leading to dangerous working conditions without any regard for preserving the environment around them.

More than anything else, Free Trade meant to focus on the promotion of competition by allowing a minimum of government interference. This led to producing goods for as cheaply as possible, and the first world paying as little as possible for those goods, no matter the consequences. Within these parameters, the movement for Fair Trade began.

Even before the expansion of Free Trade really took place, many developing world producers and first world consumers saw the signs of what would happen and collectively organized in many different ways. As reality reflected their worries, momentum grew and the idea for paying a fair rate for goods produced with regard to working environment and ecology spread all over the world. From the 1994 Zapatista uprising in Southern Mexico to the World Trade Organization protests at the turn of the century, to the food riots that have littered the past decade, frustration with Free Trade has shown itself clearly.

We at Heine Brothers’ Coffee depend on farmers around the globe, and they equally depend on us. Because of that, we feel earnestly that we have a responsibility to give them a fair price for an excellent product. In this way, the farmers earn a living wage and maintain environmental sustainability, and we can continue operating an expanding business. Our official definition of Fair Trade is: “We buy directly from coffee farmers, pay fair prices, provide farmers access to credit and encourage environmental stewardship. All of this is designed to help coffee farming families improve their quality of life, keep their children in school and reinvest in their farms.” Doesn’t sound too bad, does it?

For the past twelve years, Heine Brothers’ Coffee has joined multiple other coffee shops and suppliers throughout the hemisphere as founding members in our Fair Trade co-op, Cooperative Coffees. Together, we have traveled to many different coffee producing countries and met with farmers to find a way to make our business and theirs profitable for everyone. The experiences have left us keenly aware of the impact that we have in our global community and vindicated our commitment to Fair Trade. Of course, this has caused us to make sacrifices in our business, but we make them knowing we genuinely attempt to strive for social justice.

Our patrons allow us to directly change the world, in effect, changing the world themselves. Our staff does not forget that the communities, in which we work, actively join us in these efforts. As a company, we feel incredibly blessed. The pledge we keep to buy Fair Trade consistently proves challenging, but knowing our customers support us every day in this decision ensures that we will proudly continue.

–> Read Cooperative Coffee’s position on Fair Trade, prompted by TFUSA withdrawal from FLO.

View from front seat of 6-seater en route to Whitehorse

In August, I attended the Annual General Meeting of our green coffee buying cooperative, Cooperative Coffees, in Whitehorse, Yukon Terr., Canada.  In 1999, Heine Brothers’ Coffee was one of six founding members of Co-op Coffees.  In the last 11 years, Co-op Coffees has grown to 24 members spread across the United States and Canada.  Because coffee comes out of growing countries on shipping containers, 40,000 lbs at a time, most of our Co-op members, including Heine Brothers’, is too small to buy directly from farmers in growing countries.  Acting alone, we would have to buy through coffee brokers in New York or San Francisco and would have no contact with the farmers that produce the coffee. Through Co-op Coffees, we are able to pool our buying power and buy directly from farmer cooperatives.  This year, Co-op Coffees will, as a group, buy 90 containers of coffee (3.6 million lbs!) from 26 farmer co-ops in 13 different countries around the world – all at fair trade prices that guaranty farmers a fair price for their coffee.  Heine Brothers’ Coffee is proud of our membership in Co-op Coffees.  Through Co-op Coffees we have developed 10+ year relationships with coffee farmers all over the world.  We have had many opportunities to travel to coffee growing regions around the world to meet with and share meals with our producer partners.  During these trips, we have heard first hand that the efforts we are making to buy only fair trade coffee are making an important difference in the lives of these farmers.  We could not do this without customers who believe in and support what we are doing.  Remember, drinking a cup of fair trade coffee really does make a difference.  Rest assured that we intend to continue to do our part to bring you excellent coffees that are purchased from coffee farmers at fair trade prices.

Ever since Heine Bros Coffee opened in 1994, our commitment to changing the world one cup at a time has remained at the forefront of what we try to deliver to the community every day. Everyone who works here strives to remember that we are a part of the world and that our actions, for good or bad, have an impact. With this in mind, all nine of our stores proudly recycle everything possible and we are continually finding ways to lessen our carbon footprint (look for our new compostable paper cups coming soon.) Of course, over the years, this has added more work for us. Many, many vanloads have been taken to the recycling dumpsters that are often too full to use. This is where the City of Louisville comes in with a helping hand.

This past April, the Metro Council began offering large, orange recycling carts to businesses in specific districts that are picked up along with the regular recycling service. Obviously, we jumped on this chance to support the city’s new effort and also to let the city support our ongoing one. It delights us to see the city make recycling easier for other local businesses and to help us save some money in gas.

Unfortunately, this service is not citywide just yet. As you know, this past year we have expanded into Germantown and on the other side of the Watterson Expressway and these areas are still waiting to be included in the Metro Council’s new recycling push. As of now, our Longest Ave, Douglas Loop, Eastern Pkwy, and Frankfort Ave stores use those flashy orange carts and their experience has been very positive. We are hopeful that the area of service will expand and all of our stores can take advantage of the Metro Council’s forward thinking.

In closing, we remain so thankful that we live in a city that recognizes the environmental impact of local businesses. It doesn’t only help our company’s personal cause, but smoothes the transition to globally conscious operating for many other storefronts. At the end of the day, providing our expanding community with delicious, fair trade, and organic coffee and tea just became a little easier. And that, is good news for everyone.

As a sponsor this year we set up a booth, offering people participating in the 2011 Hunger Walk samples of our coffee, iced tea, and cold-brew iced coffee. Waterfront Park was filled with people participating, and we were happy to be there!

We were happy to be a part of the International Day of Peace Celebration at Waterfront Park yesterday! The event was put on by Roots & Shoots – Jane Goodall Institute’s global, environmental and humanitarian program for young people, from pre-K to University.  The mission of Roots and Shoots is to foster respect and compassion for all living things, to promote understanding of all cultures and beliefs and to inspire each individual to take action to make the world a better place for the environment, animals and the human community.

1. What year did your shop open? November 1997!

2. Do you have any crazy customer stories? One time, Marie, our endearing doddering regular, drove her car in to the side of the building. Another time, a group of people held an improptu wedding reception in our smaller room, complete with cake and presents.

3. What is the most popular drink at your shop? Skim latte, Iced soy mocha, and so many Con Leches!

4. Who are your shop’s favorite regulars? The morning crew – Jim, Bob, Chris, Cheryl, and John. the Nancy’s, the Peter’s, Con Leche Joe, Con Leche Dennis, Jess Dos bagels, Sam and Courtney, Betty, Peter B. fred, Iced mocha Ben, Randy, Annie, Ike & Saxonie. Also Lawyer John and Prince Charming.

5. What makes your shop better than the others? The co-workers!

6. What are some of the favorite local businesses within 2 blocks of your shop? Meridian Cafe, Simply Thai, BBC, Rainbow Blossom, and of course Top Hat Liquors

When I was a fresh-faced barista, my manager at the time advised me to pick up some shifts at other stores if I was in need of more hours.
“It’s like vacation,” She said.

As the weather got warmer, I took this advice that following summer and picked up as many shifts at other stores that I could get my Sharpie stained hands on. With each shift that I picked up, I no longer felt new to the company, rather I began to feel a part of the company. Since I have been with the company for a few years now, I have become quite accustomed to the way other stores operate. I enjoy the coziness of Shelbyville’s close quarters, The Loop’s friendly neighborhood vibe, Frankfort Avenue’s serene buzz from the laptops, and even Gardiner Lane’s hustle and bustle. All thanks to picking up shifts at other stores, or my barista vacation.

A barista’s vacation can occur at any time of the year; whether it’s during the summer months when people are going on trips or during the school year when a manager accidentally scheduled that person during a class leaving a barista double-booked. These little escapades into other stores aren’t just a summertime deal. In fact you could see your favorite barista in the morning at Chenoweth Lane and later that day they could be giving you a pick-me-up refill at Longest Avenue.

This summer, my barista vacations have occurred less than previous years but I have managed to squeeze in a few here and there. Recently, I picked up an opening shift at Schnitzleburg, our recent addition. My fellow barista and I were going about our opening shift duties when the nice lady who delivers our pastries in the morning entered like any other day. Arms filled with delicious goodies, she makes her way to the bar before she notices me counting the money in the drawer. I give her a smile and a wave. She has recognized me. She shakes her head, disapprovingly.

“That aint right.” She says. I laugh, mostly to relieve any awkward tension that could possibly occur.

“I’m taking a vacation from my store,” I assure her with a tone that I have not abandoned my post at Chenoweth Lane. She continues to shake her head, mutters something about how confusing it is to keep track of everyone and heads out the door. I had to laugh to myself. Is it that important that baristas stay at their respected stores?

After having an almost identical encounter with the same lady at the Shelbyville location a week later, I couldn’t stop thinking about the matter. I couldn’t come up with a solid answer as to why frequent customers are thrown off balance when they see their favorite coffee-slingers in a different location. Perhaps it triggers that same section of the brain from childhood when teachers are seen out in public. Or maybe it’s a feeling of potential empty nest syndrome in which the customer realizes that their favorite latte artist will, in fact, one day move on to bigger things. Maybe it’s just plain confusing and the feeling of “hey, wait a minute, don’t I know you from somewhere” is too much to handle. Another less grandiose theory I have is, maybe the customer just isn’t expecting to see their favorite barista in another place. All ideas are possible as are many more.

I’d like to offer some words of advice to the confused regular customer who might not be ready to see someone from Eastern Parkway working at WestportVillage. First of all, order the same thing you always get. Don’t worry, that barista may not remember where the lids are exactly but they know what you like. You can trust them. Secondly, relax. They’re not going anywhere. In fact they were probably doing a favor for another barista or needed a few more bucks. Thirdly, this experience will tighten your bond with your favorite barista and who knows perhaps they’ll leave even more room for cream. And lastly, it is perfectly okay to state the obvious and that you didn’t expect to see your favorite barista in a different setting. Perhaps the feeling will be mutual with your barista and you can share a laugh about it. So the next time you see that familiar face who makes that dry cappuccino just the way you like it, don’t worry they are not going anywhere. They’re just on a barista’s vacation.