Merchants of Green Coffee

10/07/2022

An unexpected update with more info to come ...

12/02/2021

Xiomara Castro poised to become first female president of Honduras

Some very interesting news for Central America, Honduras just elected its first female president!

Countries like Honduras suffer major issues of poverty and government corruption, which affect society as a whole and often delay progressive programs such as ours. Hopefully this new female leadership can have a positive effect on the region.

Castro, who declared herself the winner in a speech late on Sunday, has vowed to fight corruption and relax abortion laws

12/02/2021

Processing Orders Update

We just sent out an email update regarding coffee orders and are sharing it here in case anyone was missed on the list: https://mailchi.mp/200aa5d85984/processing-orders-update

We're are also streamlining communications and sending out more email newsletters. Visit our website and sign up to our main newsletter if you want to receive those ☕️💚😘

11/26/2021

Our cafe move-out taking is longer than expected and it’s an extremely emotional time for us.

We are very appreciative to those who have sent us kind messages, and very sorry to those whom we have not been able to respond to yet.

Operations/Online Orders Update:
-All online orders are on hold on until next week so that we can finish the move.
-We also won’t be able to make it to the St. Lawrence Market tomorrow, but will be back next week.

By next week, all coffee orders and order communication will start flowing again and will continue to post updates here as needed.

Have a nice weekend 💚

11/25/2021

Drink Coffee, Regrow Forests: A Business Case and 10K Race - Innovating Canada

We have big news to share...

Just as we're in the middle of the most stressful stage of our transition (moving our beloved cafe out of our building), our Zero Footprint Coffee campaign goes LIVE.

It’s message: Coffee has a huge footprint and this everyday habit we share cannot be sustained without people and our warming planet paying the price.

Zero Footprint Coffee is our streamlined roasted coffee subscription program that's addressing climate change by reducing its carbon footprint to zero... and offsetting the rest with reforestation at the source of production. This is the evolution of our Climate Change Coffee that is designed to GO GLOBAL. It is also our strategy for growing sustainable coffee during a very unstable time for the specialty industry.

We are on a race to get 10K Canadian subscribers as soon as possible in order to save the Cafe Solar® program and make restorative coffee readily available for consumers who care.

By the time the first Zero Footprint Coffee orders start shipping out (Dec. 15th), we will have finished moving and any delayed online orders will be able to flow as well.

Please take a a few minutes to read about what we're up to and help us spread the word ...

Here's how Merchants of Green Coffee is reducing CO2e coffee emissions through subscriptions to its new Zero Footprint Coffee program.

11/13/2021

Major announcement about our Restoration Cafe ...

(Merchants of Green Coffee is currently operating online only, with Canada-wide shipping and the St. Lawrence Saturday farmers' market as a local coffee pick-up spot).

Dear friends of Restoration Cafe,

We are sad to announce that as of November 13, 2021 Restoration Cafe is Closed until further notice.

The recent sale of the 2 Matilda St. building to developers, sparked by COVID-19 pandemic conditions, had us preparing to relocate Restoration Cafe to the former Cannonball Cafe location on Queen St; However, we have recently learned that building is also likely being sold.

At this point in time, we are not certain when we will be re-opening Restoration Cafe.

For customers with an outstanding order for pick-up at Restoration Cafe, please see the Urgent Coffee Order FAQs on our website. (Link in profile)

It has been and continues to be a slow and painful pandemic for almost all small businesses and we kept our door open for as long as possible. While we are sad about the (possibly temporary) closure of our beloved cafe home, we are excited about the future.

Merchants of Green Coffee will continue to operate its headquarters at the 2 Matilda St. building while it is under development, and we are working to reduce the carbon footprint of our entire coffee operations to zero 👣

10/16/2021

Closed Today.
Saturday, October 16th

We learned on Tuesday that we scored a win; $3.4 million in scientific funding for Cafe Solar (posted on our website).

However, we are not always in control of our coffee supply up here in Canada, and at the same time that we received good news in one area, our specialty supply chain breaks down.

We are experiencing a major supply chain interruption locally and are down to our last bags of Cafe Solar. Obviously this is unexpected and we sincerely apologize.

Fresh coffee is coming in to satisfy orders, we will be moving to a nearby location while 2 Matilda undergoes major renovations in a month, and we are so appreciative of your support.

The moment we get a chance to breathe, we will be posting a complete update with exciting and positive news.

💚💚💚

10/05/2021

Coffee Order FAQs — Merchants of Green Coffee

Urgent coffee order FAQs for anyone who has not seen the update on our website:

Frequently Asked Questions About Coffee Orders COVID-19 Customer Service Update: We are desperately seeking a green investment in order to keep our sustainable coffee mission and program alive. This is not by choice, but out of necessity. This means that most of our efforts are currently focused on....

04/22/2021

SOUND ON to listen to a snippet from our Earth Day 2021 coffee podcast ...

We are trying to keep our heads and our flagship coffee program afloat during these very trying times.

This is an uncensored and unscripted coffee talk about the global coffee supply chain, "sustainable" coffee, consumer empowerment and actions that can help lower the coffee carbon footprint today. Listen and start taking control of your coffee now. There is still hope when there is a plan!

The full podcast is published our website today under 🗞️ Fresh Press! Happier Earth Days 💚☕

04/22/2021

Our good Earth Day news: Today ChocoSol purchased a half tonne of Cafe Solar green coffee at a critical time, to include in their special blend, and in show of support for our program in Honduras.

Thank you Chocosolistas! 🙌

This gives renewed hope to the growers and shows what wholesale change can look like! These funds will be sent directly to the growers to secure a better future 💚🌎

04/22/2021

Certified Green Coffee Company — Merchants of Green Coffee

Happy Earth Day!

Our online payment gateway on our website is back up and running properly now ✅

It’s taken us weeks to resolve, and we are extremely sorry for any inconvenience.

Green Coffee Company sourcing specialty certified green coffee beans, providing real coffee education, and addressing climate change.

04/15/2021

Why are Many Coffee Farmers Abandoning their Crops? — Merchants of Green Coffee

🗞️ Fresh Press!

Why Are Many Coffee Farmers Abandoning Their Crops?

Coffee is fueling an "en masse" migration to the US.

The projected number of total migrants (for various reasons; including low coffee prices, political instability, crime, etc.) arriving from Central America and Mexico rises to 1.5 million a year by 2050, from about 700,000 a year in 2025.

This writer presents a very good understanding of the picture:

Coffee growers are forced to leave their coffee farms en masse due to low coffee market prices and instability …

04/01/2021

"Foolishness is a twin sister of wisdom."
— Witold Gombrowicz

Happy April Fools ..or should we say.. Happy April, Fools 😉

03/20/2021

Today is equinox, a day which occurs twice a year (spring & fall) and, in many ways, signifies a time of balance (when the day and night are approximately equal in length all over most of the planet).

Unfortunately, the coffee world is not in balance. The majority of coffee farmers earn less than $0.50/lb (which can add up to anywhere from about $5-$12 per day, for laborious farm work without any security or financial protection).

So rather than try to paint a rosy picture about balance, we are spreading awareness in celebration of the spring equinox.

Please think about this, share it, and buy better coffee.

03/13/2021

Who's ready for the change?

03/08/2021

Honduras, Cafe Solar® — Merchants of Green Coffee

Happy International Women's Day!

When you choose to drink our Cafe Solar or Climate Change Coffee, you are acting on bridging the gender gap in one of the places where it's needed most ...

Cafe Solar green & roasted coffee is the product of women managers who are accomplishing the unprecedented in Honduras; where there are zero existing women's equality organizations, and women being physically and culturally forced into a powerless, domestic livelihood has been "the norm" since Spanish colonization.

Climate Change Coffee has, at minimum, 50% Cafe Solar, and so both of these coffees support our Honduran women business partners.

Thank YOU, for drinking it with us! You are helping move the dial 💗☕

Coffee Acting on Climate Change! Our flagship green coffee! Processed with solar energy, restoring forests in Honduras, and managed carefully by women at all levels of production. Cafe Solar® is currently protecting 425 acres of forest and sequestering about 7,000 metric tonnes of CO2e (carbon emis...

02/21/2021

Just a heads up that we will be closed on Mondays until further notice.

02/12/2021

Just letting you know that our St.Lawrence Market booth will be closed tomorrow.

For those market customers that need coffee tomorrow, please swing by the cafe and we’ll have a selection of fresh roasted beans available for walk-ins. (Diversity in origins may be limited)

02/11/2021

We're all tired of Covid and, as an insider in coffee, we're also tired of witnessing the commercial coffee industry promoting sustainability with NO proven credible efforts being made to address climate change, and coffee prices that continue the cycle of poverty in growing regions.

We just sent out a 2021 Operations Update, announcing our current order processing systems transition. We want to apologize in case any of our orders or communication are delayed during this transition over these next few weeks.

Thank you to all who support our efforts and for those who have sent us kind words of support. Every pound of coffee and every cup brewed makes a difference.

Read the full newsletter here --> https://mailchi.mp/merchantsofgreencoffee/2021-operational-update

02/11/2021

Coffee companies must start proving their sustainability , Coffee Barometer

We create the opportunity for commercial coffee companies to address sustainability through our flagship coffee/reforestation program (Cafe Solar®).

With the support of the major players in coffee, we can turn this negative report around within a few short years ...

The largest coffee companiesare failing to report transparently on their 2020 commitments, says the new Coffee Barometer issued ...

12/21/2020

Watch for the 'Christmas Star' as Jupiter and Saturn come closer than they have in centuries

Happy Solstice!

The sun sets early in the Northern hemisphere today ... This is your reminder to watch for the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction during the first hour after it sets 😉

The two largest planets in our solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, are coming closer together than they have been since the Middle Ages, appearing to be a "Christmas Star." This close approach will happen on December 21, but it will be visible through December 25.

12/18/2020

This is how we celebrate ...

12/18/2020

Fourteen of Toronto's top coffee roasters, and the must-brew beans from each one

Ending off this Friday on a high note!

Words cannot express our gratitude to Toronto Life and YOU, our customers. This great exposure to our Climate Change Coffee cause wouldn't happen without you 💚 ...

Here’s how to make the most of every cup with top beans from local roasters

12/16/2020

Posting this as early as possible and letting you know that our Hours of Operation are constantly being kept up-to-date on our website as well 👍

12/11/2020

Good afternoon!

Believe it not, today the world is celebrating another major issue ... it’s International Mountain Day!

No matter what hemisphere you’re in, mountains are key biodiversity hotspots.

Arabica coffee originates in high-elevation, biodiverse forests closer to the equator; However, current coffee production (growing & processing) encroaches upon the last of our remaining tropical mountain forests.

This needs to change; coffee production must become a force of good if we are to protect these special places.

Forest corridors and coffee buffer zones are the key to conservation here. This is what our Cafe Solar coffee is up to with the Yoro Biological Corridor and Integrated Open Canopy farming. By combining science, policy and market support we are using coffee to protect mountains ⛰✌️

12/10/2020

Human Rights Day | United Nations

More Information about global Human Rights activities and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals:

Human Rights Day commemorates the day on which, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

12/10/2020

December is a great time to honor things we care about and on that note ... Happy Human Rights Day!

Social, economic, and environmental issues are all connected and one of the most basic universal human rights is access to safe drinking water. Right now, natural watersheds in many coffee-producing regions are threatened by deforestation. This drinking water supply issue is a major driver behind Cafe Solar's reforestation program.

These images of ours depict:

1. Our non-profit partners, Mesoamerican Development Institute (MDI) + Tulane University researchers + US Forest Service researchers discussing problems and solutions to the watershed issue in the Yoro region of Honduras.
2. A dried-up riverbed example of how bad the situation is getting.
3. The beautiful high elevation cloud forest that is natural to the region.

12/09/2020

Today, for the very first time, more than 30 mayors from Yoro and the surrounding municipalities in Honduras are meeting over video conference as part of a coordinated stakeholder engagement.

The main goal: Legally establish the Yoro Biological Corridor before it’s too late.

The pandemic, advancements in communication technologies, and the need to address the climate crisis are at play here; expediting what is usually a devastatingly long process of stakeholder engagement, as access to internet has only recently been established in some of these regions.

Merchants of Green Coffee will be participating and showing market support for Cafe Solar and the forest biodiversity corridor at noon today and we will share details afterwards.

12/04/2020

Happy World Soil Day!

Long story short, the earth has lost 1/3 of its soil in the last 40 years and scientists estimate that we humans have 60 years of fertile soil left ...

What can we do? Get informed and support businesses, farmers, science, and policy-makers that work to restore life to soils.

Our Cafe Solar coffee program builds living soils by restoring natural forests and using organic farming and, in fact, living soils are a part of our company inventory! This is what we have been working on all these years and because of it we can prove that sales of Cafe Solar coffee build healthy soils that sequester carbon from the atmosphere. Our carbon offset invoice (see image) not only shows that the coffee sequesters carbon, but also that we purchase Cafe Solar's carbon credits in further support of the program ... and we apply these carbon credits to offset the carbon footprint of our Climate Change Coffee blend.

As a coffee company, our mission is to deliver a better cup through a supply chain with integrity and a unique commitment to quality ... at the same time, we're hardcore environmentalists. Join us in being part of the solution; restoring forests and building living soils. Choose Cafe Solar & Climate Change Coffee.

👉 Our full 2019/2020 carbon offset invoice has now been made public our website "Corporate Documents" page.

12/04/2020

Our Roasted Coffee — Merchants of Green Coffee

Ordering Roasted Coffee From Us Online?

We have just finalized and published a new & detailed roasting schedule on the "Roasted Coffee" page of our website.

There you will find:

- Current Roast Days
- Pick-up & Delivery Info
- Certification Info

Need even more info? We are a small team working hard to provide, but please tell us what other info you need/want to see and we'll try our best to delivery it quickly 😊

👉 https://www.merchantsofgreencoffee.com/our-roasted-coffee/

Guaranteed fresh roasted coffee, certified and sealed with a roast date. Direct from roaster, coffee defined as fresh for only 7 days.

12/04/2020

Update: Unfortunately due to late notice we are not able to service our coffee booth at St.Lawrence Market farmers’ market tomorrow.

We will be back open as usual next Saturday December 12th and have reopened the pick-up spot on our website 👍

12/03/2020

Update! The St. Lawrence Market indoor farmers market just received permission to operate as an essential during Grey Lockdown.

Now we are waiting to confirm if we will be able to organize the coffee in time to be there for this Saturday. We’ll let you know ASAP

12/03/2020

For some fun news, we made handmade holiday cards!

♻️ Using post-consumer Kraft of course
👌 And they can be added to any coffee order in a pinch

*Available now for a limited time on our website

12/03/2020

St.Lawrence Farmers’ Market Update:

The indoor farmers market is CLOSED during Toronto’s Grey Lockdown, so for the foreseeable future weeks. (Some outdoor vendors, most of the usual ones, will be open)

This situation may change if they can erect a large outdoor tent quickly, but for now we have removed the St.Lawrence pick-up option from our website.

We will continue to post updates as they come to us 😉💚

12/02/2020

Online, gift cards are here!

Paper, plastic … what’s needed is less. Our new online gift cards pay tribute to our original recycled paper cards but require no card at all, and are perfect for showing another coffee-lover you care.

Available now on our website 💚

11/27/2020

Heads up! The St. Lawrence Farmers’ Market will be CLOSED tomorrow due to city COVID shopping restrictions.

We will let you know about next weekend as soon as we know ...

... And if you had a coffee pick-up at St.Lawrence, please come to our cafe instead or email us 😉

11/20/2020

Ode to Michael Sivetz; World Coffee Expert and Great American Whistleblower — Merchants of Green Coffee

🗞 Fresh Press! Our coffee school may have been postponed this year, but you can now read all about our coffee teacher, Michael Sivetz.

Coffee-lovers can learn a lot from Sivetz who was a coffee expert, scientist, writer and activist ... with a highly unique and valuable story.

In other news, we sent out a November newsletter today! Head on over to our website and scroll to the bottom to sign up and stay informed 💚

Coffee lovers can learn a lot from Michael Sivetz, an American coffee guru who ‘spilled the beans’ on the corporate coffee industry ...

11/13/2020

Typically, we aim to celebrate the start of the weekend with something positive, but this is too important ...

This 45% loss of natural forest parks in Honduras has taken place in just the past 10 years and is directly associated with coffee production; a main export for the country. This deforestation is also destroying natural headwaters that provide drinking water to the region.

The good news: We can do something about if we act now.

Please help spread the word 💚

11/10/2020

Take comfort in knowing that each day holds opportunity for action ... and it all starts with great coffee ☕