Roast Magazine on Transparency and the Coffee Supply Chain

"In contrast, perhaps the most complete transparency project a coffee roaster has taken up
in the United States is from a mid-sized regional roaster in the Midwest called Just Coffee, a
member of Cooperative Coffees. It begins when Cooperative Coffees posts all of the contracts,
invoices and bills of lading for every lot of coffee it imports. The roaster members of the co-op
can assign a code to their coffees that links back to this paperwork via a website. Just Coffee
has done more with that available data than any of the other co-op members."...

The Isthmus on Just Coffee and Cooperatives 

“It's a sentiment shared by MadWorC member Matt Earley of Just Coffee, a Madison company founded by Earley and Mike Moon as an LLC in 2001. As soon as they had enough members to legally reorganize as a worker co-op, they did.”

"We feel like it's the only way to do things," says Earley. "Nobody's getting wealthy, sure, but that's the whole point."

 
Alternet on Just Coffee and Fair Trade Certification

“As it turns out, Fair Trade-certified coffee is not all equal, even if all Fair Trade coffee pays growers more than the market price. Clearly the philosophies of major retailers like Starbucks, Wal-Mart and Smucker's (which sells Fair Trade coffee under its Millstone brand) differ from those of grassroots activists like the founders of Just Coffee in Madison, WI who went into the coffee roasting business specifically to help improve the lives of Mexican coffee growers they met in Chiapas.”

 
Willy Street Co-op on Fair Trade Labeling and Just Coffee 

“You’re either fixing the model to fit into the current structure, and there’s merit in that, or you’re changing the model and building a new structure. That’s much more exciting and profound and important, we think. That’s why we like the small producer label. It’s small farmers, it’s co-ops. They own it.” -Matt Earley 

Willy Street Co-op Reader on the Growth of Just Coffee 

“One phenomenon of working at a grocery co-op is witnessing Co-op children grow from newborns in shopping carts to adults who understand good eating and cooperation. It is with that same awe and admiration that we’ve watched the growth of Just Coffee, our neighborhood,—and now cooperatively owned— Fair Trade coffee roaster. We’ve seen them from their first eager steps in 2002, sampling freshly roasted coffee to market-goers at the Tuesday Eastside Farmers’ Market, to the model of cooperative success they have become today.” 

The Isthmus on Just Coffee bike delivery 

“Just Coffee, the East Wilson Street coffee roaster and distributor, gets everything right. The coffee is great. The cooperative philosophy is unassailable.

Best of all, their coffee is delivered in a giant red tricycle. "Sometimes you get double- and triple-takes," said Just Coffee's Mark Bystrom, 33, of how people react to the contraption.”

The Wall Street Journal on Just Coffee’s Farm Tours 

“Coffee-shop owner Kileen Cleberg was already a big believer in fair-trade coffee last year when she went to Guatemala to check out fair-trade coffee farms. The trip was organized by Just Coffee Cooperative, a Madison, Wis., coffee company from which Ms. Cleberg buys some of her products.

Ms. Cleberg came away from the trip an even bigger believer -- in both free-trade coffee and Just Coffee Cooperative.”

CRS on Just Coffee and La FEM

“Nine years ago Rosa and four other women set out to change their own lives and make better lives for their children. Leaving behind jobs as hired coffee cultivators and harvesters, they started their own collective with some help from Fundacion Entre Mujeres (Foundation Among Women or La FEM), a local organization that empowers women in agriculture.”

 
The Christian Science Monitor on Redefining Fair Trade 

“On Friday, Larry's Beans of North Carolina split from TransFair, the company that holds the US trademark for the term, "Fair Trade Certified." At least three other smaller roasters - Just Coffee, Dean's Beans, and Cafe Campesino - have followed suit. All the details of their new association have yet to be worked out.

"Without people outside the increasingly corporate-friendly TransFair system pushing for the original vision of a better model, [the movement] will be watered down into nothingness," says Matt Earley, cofounder of Just Coffee in Madison, Wis.”

Madison.com on Just Coffee’s Bike Delivery

"Just Coffee, a coffee roaster on Madison's East Side, uses nothing but pedal power for deliveries in Madison -- even in rain or snow. As a purveyor of "fair trade" organic coffee, using bicycles instead of cars is in sync with its business philosophy."

"Our bikes are great advertising and they are a major component of our success," said Matt Earley, a co-owner of Just Coffee.

Madison.com on Just Coffee and Fair Trade 

“Just Coffee recently paid $200 for 100 pounds of the cooperative's coffee, about 60 percent higher than the conventional market selling price. Agustin said the fair-trade coffee market has allowed his cooperative to purchase medicine, plan a new health clinic, buy a coffee roaster so its coffee can be sold in other Guatemalan communities and promote ecology-based tourism in the area.”

The Nation on the Brawl Over Fair Trade 

Rice’s critics say they were taken by surprise when FTUSA left the parent organization: Merling Preza, who helped to found PRODECOOP along with Rice, told Coffeelands blogger Michael Sheridan, “It hit us like a bucket of cold water.” Says Matt Earley, co-founder of the cooperatively owned wholesaler Just Coffee in Madison, Wisconsin: “The way that FTUSA did it was absolutely undemocratic, and it just flies in the face of what we all consider a broader fair trade movement.”

The Ishtmus on WTF Podcast Partnership with JC

“It's hard to say if Madison's Just Coffee Cooperative has the best or the worst catchphrase in the history of advertising. The coffee roaster is the featured sponsor for one of the most popular downloads in iTunes, the WTF podcast (wtfpod.com). At the end of almost every show, host Marc Maron closes by loudly taking a sip of Just Coffee coffee and tells listeners, "Wait for it, wait for it.... Pow! I just shit my pants."

Madison Commons on JC and the Small Producer Symbol 

“When Lisa Jacobson serves a cup of coffee at Mermaid Cafe, she completes the fair trade sequence. Farmers in Nicaragua harvested the coffee beans and negotiated a fair price with Just Coffee. Just Coffee then roasted the beans in its sky-blue Wilson Street warehouse and extended its fair trade coffee to local cafés, restaurants, and grocery stores.” 

Fresh Cup on JC and Cooperatives 

“Just Coffee of Madison, Wis., is a craft roaster recently re-organized as a worker-owned cooperative. Like Jeff Moore, co-founders  Mike Moon and Matt Earley were drawn into coffee through their commitment to fair trade and social justice. In the beginning, Just Coffee had to organize as an LLC because it did not have enough people to constitute a cooperative.”

Fresh Cup on Fair Trade Certification and Politics 

 "For many of the people dissatisfied with the Fair Trade for all initiative, the recent months have provided a time for contemplation -- both about what the term "fair trade" means and about how to move forward while keeping those ideals in mind. Matt Earley co-founded Madison, Wis.-based cooperative Just Coffee 11 years ago and certified his coffee with Fair Trade USA until 2004, when he began to feel less connected to how the movement was being implemented."

Majority Report Interview with JC’s Matt Earley (podcast)

Breakroom Live with Marc Maron(TV)