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With two new products, a family-owned San Leandro gourmet coffee roasting company is looking to add heaping helpings of social consciousness to its caffeinated beverages.
Organic Coffee Co., a division of JBR Gourmet Foods Inc., has introduced two "fair trade" coffees French roast and breakfast blend - at Whole Foods Market, Andronico's Market, Ralph's, Wild Oats Markets and other grocery stores around Northern California and other parts of the country where its products are sold. Fair trade indicates the coffee, usually grown organically, is purchased directly from growers or from importers.
The coffee fetches higher prices per pound than itd receive on the open market. But growers often have long-term contracts with companies that sell their coffee, typically allowing them to improve their own standard of living or that of their workers.
While fair trade beans still represent a tiny portion of the $1 billion-a-year specialty coffee business in the United States, JBR officials hope it will increasingly hold appeal for socially progressive coffee drinkers. About $6...