In this episode, we talk with TJ Fittis, owner of Camano Island Coffee Roasters. I became a fan of Camano Island Coffee way back in 2006, when I asked the company’s founder, my friend Jeff Ericson, to come lecture in a course I was teaching. This course was all about social entrepreneurship—and for those not familiar with that term, a social enterprise is a business that exists not just for financial profit, but also for social benefits that somehow make the world a better place. Jeff was a great person to help me teach social entrepreneurship because, in the year 2000, he had founded Camano Island Coffee Roasters as a means of supporting ethical farming practices, fair pricing and wages, and most importantly, the production of great tasting, all-organic coffee. To accomplish these social and environmental objectives, he partnered early on with a nonprofit called Agros—and organization that helps the very poor in Central America to gain access to land for farming, and to establish new cooperative villages. Eventually, Jeff sold the company to his son-in-law, TJ—who continues to pursue these founding values of making the world a better place by practicing good—and profitable—business principles.
But even if you aren’t a business person, there is wisdom in this conversation that can help us to make more earth-wise choices as consumers. That’s where we started our conversation, in fact—with the ways in which Camano Island Coffee uses their subscription-based model they call the Coffee Club, to provide a high quality, organic product that is better for the coffee consumer, for farmers, and for the environment.
Guest: TJ Fittis
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Keywords: coffee, coffee roasting, fair trade, Camano Island, farming, farmers social justice, environment, small business, local business, organic, sourcing, decentralization, community, consumers
Find us on our website: Earthkeepers
Support the Earthkeepers podcast
Check out the Ecological Disciple