Wellington, New Zealand. This little city of 400,000 apparently has more coffee shops per capita than New York and more coffee roasters than London. It's fast becoming a coffee capital of the world.
I went to visit Peoples Coffee at the recommendation of pretty much everyone. We visited Matt Lamason, who started the business in 2004 with his wife. He made me us a wicked expresso with extra shot. Strongest coffee I have ever had. But not bitter at all.
Peoples Coffee deliver their beans to coffee shops all over Wellington and even up in Auckland. They have a strong philosophy of providing a better world for their customers and suppliers. We saw green coffee beans from all over the world but not Indonesia. Apparently they were not convinced that the Indonesians were being fairly treated so they have suspended the coffee supply. Having just been in Indonesia with Wolfgang, we were both able to tell some stories about coffee growers we knew and maybe we can get that supply happening again.
Anyway, great to see a business with such a high standard of ethics and a strong philosophy of mission. They have a special relationship with Urban Vision which describes the coffee initiative this way on their website:
"The Peoples Coffee . . . is the first justice-oriented business initiative so far in Urban Vision and will hopefully spawn other Fairtrade/Organic business ideas."
Visit the Peoples Coffee Blog
