MAY/JUNE 2015
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business elite canada
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bodied Morning Star to the more intense
Phoenix Rising. They also offer espresso
and decaffeinated versions; their decaf
coffee (wittily named Declawed) uses
the healthier and environmentally friendly
Swiss Water process to remove 99.9%
percent of the caffeine content. They’re
on the verge of launching four new SKUs,
including a cold brew coffee that can be
enjoyed straight from the bottle.
Offering an organic product that follows
fair trade standards is important to Yu.
“Coffee is the number one sprayed crop in
the world with pesticides and herbicides.
It’s not only our personal consumption of
the chemicals, but it’s also the fact that
in coffee-producing countries, the chemi-
cals enter into the runoff water, which infil-
trates and damages the ecosystem. This
eventually endangers the very livelihood
of the local farmers that rely on coffee for
their source of income.”
Fair trade principles ensure that farmers
— most of whom are living and working in
developing countries — receive a fair wage
for their crops. The guaranteed minimum
per pound price helps to create stability
and encourage sustainable agriculture in
