Chicago Sun-Times article from last week on Doug Zell and Intellgientsia.
Intelligentsia has expanded and cultivated relationships with its international network of coffee farmers -- who grow quality beans for incentive pay at least 25 percent above the average Fair Trade price -- in locations including Mexico (Oaxaca and Chiapas), Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, Indonesia (Sumatra and Java), Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Sulawesi, East Timor, Peru and El Salvador.
It's all part of Zell's belief that drinkers will pay considerably more for better quality coffee, and that growers can share in the margins if they produce beans that rate high on a "cupping score" (modeled on the way estate wines are evaluated) using Intelligentsia standards.
Not only does Intelligentsia roast our beans at Aldo Coffee Co., but they also roast for the creme de la creme of Chicago's restaurants: Alinea, Charlie Trotters, Blackbird, both of Rick Bayless's downtown places (Topolobampo and Frontera Grill), The Customs House and others. Chefs who care about food and understand that a great dinner should always end on a high note, not with a cup of mediocre coffee.
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