“We are proud to announce that Intelligentsia Coffee has joined the Direct Trade Coffee Club as its second roaster!
Intelligentsia was founded in October of 1995 when Doug Zell and Emily Mange left San Francisco to open an in-store coffee roaster-retailer on Broadway Avenue on the north side of Chicago. Over the years Intelligentsia has been responsible for a number of industry firsts, including the introduction of Direct Trade, the idea of real seasonality in coffee through its In Season offerings, and even the latte art throwdown/smackdown, a barista-centered contest. Since their introduction, each of these ideas has spread worldwide.
Intelligentsia solidified what is necessary for Direct Trade through specific, social, economic and quality-driven criteria. This served not only as a catalyst for Intelligentsia’s pursuit of these ideas, but sparked a handful of other like-minded roasters to pursue a similar path.
Doug states, “Direct Trade has the potential to change the economic reality of coffee producing regions and countries in a profoundly positive way.” Doug believes that Direct Trade is served well by collaborating with other roasters that espouse the same philosophy.
We agree with Doug and are proud to have Intelligentsia join the Direct Trade Coffee Club as a premier roaster providing Direct Trade coffee to our customers.
Intelligentsia will be the roaster shipping coffee to our customers in February of 2010.
Please stay tuned for more exciting announcements from the Direct Trade Coffee Club!”
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