Making a True Difference
Tim Hortons Coffee Partnership
Tim Hortons has a longstanding tradition of making a true difference in the communities we serve. Our philosophy is to take the same approach to those communities that produce our coffee.
The Tim Hortons Coffee Partnership helps those communities by supporting them in key areas that will improve their coffee business, and their lives:
- Establishing technical training, through direct financial assistance, to improve the quantity and quality of coffee produced
- Consulting farmers to ensure their coffee gets to market at the best time and at the best price
- Providing assistance in education and medical care
- Strengthening environmental management by educating farmers on enhanced farming techniques and reforestation projects
The Tim Hortons Coffee Partnership approach is unique from other coffee initiatives. Together with our partners, we are involved in grassroots projects that work closely with small farmers, local coffee organizations, and government and non-government organizations. Through these projects, farmers are encouraged to improve farming practices to produce higher quality coffee more efficiently, giving them more control and options for their coffee.
The Results to DateIn 2005, we launched our first community partnership program in the Oriente coffee region in Guatemala. Subsequently, we have started projects in Colombia (Huila) and Brazil (Minas Gerais).
In Guatemala and Brazil we have helped support the establishment of new farmer organizations:
- ACCSO (Asociación Comercializadora Café Sostenible Oriente) in Guatemala
- AAFSAA (Associação dos Agricultores Familiares de Santo Antônio do Amparo) in Brazil
In Colombia, we have helped strengthen existing farmer committees as members of the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros.
These organizations are important to the success of coffee farmers. They provide economies of scale in agricultural inputs, more efficient warehousing and better cooperation with the export companies. Furthermore, these farmer organizations are designed to continue training activities after finalizing the project implementation.
Benefits for the Farmers and Their Business:
As a result of the projects, local growers are now producing a better grade of coffee and improved yields. This allows them to invest back into their business in areas such as improved fertilization and the creation of drying patios and improved buying stations. Local farmers are selling coffee in a more finished form, and the improved quality of the coffee is being recognized by buyers allowing for more consistent and better pricing.
By helping local farmers become professional businessmen and women, they gain the knowledge to increase their income and improve their lives. To date, approximately 2,000 farmers and their families have benefited from these projects in three countries, representing about 6,000 people in total.
Benefits for the Farmer's Community:
Social programs and environmental activities complement our project, providing the foundation for effective and lasting development.
In some of the project areas, government funded education ends at Grade 6. As a result of an initiative with the Guatemalan government, we donated school books and video teaching aids to local schools. Thanks to this investment, nearly 500 children are now able to attend school an additional three years.
In Colombia, with our partners we helped build a biology, chemistry and coffee quality lab and provided supporting materials for a school in the town of Santa Maria, Huila reaching approximately 400 students.
In terms of health care, the medical clinics sponsored by us have helped numerous local families, providing access to healthcare and specialists that would otherwise be very expensive for people living in these communities.
Our Goal for the Future
In its first four years, Tim Hortons Coffee Partnership has already supported projects in Guatemala, Colombia and Brazil. This practice of community involvement has already assisted nearly 2,000 small coffee farmers, their families and communities. While the results have been positive, there is a long way to go. Our goal is to work directly with our coffee suppliers to create additional community partnership programs to continue to build on a making a true difference to coffee producing communities. The next opportunity to do so will be our new project El Valle in Colombia and the Trifinio region in the triangle of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, planned to launch in 2009.
Tim Hortons Coffee Partnership works closely with the Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung Foundation (HRNS). The focus of the HRNS work is bringing together private sector partners (primarily coffee roasters), public sector partners (donors) and both governmental and non-governmental organizations, with the goal of contributing to the sustainability of the coffee sector in these regions.
