mercoledì 19 dicembre 2018

Meet the farmer: CSR applied to a cup of coffee, the socially responsible coffee – Johannes Epping, Mantano Project by AGÁTA Roastery and Coffee, and Mathias Kaps, Starkmacher e.V.

TRIESTESPRESSO CAMPUS 2018
On the 26thof October, the event of Triestespresso Campus 2018 edition dedicated to the topic of CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility – applicated to the coffee industry took place. Johannes Epping and Mathias Kaps have been invited to the Area Meet2Learn  to share their idea born in the micro roastery of Johannes Epping and the NGO Starkmacher by Mathias Kaps, both situated in Mannheim, Germany. 
The main point of the presentation has been the coffee farmer and how the supply and production chain of coffee should be socially responsible. 
Meet the Farmer has been the most wanted event for the host of the Triestespresso Campus, Andrej Godina – caffesperto, who wanted to sensitize the providers of coffee for the topics of social responsibility and sustainability. This should be applied to the whole supply and production chain. Particularly starting with the farmer.
The Mantano Project
The presentation of Epping and Kaps has been concentrated on the Mantano project, namely an experience of CSR applicated in one cup of coffee. That is, coffee socially responsible.
Concerning the project partners, the micro roastery AGÁTA and the NGO Starkmacher began to explore the possibilities of creating and developing a social responsible market for coffee. The goal: Start innovative projects to develop new integral business models.
The Mantano Project aims to sustain a holistic business model, in which all parts of the supply chain  are socially connected and mutually linked. With the mission to deliver a fair, equal, socially responsible and good-quality cup of coffee. 
To reach this goal one of the main principles of the project is to offer high-quality products to the market and consumers together with a capable network of strong partners, which share the common social vision of the project.
During the realization of the project the question of the definition of “social responsibility” has already been touched, and how to but this definition in to daily live businesses.
Andrej Godina, the host of Triestespresso Campus:
“The whole event of the 26thof October has presented to the Triestespresso Expo an important section of the productor’s sensibilization about the topic of social responsibility. With the legal decree of the 30thDecember of 2016, n. 254 Italy has received the European directive about the communication of non-financial information and information about the diversity of some enterprises (Directive “CSR” 2014/95/UE).
This directive invites all providers to encounter the current topic which involves – in the coffee sector and the coffee producing countries – millions of families.
I think, that today, in our post-modern society, it is not possible to drink one cup of coffee in a coffee shop without taking in account the social responsibility, for which one we are directly responsible. And which starts at the plantation.
The consumption of one cup of espresso should not generate poverty at the other end of the world, in a short mountain village, where a farmer lives, who grows the coffee plants. I think, that the Mantano Project can be the necessary key message so that everyone of us can be more socially responsible.”
AGÁTA, the socially responsible coffee roastery
Johannes Epping is the founder and CEO of AGÁTA Roastery situated in Mannheim, Germany. With his wife Elisabetta Epping-Rossi and a team of coffee-professionals he founded a micro roastery, which aims to be a place of encounter, sensual (??) experiences and the dispersion of the coffee culture and the information about the whole ecosystem which surrounds them.
Particulary important for the roastery is the role of responsible coffee production in every step of the supply chain. This starts with the farmer and ends with the consumer.
Mathias Kaps recieved the “O-level teaching diploma” and is maths and religion teacher. The last 30 years he has conducted activities for the youth and is responsible for numerous educational youth projects. He has a wide experience on big international projects focusing on young people.
His work is focused on some key topics: education of peace, interreligious and intercultural dialogue, education against violence. His working experience with the NGO Starkmacher is mainly based on projects supported by the European Union.
agata-kaffee.de
starkmacher.eu
umamiarea.com/contents/meet2learn