Download the Frog Friendly Wild Coffee Order Form
Or Call 604-582-2990 to place your order today!
$5 from every lb. sold goes to supporting SOS Children's Village BC!
Free shipping, No sales tax
A Better Cup for a Better World
 |
Growing up between the blue skies of White Rock and the cloud forests outside Oaxaca, Mexico, with family and friends in both worlds, Karla Ferster always dreamt of finding a way to bring her two worlds together— one a modern culture of West Coast comfort, the other a culture of ancient origin and wisdom. It was not until she settled upon a simple bean that the connection between the two became apparent.
For years, her family had been enjoying it as part of their Mexican morning rituals – wild coffee plucked by hand from the altura-rustica plants growing throughout the mountains of Oaxaca. |
Harvested by the indigenous peoples of the area who trace their lineage back through the Mayans to the founding Olmec civilization, these were beans left behind by Cortes when he returned to Spain in the 1500s. Seeded amongst the mango trees, vanilla orchids and wild fauna, these beans were a step beyond organic; they were an intrinsic part of the region’s past and, as Ferster came to realize, its future. Overnight, Frog Friendly Wild Coffee was born.
In 2004, Karla brought one ton of Frog Friendly beans to Vancouver for sale at a local winter craft sale. They are now served in top restaurants and happy homes across the province.
Says Ferster, “Coffee has traditionally been one of the most socially and environmentally devastating commodities on the planet. As the most labour-intensive crop in the world, the real cost of coffee has always been in very human terms, but because of the distance from source, it has been an invisible cost to many. I came to understand how a more conscionable cup could be brought to market and all sorts of people might benefit.” The few extra cents per cup makes simple common sense to restaurateurs and retailers alike and goes a long way towards furthering Ferster’s future plans, with a portion of all funds raised directed towards improving the livelihood of those responsible for its harvest.
“I have always been an idealist at heart and wanted to do something to improve the living conditions for the people who had become our extended family over the years,” explains Ferster. “We had been regularly gifted with the delicious coffee beans brought from the neighbouring cloud forest. They were unlike any other. Their flavour, their back story, their potential: it all just suddenly made sense.”
The world of coffee, even by the West Coast’s rarified standards, has evolved to a whole new level. Flavour is no longer the sole criteria, now that questions of source and sustainability have entered the equation. On this level, Frog Friendly Wild Coffee offers the ideal blend of ethics, economics and ecosystem while serving up a ‘green’ bean that thinks outside the cup.
Says Ferster, “Frog Friendly Wild beans have a life of their own. They have been growing wild throughout the last remaining cloud forest in Mexico since Cortes left. There is no plantation of any kind, no pesticides, no impact on the environment whatsoever. Any chance to do things more humanely is a major step forward. Frog is more than a step. It’s a jump.”
A wild coffee with deep chocolate undertones and a taste of cloud forest terroir, Frog Friendly is one woman’s way of making a difference. It is now poured in many top restaurants and bistros across British Columbia, sought after for its honest depth of character and authenticity and is as much as philosophy as a business. “It’s about finding your Frog and finding others to turn your dream into a reality. We each make a difference. Seeing that difference and being that difference is the key to waking to a better world.”
It is a feel-good, friendly philosophy that fosters the new ecology of economics, returning a portion of its profits to source and community related charitable causes such as SOS Children’s Villages.
Entrepreurial, compassionate, visionary, Frog Friendly’s founder has tapped into the ultimate in good taste – a humane bean for human beings.
Visit the Frog Friendy Web Site
