Harvard Blend frequently features Colombian coffee as one of its components. Known as a clean and hearty coffee, Colombians are prized for their deep berry notes. In the fall of 2007, we were able to buy a container, which is about 137,500 pounds of green (unroasted coffee), from a Coop in the state of Tolima, in Central Colombia, called CorpoAgro and use it in Harvard Blend. CorpoAgro is a relatively young coop that has fought hard to be able to finally get to a buyer like GMCR. When we first made contact with CorpoAgro years ago, they weren't Organic or Fair Trade certified and many of their producers were growing amapola - poppies - for the heroin trade - and not coffee because it wasn't paying enough. Transitioning to organic coffee is complicated for any producer group because their costs go up, their yields often diminish for a few harvests and yet they can't charge more for three years (until they get their Organic certification). Last year we were able to help this coop by buying a container of their coffee at a higher than market price, even though it wasn't certified organic yet. Considered as an investment in their future, we can also consider it an investment in our own future - we recently just signed a number of contracts for their Fair Trade Organic coffee - they finally got their certification. That means their producers are getting more money and we keep getting great coffee.