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big win for the company. Said Bloom, "We met with the regional buyer for the Northwest and he was like 'yep, let's do it!'" Happy Cup clients and staff have been busy promoting the coffee in stores, giving out samples and promoting the company's coffee and mission. Customers who buy Happy Cup coffee will find some interesting names on the bags. "We have our clients name our coffees," Magista explained, showing me several pages of proposed names. "They get together in a big group at the rec program and come up with some coffee names, and we start writing them all down. Of course, we're laughing as we do this because they come up with such awesome names." The three blends sold exclusively at Whole Foods are the "Flying Unicorn" (a dark roast), "Morning Maniac" (a medium roast) and "Espresso Go-Go. " In addition to selling through Whole Foods, Happy Cup has also garnered interest among the Portland non-profit community. It has a contract to supply coffee locally to Planned Parenthood, and is in negotiations to supply another large local non- profit with coffee. COMPETING IN A CITY WITH GREAT COFFEE Bloom acknowledged the challenges of starting a new coffee company in Portland, where the number of roasters grows by the month. "There are a ton of roasters here in Portland, and they're good roasters," she said. "People are doing amazing things in this town." Despite the competition, she was confident that Happy Cup could be successful in the long term. "Our edge, and what makes us stand out against the competition is our mission—it's our story, " she explained. Magista agreed. "People really like the story of the company. What we do here is really important. We've got a good roaster, we've got good coffee, and we have this fantastic story. We're providing jobs for people for whom normally it's very difficult to find jobs. The mission sets us apart." The crowded Portland coffee scene already has Bloom thinking about markets outside the area. She mentioned being interested in branching out to the Midwest, where she has some family connections. The company is prepared to be scaled up quickly when the time comes. While growth and profits are one important measure of success for Happy Cup, the most important metric is how well it provides opportunities for its employees. This is something that attracted Miller to working with Happy Cup. "They're utilizing a product that has a 'sexiness' here in Portland, " said Miller. "They took something that everybody in Portland knows about. They're using that story to help create possibilities for people who maybe didn't have as many possibilities before. They're using the coffee to say 'here's another way that you as a consumer can affect your community just by a simple choice of which product you pick off the shelf.'" By encouraging customers to make informed choices about the products they buy, third wave coffee companies have created a new business model. They spread the benefits of the coffee trade more fairly between those who grow the coffee and those who sell it to consumers. Happy Cup's unique model extends the principles of the third wave even further, giving people with developmental disabilities the opportunity to do valuable work. It lets them earn a real wage, increase their independence and look ahead with new possibilities for the future. This, according to Nate Mackie, is a good thing. "If I ever got the ability to leave Full Life," he said, "I think I'd be able to be a person to roast coffee beans. I like it." —Will Hutchens www.baristamagazine.com 19 ATLANTA 3.30 PM www.1883.com North and South America: Routin America Inc. Tel 1(800) FOR 1883 - sales@routin-america.com France and other countries: Routin Headquarters - Savoie France - Tel: 00 33 479 256 876 - export@routin.com *Available in more than 100 fl avors