February Coffee News

-Thank you from Honduras!
-Valentine's Day flavors
-Looking back at 2007 and Goals for the future
-Travel Opportunities to Honduras and Guatamala

During these cold days of deep winter, we want to start this month's email with a warm thank you note we received via email from Guillermo's brother Abilio. He wrote:

"Gracias hermano por apoyarnos. Feliz ano nuevo y prosperidad. En estos dias estamos sacando los mejores frutos de cafe para mandartelos. Y gracias a toda la gente que nos compra."

And again in English -- "Thank you brother for supporting us. Happy New Year and prosperity. These days we are harvesting the best coffee fruits to send to you. And thank you to all of the people who are buying from us."

Please accept our thanks too for your interest in Velasquez Family Coffee and occasional purchases.

Our February deliveries and mail orders are coming up next week, February 8 & 9. Let us know if you are interested in coffee this month by contacting us at 651-587-5356 or coffee@vfamilycoffee.com. (We'll be placing our March roasting order on February 25.)

Valentine's Day Flavors
As promised, we're offering two special flavors just for Valentine's Day. Let us know if you'd like to try a bag or two of "Jamaica Me Crazy" or "Chocolate Hazelnut Cream" to your order. They are available for a limited time in 8 oz bags, whole bean or ground, for $6.00.

Looking Back/Looking Forward
The past couple of weeks, we've been catching up on our bookkeeping. So we can now run financial reports to see how the previous year went. We're pleased to see that the numbers confirm the increase in business that we've been experiencing in our ordering. In 2007, our gross sales were $49,490 a nice increase over $38,590 in 2006. We are also pleased to say that we sent nearly $14,000 ($13,906 to be exact) of that to Honduras mostly for coffee purchases but also some for the hand-bags we buy from 15 Honduran women. We also supported fundraisers at three schools and two church mission projects in Honduras as well as a girl scout troop. We even managed to pay ourselves a bit for the first time!

In the coming year, we hope to continue this growth in sales. But our goals are broader and longer term than the sum at the bottom of our Profit and Loss statement. We also want to be part (however small) of creating a new global economy that links people across borders. We want to be a bridge between cultures. And we want the financial support we provide to our family members in Honduras to provide them the security they need to be good stewards of the land that they farm.

Dreaming of Going Someplace Warm?
--During these cold winter days, if you are dreaming of visiting some place tropical, please know that you are all welcome to visit the Velasquez farm in Rio Negro. There are several small cabins available to rent out, and our family will arrange for meals and tours of the farm and the rain forest. With a little advance notice, they can even pick you up at the airport in Tecugcigalpa. Just contact us if you are interested in more information.

--In addition, one of our customers is organizing a travel program for teachers, June 22 through July 13, 2008 in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. If you are an educator who wants to improve your Spanish and learn more about Latin American culture, visit www.casaxelaju.com/mn or contact Christine Perry at christine.perry@mpls.k12.mn.us for more details.