Contestant's Case to Win

We began Conscious Cup because we’re a bit nuts about great coffee and knew first hand the difference that freshly roasted, premium coffee makes to quality and taste.

Also, we wanted a place that focused on fairly traded coffees, not just dabbled in this issue. Since when is 5% or even 50% a "commitment?"

We have a 100% commitment to economically and environmentally sustainable coffee. Conscious Cup is a Fair Trade certified roaster and is also certified by Green America.

Coffee is the second highest volume traded commodity in the world, right behind oil. A growing fair trade movement aims at helping the farmers and their workers get a more just share from their labor.

This isn’t a Democrat thing or a Republican thing; a liberal thing or a conservative thing. We think it is just democratic economy: fair pay for a fair day at work. A right thing to do

We are a family-run artisan coffee roaster with a cafe in Crystal Lake. I am CEO and 51% owner while still working as executive director of medical affairs for a clinical research organization.

Conscious Cup has won back-to-back "Best Coffee" readers' choice awards.

Start up funding was from personal investments and an SBA loan.

Three years has been a tough period financially, particularly since the economy softened. A good share of our business has been in supporting community organizations like Turning Point, McHenry County's women's shelter, and Hanna Beardsley Middle School and many more with successful fund raising programs. In fact, that's been our primary marketing program -- to engage with the community.

The past two Mothers' Day we united with Mayaworks to raise funds to first build then equip a kitchen at the Aguas Calientes school in Guatemala. The children now can get a breakfast before they study.