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The Equal Exchange Espresso Bar Opens in Seattle |
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Written by Susan Sklar
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 "Every day, several times a
day, customers tell us, 'We love
your coffee', 'You have such
good coffee', or 'That was a
great latte.' It's really rewarding
to get such an enthusiastic
response," commented
Alison Booth, Manager of
the Equal Exchange Espresso
Bar at Seattle's Ballard Market. The Espresso Bar opened
this past June to provide specialty drinks for Ballard
Market shoppers, area residents, and store staffers.
So far, the most popular drinks are lattes, americanos,
and hot cocoa with whipped cream. The barista team often adds to the
experience by serving guests "latte art"–designs of hearts
or leaves in the foamed milk or in the "crema" on top of
espresso drinks. The Espresso Bar offers an assortment
of pastries from local bakeries from organic doughnuts
to the more traditional biscotti and croissants.
The Ballard Market is owned by Town & Country Markets,
a third generation family-owned company that operates six
stores in the Seattle metro area. Town & Country Markets
began working with Equal Exchange six years ago; and
the company’s commitment to Fair Trade, along with the
strong relationship between the two groups, resulted in
the Equal Exchange Espresso Bar. "This is a benchmark
for us," said Tom Hanlon-Wilde of Equal Exchange. "It’s
the first time that we’ve worked so closely with a store to
create an Equal Exchange café. We’re hoping that this is
the start of more creative collaborations in the future."
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